Tom Brennan - An Early June 2021 Look at Mets' Website's Top 30 Prospect List and Tylor Megill # 23 On It - My Comments at the Time

TYLOR FRIGGIN' MEGILL, FOLKS!

Last season, the minors started late due to COVID.  So, by early June, they had not played all that much.

I looked at the Mets' website's Top 30 List and shook my head at some of them.  Some just looked so...wrong!

So I wrote a column about that and added my comments.

TYLOR MEGILL - YES, INDEED, THE BONEHEADS -LESS THAN A YEAR AGO - HAD HIM AS THEIR 23RD METS PROSPECT! 

That's right, in the beginning of June 2021, which is less than 11 months ago.

Maybe they meant 23rd best in all of baseball and just messed up.

I wrote this about him in early June 2021:

"(Megill is a) grossly underrated fireballer.  We'll see how AAA goes, but he might well be a top 5 prospect."

So....much to my chagrin this spring, after Megill's remarkable accomplishments in 2021 (more on that below), the Mets planned to keep him out of the rotation and perhaps send him to the minors.

Instead, he has a superb chance of being the NL's Pitcher of the Month for April, having gone 4-0, 1.93 in 5 April starts and...

STARTED IN THE 2ND NO HITTER IN METS' HISTORY!

People forget that when he was called up to the majors on June 23, 2021, just 18 impressive days after I wrote the article below, he had roughly just 40 innings above A ball, while Jake, Thor, Zack, Matz, and Matt all had around 200 such innings.  Just think about that - don't rush past it.

So what he pulled off in 2021 with the Mets was astonishing - only they never scored for him, so his win-loss record didn't show it.

If there has to be one, the moral of this story is...when a guy has real promise, recognize it.  If the "pack", the "experts" are clearly wrong, call them out.  When a highly rated prospect is flawed, recognize that too.  

Tylor was GROSSLY underrated indeed.  #23?  Really?

Now, fast-forward less than 11 months, and all he is....is an early Cy Young award candidate.  Go ahead...tell me I'm wrong.

Anyway, here is my article from June 5, 2021:

Today's prospects hope someday to be in a pic just like this

The Mets' website has its top 30 prospects.  

I told a peek as of Thursday, June 3.  Here's my brief take:

# 1 FRANCISCO ALVAREZ - the young catching stud torched Full A pitching and got jumped quickly to Full A.  I imagine the thundering bat will quickly adjust and thunder some more. (It adjusted yesterday with 2 doubles and a single).

# 2 RONNY MAURICIO - he did miss a year...and he is still quite young for high A ball...but he has 30 Ks and 4 BBs in 20 games.  One thing is clear - he is not the next Soto or Acuna - he is perhaps the next Amed Rosario?

# 3 MATT ALLAN - he succumbed to the pitchers' version of COVID - the dreaded TJS.  See you in late 2022, and hopefully it will all go well and you'll go right back to being a Mets' top 3 prospect.

# 4 BRET BATY - the young (21) slugger is hitting a robust .369/.476/.595 in Brooklyn (thru Sunday), with "just" 23 Ks in 24 games, and 27 RBIs.  After a hot weekend, 4 HRs so far, and "just" 4 is fine - all 4 are on the road, why fight Cyclone Park incoming winds?  Keep that high level of bashing up, and a promotion to AA cannot be far away.

# 5 PETE CROW-ARMSTRONG -  the Crow got off to a dazzling start, but wounded his wing on a play at 3rd base, and was reportedly in need of shoulder surgery.  Whether that actually has yet occurred is information sealed in a lab in Wuhan.  Thankfully, it is his non-throwing shoulder, but it is a major setback for a kid who might otherwise have rocketed through the system.  I was, pre-injury, wondering if he might move so fast that he'd be the Mets' opening day 2023 CF.  I can't see that now.

# 6  J.T. GINN - a successful 3 inning return from TJS this past Thursday.  May he make up for lost time quickly.

# 7  KHALIL LEE - highly unimpressive with the bat in spring training and when called up when the Mets had their outfield emergencies.  He needs a lot of ABs in AAA to develop and prove he is not overrated.  Hitting well back in AAA.

# 8  MARK VIENTOS - a glacially slow start in AA, followed by some improvement.  Still young, and he last played 2 levels lower in 2019.   Hitting .231 with 6 walks and 31 Ks in 21 games.  Time will tell, but he needs to climb from these levels.  40 errors in 184 non-DH games in his career.

# 9 ALEX RAMIREZ - just 18, with a very hopeful profile.  May he be our Soto/Acuna.  He is 1 for 12 with 7 Ks thru Thursday in his Full A debut, but patience is recommended.

# 10  THOMAS SZAPUCKI - six years older than Alex Ramirez, he had a 2.12 ERA thru Thursday, but had a 1.65 WHIP in his 17 innings.  Will he be competent, or will he be dominant, in the bigs?  Time will tell.  Simple fact is: he is not in the bigs yet.  Many guys his age are.  

# 11  JUNIOR SANTOS - the 6'7" 19 year old righty has a similar WHIP to Szapucki's (1.67 in St Lucie), but a 7.20 ERA.  Not impressing to date.  We'll see how he progresses.

# 12  JAYLEN PALMER - 20 year old athletic hitter is 6'4", 210 with no homers in 80 at bats.  A high 28 Ks, but an impressive 15 walks give him a .347 OBP.  I get the sense that this was a big jump for him, and he will bloom as the year rolls on.

# 13 ROBERT DOMINGUEZ - 19 year old tall righty international signing has yet to throw in a pro game.  So I will reserve judgment, other than to say that 19 year old Junior Santos already has 106 pro innings in.  Get him out on the mounds - "I love my Mounds".

# 14  FREDDY VALDEZ - this 19 year old has 230 pro at bats under his belt thru 2019, but none in 2021, so he is I imagine deemed not ready for St Lucie-level baseball just yet.  Soto and Acuna made their MLB debuts at 19, so the clock keeps moving.  *Whoops!  Freddy's gone to Red Sox in Khalil Lee deal.  No doubt, Red Sox hope he'll be the next Freddy Lynn.*

# 15  SHERVEYN NEWTON - 14 walks in 23 St Lucie games is nice.  50 strikeouts is not.  Not a promising stat.  Not at # 15.

# 16  SAM MCWILLIAMS - we were all hopeful.  Then he didn't pitch well, and then he got DFA'd.  Will he ever turn potential into effectiveness?  He'll find out with another franchise.

# 17  JOSE BUTTO - the 23 year old has a 0.97 WHIP and a K per inning in High A.  Keep it going, Jose.

# 18  RYLEY GILLIAM - when he started his first full season, he was rocking.  But he has not pitched at all well in AA and AAA.  12 runs in 7 AA innings this year.  He needs to do much better to be a major league caliber reliever.  

# 19  CARLOS CORTES - he had a 4 hit, 2 HR night on Thursday in AA.    The IF/OF has fanned just 130 times in 198 minor league games.  He should be HIGHER on this Mets' top 30 list.  No doubt.

# 20  JOSHUA CORNIELLY - the 20 year old 6'2" righty pitched in 2019 and prior, but no pro games this year.  Which concerns me.  See my comment about Robert Dominguez above.  It applies here.

# 21  JORDANY VENTURA - similar for this 20 year old 6'0" righty to what I wrote for Cornielly.  Ventura is on the 60 day IL, which is not a good place to be.

# 22  FRANKLYN KILOME - he has to me not been impressive.  # 22 sounds about right.  If he was impressive, at his age, he'd be in Queens, wouldn't you think?

# 23  TYLOR MEGILL - grossly underrated fireballer.  We'll see how AAA goes, but he might well be a top 5 prospect.  Nice first AAA outing Friday night, outdueling Nate Pearson.

# 24  TRAVIS BLANKENHORN - wow, he got on the list fast.  He has decent minor league numbers, but my guess is Carlos Cortes is better.  Prove me wrong, Travis.

# 25  OSCAR DE LA CRUZ - 6'6", 250, 26 years old.  Terrible start to 2021 - and that is an understatement.  He needs to write the rest of this - up to you, Oscar.

# 26  MARCEL RENTERIA - 5'11" pitcher, also 26.  17 Ks in 11 innings in AA and AAA this year.  We'll see.  He'll need to show he can dominate AAA.

# 27  MICHEL OTANEZ - 23 year old hurler - 14 Ks in 7 Brooklyn innings, but tons of baserunners.  I dunno...

# 28  YENNSY DIAZ - 24 year old hurler - 2 scoreless innings for the Mets and 6 nice innings for Syracuse - we'll have to keep an eye on two guys named Diaz, not just Edwin.

# 29  JOANDER SUAREZ - high ERA, high WHIP so far in 2021.  'Nuf said.

# 30  DAISON ACOSTA - injured 60 day - no pitching in 2021.  'Nuf said.

Back to the no hitter: What a joy it was to watch Edwin Diaz obliterate the heart of the Phillies' order in the 9th to secure the no hitter.  13 pitches, 3 Ks.   And people want to get rid of him?

SMH.

I so enjoyed his on-the-field post game excitement, and felt so happy for him.

I felt truly happy for all 5 pitchers - Tylor, Seth, Joely, Drew, and Edwin.   They were so happy in the post-game interview.  What an accomplishment against a tough, hot hitting offense.

Megill is just...so...incredibly...mellow - on the exterior.  But he is a warrior inside.  Unflappable.  

And a big shout out to Drew Smith, who has been nothing short of sensational so far this season.

Interesting final note on the Prospects List: Thru April 2022, Robert Dominguez (# 13 last year) has a total of just 12 career innings, making Tom Szapucki look by comparison like a workhorse, and RD is currently on the 60 day IL, not sure for what, but I can guess.  I dislike ranking pitchers until they have a track record for just such reasons. 

Last year's 2nd rounder, Calvin Ziegler, was WOW last night for St Lucie, BTW...4.1 IP, one hit, 9 Ks.  Very hopeful, I'd say.

I have to go now - I just remembered I'm a retired writer.

Mack - Mock Draft v3.0 - Pick 1.31 - RHP - Peyton Pallette

 

Peyton Pallette 

RHP      6-1     175     Arkansas 

2021 Arkansas stat line - 15-G, 11-starts, 1-2, 4.02, 56-IP, 67-K

 

2-11-22 - https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mlb-draft-prospects-2022-ranking-top-50-players-in-the-class-with-termarr-johnson-at-no-1/?s=03 - 

28. Peyton Pallette, RHP, Arkansas 

Pallette recently underwent Tommy John surgery, wiping out his season before it could begin. He remains a candidate to go early in the draft based on the combination of his upside and teams' confidence in drafting rehabbing pitchers. One scout said a healthy Pallette had as much swing-and-miss stuff as any collegiate arm in this year's class. His fastball touched into the upper-90s and he complemented it with a plus breaking ball and a workable changeup. Pallette's delivery might remind some of Jeremy Hellickson's, and he throws enough strikes from it to project as a mid-rotation starter. Provided teams are comfortable with the progress he's made in his rehab, he should become an option for teams beginning late in the first round.

 

2-10-22 - https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2022-mlb-mock-draft-version-10/?s=03 -

 28. Astros — Peyton Pallette, RHP, Arkansas 

Carlos’ take: This will be the first time the Astros have made a first-round pick since 2019, when the team took California catcher Korey Lee at No. 32 overall. It might be tricky to get a feel for what this Houston regime wants to do in the draft, but I imagine it is going to be pretty analytically inclined and Pallette’s pitch mix might be exciting for Houston. If he’s healthy, it’d be hard to see him being available in this range so this could be great value. 

Scout’s take: Pallette was considered the college arm with the best curveball before the injury. He still has the potential to be a future starter after he recovers, and if the Astros are patient they will see real value in this pick once Pallette is healthy.

 

1-15-22 - https://www.baseballamerica.com/rankings/2022-mlb-draft-top-100-prospects/ - 

29

Last: 13

Peyton Pallette

Arkansas RHP

Notes:

Ht: 6-1 | Wt: 180 | B-T: R-R

Commit/Drafted: Never Drafted

Age At Draft: 21.2 

After pitching out of the bullpen in 2020, Pallette transitioned to a starting role in 2021 with Arkansas and posted a 4.02 ERA over 56 innings. He has one of the more interesting pitch data profiles in the 2022 class with a three-pitch mix that excites many analysts. His fastball sat in the 93-95 mph range last spring and touched 99 with reportedly impressive induced vertical break numbers. However, his delivery isn’t the most deceptive and he has a clean release with below-average extension that could be questionable attributes overall. He throws a 79-81 mph curveball with excellent spin rates in the 3,100-rpm range and generated whiffs with the pitch 44% of the time last spring, per Synergy. Pallette also throws a firm changeup in the 87-89 mph range with a 1,600 rpm spin rate and plenty of horizontal, arm side movement that generates plenty of whiffs and groundouts. Durability and health are questions that teams have with Pallette. He isn’t the most physical pitcher with a 6-foot-1, 180-pound frame and he has only 61.2 total innings on his resume. Pallette won't be able to add to that total this spring, as a UCL injury and subsequent Tommy John surgery wipes out his 2022 season.

 

1-20-22 - Joe Doyle @JoeDoyleMiLB 

Brutal news coming out of Fayetteville this morning via Kendall Rogers with RHP Peyton Pallette going under the knife with Tommy John Surgery. 

Get well soon, kid. 

Pallette ranks No. 18 on our @ProspectsLive Top 300 

 

1-17-22 - https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/future-four-2022-draft-eligible-righthanders-to-know/?s=03 - 

Peyton Pallette, RHP Arkansas 

Entering the 2022 college season, few players have higher expectations than that of Arkansas’ Peyton Pallette. Rated as our No. 3 pitcher in the 2022 draft, the righthander is looking to cement his place as the best draft-eligible pitcher in the country with a strong season. 

A highly-rated in-state recruit for the Razorbacks out of Benton High, Palette made four appearances out of the bullpen in his pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, allowing only one earned run over the course of 5.1 innings of work. 

Heading into 2021, Pallette earned an early role in the Razorbacks’ rotation, making 11 starts over the course of the season, including a three-week stint as the Friday night starter. Unfortunately, he dealt with injuries throughout the season and spent time bouncing between the bullpen and weekend rotation throughout March and April. 

Pallette returned to make six more in-conference starts, before injuring his elbow during a relief outing against Florida late in the season. MRIs taken in the immediate aftermath of the injury showed no damage to his ulnar collateral ligament. Reports that Pallette was once again throwing last fall have led to optimism he’ll be ready to go for the start of 2022. 

Average in height but small in stature, Pallette has a similar build to Dodgers righthander Walker Buehler. He has a well-conditioned and athletic frame that lacks significant projection due to a lack of potential physicality. What Pallette may lack in sheer size he makes up for with power.

 A hard thrower who has been clocked as high as 99 mph, Pallette manages to generate plus fastball velocity with an easy and free operation. Blessed with plus arm speed, he delivers the ball from a moderate arm action leading to a high three-quarters arm slot with a cross-body finish. While his mechanics are aesthetically pleasing to watch, he lacks deception on his release, making his premium stuff far easier to time than it should. 

Pallette works primarily off his fastball and curveball. His fastball accounts for a majority of his pitch usage. He threw it 66% of the time in 2021. The pitch sits 93-95 mph and touches 97-99 on occasion, with above-average raw spin rates in the 2,300-2,400 rpm range 

While the pitch packs premium velocity and above-average spin, Palette’s spin-induced efficiency isn’t high enough to turn his higher raw spin into ride. This is a bit of a problem. When coupled with his higher release height, shorter extension and easy-to-time arm action, Pallette’s fastball plays well below his actual velocity, with its perceived velocity appearing more like 91-92 mph than his actual 93-95. He has a bad combination of generic release traits and a lack of ride. 

This helps explain why a pitcher sitting 93-95 mph induced whiffs at a 19% rate last season. Pallette doesn’t induce a ton of weak groundball contact either. His groundball rate on his four-seamer is well below 40%. Hitters didn’t do tremendous damage against the pitch, but they still hit .261/.363/.333 in at-bats ending with a four-seamer over the course of the 2021 season. 

All is not lost for Pallette’s fastball. His tilt and spin direction are fairly clean, and his raw spin and velocity are there. Slight tweaks to improve spin efficiency could deliver improved whiff numbers against his four-seam. 

For as many questions as there might be around Pallette’s fastball quality, there are few surrounding his breaking ball. His 11-5 curveball is a banger that sits 78-80 mph with more than 3,000 rpm of raw spin and heavy two-plane break. It’s a plus, bat-missing curveball that generated whiffs at a rate of 44%. 

Unfortunately, it generated a lower swing rate in large part due to his fringe-average command of the pitch. When batters did swing they either swung and missed or did very little damage. Opposing batters hit just .167/.222/.167 against the pitch with a 76% groundball rate. An uptick in command could pay dividends, particularly if Pallette shows the ability to land the pitch to the lower glove-side quadrant. 

His changeup is a firm, high-80s offering with around 5-6 mph of separation from the fastball and relatively straight shape. The pitch was only used around 10% of the time in 2021 but did generate a solid whiff rate. The command of the pitch is very fringy as he’s still learning his best feel for the offspeed. It’s a usable offering, but a work in progress. 

It’s easy to watch Pallette throw a ball and fall for his butter-smooth operation, velocity and feel for spin. For all of his strengths, there’s an equal amount of warts from fastball shape issues, to command, to a checkered injury history. He offers mid-rotation traits as well as questions about how much improvement is possible in pro ball after one of the best pitching development schools in the country couldn’t fully optimize his fastball.

Remember 1969: Mets Catching from Chris Cannizzaro to Tomas Nido

Note:  I had this written earlier this week, and now it feels like a great follow-up to Paul Articulates Offensive Catchers article posted on Thursday.  

So as we watch our current catching tandem of Messrs McCann and Nido, there is a lot of complaining about production.   Well, I say, get in line behind a lot of Mets fans over the last 60 years.   

While I have not looked at the other positions in any detail, the 101 catchers the Mets have employed over the years have had rather underwhelming results as a whole.     I am not even going to get into their hitting statistics.   As most of you are probably aware, I don’t like the WAR measurement, but I’m going with it for the purposes of this piece. 

All good Mets fans can probably name the Mets top 5 catchers in their history.   

    

The top 5 in games played (as a catcher) and top 5 in cumulative Baseball Reference Wins Above Replacement as members of the Mets are both the same set of names, although in a slightly different order.     

Mike Piazza is the WAR leader as a Met compiling 24.7 WAR while donning the orange and blue.    His 826 games caught are second behind Jerry Grote’s 1176.   Grote is in third place in WAR with his cumulative 14.6. 

In third place in games caught and fifth place in WAR is Todd Hundley with 745 and 9.2, respectively.       John Stearns owns the second place slot in WAR with 19.6 for his 698 games caught, while Gary Carter is in the top 5 list of both categories with 566 games caught (5^th) and 11.3 WAR (4^th).   

 

I will skip over number six in both categories for now and move on and group the remainder of the 101 together into a category called “the not many special catchers used by the Mets over their history”. 

 Some fun(?) facts:

The Mets have had more catchers with total Mets WAR less than 0.0 (48) than with total WAR greater than 0.0 (46).   The other seven accumulated exactly 0.0.    

The greatest number of games caught with the Mets while racking up zero WAR was Mike Fitzgerald’s 115. 

The greatest number of games caught totaling less than 0.0 WAR was the 183 by Barry Lyons between 1986 and 1990.   More than a year's worth of games to get -1.0 career Mets WAR

12 of the 48 with negative WAR caught more than 50 games, including the 106 games caught last year by James McCann netting him -0.2 WAR.  

Of the 101 catchers used by the Mets, only 5 of them were able to have a Mets career of at least three years and not incur a year of negative WAR.     

    - Jesse Gonder caught in 161 games between 1963 and 1965 and had annual WAR of 0.4, 1.4, and 0.1, mainly as the backup to Chris Cannizzaro whose low WAR for his four years at Shea was 0.3.  (his high was 1.6, the same year that Gonder had 1.4).    

    - The other three were more recent.   Mike Piazza’s eight years of positive WAR started with his high of 5.4 in 1998 and ended with his low of 0.1 in 2005 (while catching in 101 games).   

    - Ramon Castro took over where Piazza left off starting in 2005 and maintaining positive WAR through 2009 as the backup catcher averaging about 50 games a year.    

    - The fifth and most recent catcher to avoid the negative was Kevin Plawecki from 2015 through 2018, although he did finish at 0.0 in 2016.    

Yes, even four of the Top 5 catchers managed to accrue a year of negative WAR while donning the gear for the Mets. 

 

How long do the Mets keep catchers?   There are no Yadier Molina’s here accumulating a lot of games.   It surprised me to find Josh Thole with the ninth-most games caught with 279 games.   Travis d’Arnaud is #7 (378) and MackeySasser rounds out the top 10. 

Before I get into #6 and 8 on both lists, finishing off the top 10 in WAR are #7 is the aforementioned Chris Cannizzaro with 3.4, number 9 is Plawecki with 2.8 and tied for tenth with just 2.6 WAR are Todd Pratt, Vance Wilson, and Paul LoDuca. 

Now numbers 6 and 8 on both lists are two of my all time favorite Mets.   They don’t make back-up catchers like Ron Hodges and Duffy Dyer these days.    

Ron Hodges (#42 to me) had a 12 year career from 1973 through 1984 catching in 446 games and accumulating 6.1 WAR while only dipping into the negative one year (his second year in 1974).      He backed up Grote and Stearns most of his career, but led the team in 1983 catching in 96 games.     As far as Mets back-up catchers go, Hodges topped the list and it really isn’t close. 

Duffy Dyer is the next best and was the backup catcher to Jerry Grote on both of the first two World Series teams in 1969 and 1973.   He was actually the ‘starting’ catcher (defined as catching in more games than any other catcher) in 1972 with 91 games caught.   His Mets career spanned the end of 1968 through 1974, catching in 326 games generating 3.4 WAR. 

Ah, to have a catcher like Hodges around now would be a luxury.   Ten straight years (and 11 of 12)  of not great, but positive WAR.   And a lefty bat to as a bonus.

This has rambled a bit long but you can probably catch my point. . the Mets have not been a hot bed of catching talent over the years.   Only 7 of the 60 years have produced a 4.0 or greater WAR from anyone behind the plate.    We are not experiencing anything new in 2022.    

Finishing up with a last fast fact - it doesn't say much when two of the top five catchers in Mets history don the cap of another team on their Baseball-Reference page.  

If anyone is interested in more catching stats or the list of everyone that has caught for the Mets , I can provide much more with the research I have done.   Some of the names brought back some memories! 

Nope, Steve Chilcott is not on this list - he never caught a game with the Mets.  

Talk about bad luck!   or bad drafting.  

Cuse Game Notes - Syracuse roars ahead late and grabs 6-4 win on Friday night in Rochester

 

Nick Plummer hit a go-ahead two-run home run and had three RBIs on Friday night in a 6-3 Syracuse win over Rochester (Rick Nelson).

Rochester, NY – The Syracuse Mets were not denied on Friday night, rallying back from an early deficit via some home run power to take a 6-4 win over the Rochester Red Wings on a sunny, Friday night. The victory snapped an 0-8 skid for the Mets on the road to start the 2022 season.  

  

Syracuse (7-13) scored first for the third consecutive game with a run in the top of the third inning. Mark Vientos walked to start the frame, moved to third base, on a Carlos Cortes single, and scored on a Nick Meyer groundout into a double play to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. 

 

Rochester (11-10) utilized some power on the way to a run in the bottom of the third. A one-out single by Chris Herrmann put him on base, and he later scampered home on an RBI double from Luis Garcia, who has been a man possessed at the plate in this series. The 21-year-old is 7-for-11 in the first three games with three home runs, seven runs driven in, and six runs scored.  

  

The Red Wings would grab their only lead of the night with another run in the fourth. Josh Palacios sliced a double down the left-field line to start the inning, later scoring on an RBI single from Nick Banks with one out later on in the frame, giving the Wings a 2-1 advantage. Palacios has scored five runs in the first three games of the series.  

  

The game remained 2-1 until the top of the sixth, as Syracuse could not figure out Jackson Tetreault. The starting pitcher for the Red Wings allowed just two hits in his first five innings of work, striking out five Mets batters in the process, but that all changed in the sixth. 

  

The third trip through the Syracuse batting order for Tetreault became a nightmare for him and a breakthrough for the Mets offense. First, Wyatt Young singled to kick off the inning. Young has reached in a team-high 11 straight games, finishing Friday night’s game with three hits. The next batter, Nick Plummer, brought Young home with a two-run home run that cleared the center-field wall with ease to surge Syracuse in front, 3-2. The Mets weren’t done in the sixth yet. Daniel Palka promptly stepped to the plate and left the yard himself, lifting a no-doubt blast over the right-field wall for to make it back-to-back homers for Syracuse and a 4-2 Mets lead.  

  

Syracuse added insurance with two more runs in the seventh via familiar faces. Carlos Cortes walked to lead off the inning, moving up to second on a single from Nick Meyer, who has now reached in ten consecutive games. An infield single from Young loaded the bases with nobody out, followed by a sacrifice fly out from Plummer deep enough into center field to bring home Cortes and make it 5-2. Then, a single into left field from Palka drove in Meyer and increased the lead to 6-2. Plummer finished the night with three RBIs, while Palka now has three runs driven in and four runs scored this series. 

  

Lost among all the late offense, Connor Grey’s start deserves plenty of praise. The right-hander allowed just two runs in five solid innings of work, surrendering five hits and one walk while striking out five batters, all swinging, by way of a devastating curveball. Grey would eventually be credited with his first win of the series. 

  

Rochester wouldn’t go quietly, plating runs in the eighth and ninth to make it an interesting finish. The Red Wings scored in the eighth via a sacrifice fly from Joey Meneses to trim the Mets edge to three, 6-3. Then Rochester pulled closer in the ninth on a majestic home run from Andrew Stevenson that soared over the right-field wall to make it a 6-4 ballgame. A two-out, ninth inning single from Dee Strange-Gordon brought the potential tying run to the plate, but Collin Holderman got Garcia to ground out, end the game, and snap Syracuse’s road losing streak.  

  

Syracuse continues its six-game series at the Rochester Red Wings with a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. Right-hander Félix Peña is slated to start for the Mets in the first game, followed by left-hander Rob Zastryzny in the second game. First pitch of the first game of the doubleheader is set for 1:05 p.m. Game two will start approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. 

B-Mets Recap: Ponies Pitching Dominates in Shutout of SeaWolves

 

BINGHAMTON, NY – The Binghamton Rumble Ponies (5-13) dominant pitching led them to a 2-0 win over the Erie SeaWolves Friday night at Mirabito Stadium, snapping a seven-game losing streak.

Ponies starter Alec Kisena had a superb outing, allowing just one hit over six innings with no walks and eight strikeouts in the no-decision. It was his longest start of the year.

The game remained scoreless through the first six innings as Dillon Dingler registered the only Erie (11-8) hit of the night in the fourth. Jake Mangum broke up the combined no-hitter bid in the sixth with a single as Erie starter Austin Bergner pitched five no-hit innings with three strikeouts.

Brett Baty got the seventh inning started with a long drive to right center field that was called a home run, but subsequently was called back and was placed on second with a double. After Baty advanced to third on a wild pitch, Ronny Mauricio walked and stole second.

Two batters later with runners on second and third with one out, Hayden Senger got the Ponies on the board with a sac fly off Chavez Fernander (0-1) and to give Binghamton a 1-0 lead as Mauricio moved up to third.

The next batter Johneshwy Fargas hit an RBI single to right field scoring Mauricio and to put the Ponies up 2-0.

The Ponies bullpen took care of the rest as LHP Andrew Edwards (1-1) got the win pitching one and a third innings with no walks and three strikeouts. RHP Michel Otanez finished off the night with a perfect one and two thirds innings with four strikeouts to earn his first save of the season.

The Rumble Ponies will continue their series against Erie on Saturday afternoon at 1:05 PM on CBS Sports Radio 1360 with pregame coverage getting underway at 12:50 PM.

POSTGAME NOTES: Fargas now has an RBI in back-to-back games.

St. Lucie Recap - Mets hold off Tortugas for 4-3 win

 

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (April 29, 2022) – The St. Lucie Mets staved off a late game rally by the Daytona Tortugas and won 4-3 at Clover Park on Friday night.

 

Mets reliever Dylan Hall struck out Austin Hendrick to end the game with the tying run on third base. The dramatic last at-bat was set up when the previous hitter Jay Allen II kept the game alive with a RBI single. Allen, the Reds first round pick from 2021, is a Fort Pierce, Fla., native and went to John Carroll High School.

 

Mets starter Calvin Ziegler dazzled for 4.1 innings. He struck out nine, including six in a row to start the game. Ziegler gave up just one hit and no runs.

 

Luis Moreno pitched the following 3.2 innings allowing two runs to qualify for the win.

 

The Mets scored two runs in the first inning. They strung together four consecutive hits with one out against Alex Johnson. Stanley Consuegra hit a double and scored on Shervyen Newton’s single. Omar De Los Santos added a run scoring hit to make it 2-0.

 

Alex Ramirez doubled in the fifth inning and later scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0.

 

Newton clubbed his ninth double of the season in the bottom of the seventh to plate another run to put the Mets up 4-1.

 

Daytona’s Debby Santana scored on a wild pitch by Moreno in the top of the eighth to make it 4-2 game. Moreno settled down and got a ground out to end the inning, leaving the tying run at second base.

 

Newton went 2 for 3 with a double, walk and two RBI.

 

Kevin Villavicencio went 2 for 4. He doubled in the second inning for his first St. Lucie hit.

 

The Mets (12-7) and Tortugas (9-10) play the fifth game of their series at Clover Park on Saturday. First pitch is 6:10 p.m. The postgame fireworks show has been cancelled.

 

Reese Kaplan -- It's Time for Baseball to Address Hit Batsmen

Obviously there's already been a lot of digital ink written about the preponderance of Mets batters hit by pitches during this young 2022 season.  Most recently we saw Pete Alonso take one to the head for not the first but the second time already this season.  Then we saw J.D. Davis get nailed on a foot so badly that he's in a walking boot.

Now a great many Mets fans were ecstatic to see the second benches-clearing brawl as a result of hit batsman, though this one in St. Louis was a pitch thrown near Nolan Arenado not actually hitting him.  During the brawl, of course, Arenado was tossed for threatening the pitcher and Cardinals coach Stubby Clapp was also thrown out for tackling Pete Alonso from behind.  In a way it was comical given Clapp's mere 5'8" size compared to Alonso, but a great many wonder why he felt compelled to engage in that action with Alonso again being the target.

The other big element from this whole brouhaha was the fact that Yoan Lopez's pitch didn't make contact with Arenado at all.  Normally when there's a headhunting battle from the pitching mound both sides are warned not to engage any further yet Lopez was deemed relatively innocent.  Of course, later when the fines were announced Lopez didn't get off Scot free.  He's likely going to be heading back to Syracuse come May 1st anyway. 

During a conversation with fellow fans on Thursday the question arose why the opponents would go after Pete Alonso.  To me that seemed rather obvious.  To the Mets and to the rest of the league he's an offensive force.  Losing him would have a great impact on the Mets and their chances to remain out front.  Compare that to an ill-timed pitch that took out Tomas Nido or Luis Guillorme.  Yes, they're important players to the Mets but in ancillary roles and their time on the IL wouldn't imnpact the team all that badly.

That conversation then turned to the allegation from Buck Showalter and the Mets pitchers that the 2022 baseball is highly questionable.  The announcers recited the down stats for long balls this year which might be attributed to either a changed ball or a shortened preseason.  I was questioning the validity of the slipperiness argument on the baseball itself as it would suggest all teams would face the same problem and the number of hit batsmen should be relatively consistent from club to club.  We all know that is not the case.  

Now the risk of injury from thrown pitches is well known.  Obviously the impact of a 95+ mph leather covered sphere striking your unpadded body is never going to feel good, but there's a reason players now wear helmets with protective flaps on them.  It is entirely possible to break a bone from a pitch just as it is for a fielder to receive a fracture should a 100+ mph batted ball strike his ungloved hand.  

Of course, the magnitude can be far worse.  In 1920 star infielder Ray Chapman on the Cleveland Naps (later Indians and still later Guardians) was a terrific bunter and base stealer.  He came up in a game against the New York Yankees hurler Carl Mays and got drilled with a pitch to the head.  The ball hit him so hard and echoed with such a sound that the pitcher fielded it mistakenly thinking it was off his bat and threw to first.  Then they noticed Chapman was bleeding from his ear and he was rapidly sent to the nearby St. Lawrence hospital for examination and treatment.  Unfortunately the brain damage was too extensive and he died at 4:40 AM from having been hit by Mays' pitch.  

The idea of taking hit batsman seriously is long overdue.  It's good that there are some steps put into place to try to preserve safety, but this season there appears not much action has been taken to prevent the problem from occurring in the first place.  Pete Alonso is very lucky.  For J.D. Davis it's too soon to tell.  Here's hoping the umpires and team owners recognize that not enough attention has been paid to this critical and potentially fatal baseball injury.  

Reese Kaplan -- The Mets Best Center Fielders

In his post Creedence Clearwater Revival solo career, John Fogerty proclaimed in song, "Look at me! I can be center field!"  As children center field was one of the most sought after positions as it demanded the ability to move not only in and out, but side to side to prevent batted balls from landing safely.  The Mets have had some interesting players fielding in that role, some of whom also contributed mightily towards scoring runs, too.

Tarnished by his actions while a member of the Houston Astros (which later cost him his managerial gig with the New York Mets), Carlos Beltran still had an enviable Mets career.  It didn't start off all that well with a rough first season in New York, finishing his surprising All Star season with just a .266 average, 16 HRs and 78 RBIs.  However, from 2006 onward he was a different player with a .285 batting average, 32 HRs and 114 RBIs per season to go along with 22 stolen bases.  He won three Gold Gloves while patrolling center field.  The Mets felt he was done when his contract was nearly done after the 2010 season. Instead of paying him $19 million for 2011, they bundled him off in trade to the Giants for a pitching prospect named Zack Wheeler.  The Mets might have been wrong about Beltran who wound up playing through 2017, but they were not wrong about Wheeler who has developed into one of the NL's top starters.     

The first center fielder to make a strong impression on the New York Mets fans was former Chicago White Sox youngster Tommie Agee.  He was truly adept at covering the ground out there.  In addition he was a respected hitter. During his five years at Shea he hit .262, averaging 20 HRs and 65 RBIs to go along with 23 stolen bases.  He was twice in the MVP voting and won a Gold Glove that recognized his stellar skills manning center field.  Considering the Mets acquired him and Al Weiss for mostly Tommy Davis, it was not a bad deal at all.  Unfortunately Agee passed away when only 58 when he went into cardiac arrest in midtown Manhattan. 

The Mets made some headlines when the Wilpons decided to sign free agent center fielder Curtis Granderson who had starred across town with the Yankees.  Known for power and speed, Granderson provided solid defense after a rough first year in the NL.  He played for most of four years for the Mets and hit a relatively weak .235 but contributed not only with his defense but also an annual output of 27 HRs, 69 RBIs and 8 SBs.  He was truly professional out there and although the numbers were not of the ilk he did during his All Star years for the Yankees, the Mets got good value for their investment.

Another beloved player eternally famous for participating in the Game 6, "It gets by Buckner!" moment, Mookie Wilson was as exciting for his defense as he was for his base running.  He platooned early on with Lenny Dykstra, but Wilson played for 10 years while hitting .277 with an average of 9 HRs, 50 RBIs and 40 SBs.  Dykstra hit for a lower average, less power and demonstrated inferior running skills.  We'll leave off his alleged PED abuse and his proven criminal activities post playing days.

Current center fielder Brandon Nimmo likely belongs on this list as well, though he's a recent convert to that position.  His on base percentage has been a thing of beauty since day one.  However, he's added power to his OBP game and right now for his career sports a .266 batting average along with a projected annual output of 17 HRs and 53 RBIs.  Those numbers would be far more impressive if Nimmo could have managed to stay on the field more often.  During his seven years in a Mets uniform he has crossed the 100 game threshold just once.  Going into his free agent year it's entirely possible that he will not be a part of the team's future as they would be saddled with a much larger salary for a man who averages less than half a season of playing time each year.

There have been a few others who were notable for short periods of time like Mike Cameron, Lance Johnson and even Willie Mays.  However, none of them aggregated enough over a long enough period of time to be considered.  Who all do you think belongs here?