The Mack Report - Saturday July 23

 

  Dom Smith was placed on the IL and a new bat had to be called up to replace him. 

This was a clear opportunity for the Mets to, one, make a statement that they were making a run for it, and, two, they would increase the production from the DH position. 

A promotion of Mark Vientos makes too much sense here. He has 16 home runs in 243 at-bats for Syracuse this year. Last year, he had 25-HR in 310-AB for Binghamton/Syracuse. That totals to 41 home runs in 563 at-bats, the number of at-bats one would average during a whole season in the majors. 

Instead, the Mets promoted infielder Travis Blankenhorn, who has a lifetime major league batting average of .192 and had 12 home runs for Syracuse this year, in 261 at-bats. 

Look, I have nothing against Blankenhorn. He’s probably a really nice guy. But unless the Mets are going to sign a big power bat in the next week, this makes no sense to me at all.

UPDATE - And they did... which we will cover tomorrow.  

 

Please note the following Syracuse Mets roster moves: 

July 22nd

-RHP Justin Dillon activated from rehab assignment and reinstated from Injured List

-LHP Mike Montgomery sent on rehab assignment to Low-A St. Lucie

-IF/OF Travis Blankenhorn has his contract selected by New York 

July 21^st 

-OF Daniel Johnson activated from rehab assignment and released by New York 

July 20^th 

-RHP Yoan López optioned from New York and added to the Syracuse roster today 

July 19^th 

-C Francisco Álvarez activated from Temporarily Inactive List

-IF Mark Vientos activated from Temporarily Inactive List

-RHP Eric Orze placed on Syracuse's 7-day Injured List, retroactive to July 18th 

 

I have a lot to say about the Holderman trade, but this report is going to get way long once I add the minor league press releases. 

I’ll write about that as my lead story tomorrow.

 

 BPJ  - 2023 MLB Draft: 10 College Players to Know 

Brock Wilken, 3B, Wake Forest 

Wilken is a big-time power hitter who uses all parts of the field. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound right-handed hitter is more of a power over average hitter and is aggressive every time he steps to the plate. His approach sometimes leads to strikeouts, as he has recorded 107 strikeouts to 57 walks in two seasons at Wake Forest. 

Defensively, Wilken is an adequate defender and will play third base in pro ball due to his strong arm. 

 

Yesterday’s Tweets -

 

Mark C. Healey @MarkCHealey 

Most Mets fans believe trading a prospect package led by Francisco Álvarez makes sense for Juan Soto. I'm one of them. 

However, if Mets are able to acquire Trey Mancini and David Robertson w/o having to trade too many assets, and keep Álvarez, I'm on board with that as well. 

 

Jeff Passan @JeffPassan 

Huge news in baseball agency world: Wasserman bought Jet Sports, turning one of the most prominent shops into a powerhouse. Wasserman already had Arenado, Stanton, Darvish, Berrios, Baez, Glasnow. With Jet in the fold, they'll represent Buxton, Sale, Wheeler, Olson, Gilbert, Lux 

 

Michael Mayer @mikemayer22 

Mets left-handed pitcher Joey Lucchesi is throwing live BP today. 

He had Tommy John surgery last June. 

 

Pat Ragazzo @ragazzoreport 

Tylor Megill (shoulder strain) tells me he’s about to play catch on back to back days for the first time in his rehab, and will extend to 75-feet 

He feels good physically. Began throwing last Friday, but taking it step by step. Doesn’t know when mound work will begin yet 

Minor League Press Releases - 

Worcester, MA – It took ten innings, but the Syracuse Mets got the job done at Polar Park on Friday night as the Mets outlasted the Worcester Red Sox for a 6-5 Syracuse win, kicking off the post-All-Star break portion of the schedule in style. Syracuse has just 59 games remaining in the 2022 regular season after Friday night’s victory. 

The game entered the tenth inning tied, 4-4, when the drama only continued. In the top of the tenth, Kramer Robertson started at second as Syracuse’s free runner with nobody out, still standing on the bag after Álvarez struck out. A Plummer walk put runners on first and second with one out, followed by a Khalil Lee groundball to first that looked like it could be an inning-ending double play. 

However, Grant Williams threw the relay throw back to first base errantly into the first-base dugout, allowing Robertson to scamper home and make it a 5-4 game. The next batter, a pinch-hitting Mark Vientos, lined a single into center field that scored Lee, who had advanced to second on the throwing error, and made it a 6-4 cushion that would prove to hold up in the bottom of the tenth. 

Yet, it wouldn’t come easy. Mets reliever Bryce Montes de Oca entered the game looking for his fifth save opportunity in as many chances in Triple-A. Devlin Granberg began the frame at second as Worcester’s free runner. Connor Wong and Triston Casas both flied out, giving Mets fans hope that this would be a comfortable ride to the finish line. It would not be. 

Granberg scored on a passed ball and Hernández singled, putting the tying run on first base with two outs in the 6-5 game. Johan Mieses then walked, and Jaylin Davis was hit by a pitch, loading the bases with two outs in a one-run game. Ryan Fitzgerald came to the plate with the chance to be a hero, but Montes de Oca had other ideas, inducing a weak groundout to end the game and hand the Mets a pulse-pounding, 6-5 victory.   

Syracuse (41-50) plated the game’s first run in a big way when Gosuke Katoh launched a no-doubt home run over the 22-foot-high right-field wall to push the Mets out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Katoh now has six home runs in Triple-A this season, five of which have come in his past 13 games.   

After an anemic start to the game at the plate where the first 10 WooSox batters failed to record a hit, the fortunes for Worcester (47-44) changed quickly in the bottom of the fourth. The home team had a Triston Casas on first base with two outs when the drama began. 

Consecutive singles from Ronaldo Hernández and Christin Stewart plated Casas and knotted the game up at a run a piece. Casas, a top-15 prospect in the sport according to MLB Pipeline, was making his return from the Injured List on Friday night. The 22-year-old had not played since mid-May due to a high ankle sprain.   

It remained a 1-1 game into the top of the sixth, as Red Sox starting pitcher Jay Groome allowed just one run in his first five innings of work with five strikeouts. The sixth would prove to be his demise. Terrance Gore began the inning with an infield single, and Kramer Robertson walked to put runners on first and second with nobody out. 

Then, Francisco Álvarez lined a missile of a line drive off the base of the center-field wall, plating Gore for a 2-1 Mets edge and moving Robertson to third with nobody out. Álvarez’s line-drive double was clocked at 110 miles per hour off of the bat.   

The Mets production in the sixth didn’t end there. The very next batter, Nick Plummer, lined a soft single into left field that scored Robertson and Álvarez to make a 4-1 game in a flash.  

It looked like the Mets would make it an even larger lead in the seventh, loading up the bases with one out. However, successive strikeouts left the bases loaded and almost came back to doom Syracuse.   

From there, Worcester chipped away and eventually tied the game. In the seventh, the WooSox scored twice on an RBI single from Nick Sogard and an RBI fielder’s choice from Grant Williams, cutting the Syracuse lead to one, 4-3.

In the eighth, a Connor Wong leadoff single was followed by a Hernández RBI double that knotted the game up, 4-4. However, Syracuse navigated the choppy waters in those two frames, keeping the game tied by stranding a combined three runners on base. All of those runners were stranded in scoring position.  

 

BINGHAMTON, NY – The Binghamton Rumble Ponies (5-14, 33-55) fought back from down 5-0 to tie the game in the sixth, but Michael Toglia’s second solo homerun of the night led Hartford to a 6-5 win on Friday night at Mirabito Stadium as the 1992 Eastern League championship team was honored.

Toglia took a pitch from Ponies reliever Mitch Ragan (1-3) into left centerfield in the eighth which gave Hartford the one run edge. The switch-hitter also hit a homer to make it 5-0 Yard Goats in the fifth. He finished 2-4 with two RBI.

Aaron Schunk opened the scoring in the second with his ninth homer of the season and  58th RBI off Ponies starter Garrison Bryant. Hartford (12-7, 55-33) added one in the third and two more in the fourth on Willie MacIver’s RBI single. MacIver eventually scored on a throwing error to give Hartford a 4-0 lead. 

The Ponies comeback started in the fifth with an RBI double from Brett Baty which brought in Matt Winaker. Four runs came across in the sixth on Zach Ashford’s two-run double scoring Carlos Cortes and Nick Meyer. Wyatt Young’s RBI single plated Ashford and Luke Ritter’s sacrifice fly brought Winaker home. 

POSTGAME NOTES: Young, Baty, Ashford and Cortes each had two-hits… Winaker reached base four times and scored two runs... Bryant pitched four innings in his Rumble Ponies debut.

 

JUPITER, Fla. (July 22, 2022) – The St. Lucie Mets lost their first game out of the All Star break, falling 9-0 at the Jupiter Hammerheads on Friday at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. 

The Hammerheads took advantage of a pair of walks and crucial error to quickly put up four runs in the first inning. Lefty Mike Montgomery, on MiLB rehab assignment, walked consecutive batters with one out in the inning before surrendering a RBI single to Brady Allen that made it 1-0. 

Zach Zubia followed with a potential double play ball hit to MiLB rehabber JT Riddle at shortstop, but Riddle tossed the throw to second base away into right field allowing a run to score to make it 2-0 Jupiter. 

Carlos Santiago followed with a RBI double for a 3-0 lead and Jorge Caballero lifted a sac fly to make it 4-0. 

Jupiter scored two more runs in the second inning on a RBI single by Javier Sonaja and a two-out throwing error by Mets second baseman Justin Guerrera that made it 6-0. 

The Mets settled down on the mound and on defense from there. Jace Beck pitched a scoreless fourth inning. Joel Diaz followed Beck by pitching three perfect innings. The Hammerheads finally got to Diaz in the eighth with four singles, including two infield hits. Joe Mack hit a two-run single that made it 8-0. A final run scored on a wild pitch by Miguel Alfonseca. 

The Mets offense was limited to four singles by the duo of Jake Walters and Justin Fall. 

Walter (1-0) got the win by pitching the first five innings. He scattered two hits, walked one and struck out five. 

Fall pitched the final four innings to get his first save. He also allowed just two hits and struck out five. Fall has held the Mets to one run in 15 innings this year. 

Montgomery (0-1) took the loss. He was charged with four runs (two earned) on two hits over 1.1 innings. 

Omar De Los Santos, Guerrera, Raul Beracierta and Eduardo Salazar had hits for the Mets.

BROOKLYN:

The Mets hitting star of the night was Alex Ramirez, who went 4 for 5 with 5 RBIs in a Brooklyn 10-3 win, jumping him to .265. 

Stanley Consuegra, promoted recently as was Ramirez, and has gone 12 for 29 in his most recent stretch with 7 runs and 8 RBIs, after faltering to the tune of 2 for 23 when he was first promoted.  Stanley and Alex are giving Brooklyn something it sorely needed - effective hitting.  

Lastly, Nic Gaddis walked 4 times.  Last night's clean-up hitter, a 16th rounder from 2019, who plays catcher, 3rd base and a little second base, is cooking in July, at .261/.470/.565 in 15 games.  Interesting guy - in 448 career at bats, he has 25 doubles, 15 HRs, 75 RBIs and 88 walks and just 118 Ks in 143 games.  Just .210 lifetime, and .216 this year, but a .354 OBP.  He has only thrown out about 15% of runners in his career as a catcher.

With these guys, and JT Schwartz and Rowdey Jordan, and Peroza (.333/.377/.604 in July) and Matt Rudick .384 OBP in July) finally hitting, Brooklyn's offense is actually looking solid.  Keep it up, fellas.

Meanwhile, Carson Seymour got the W in an all-or-nothing performance, as he went 6 innings, fanned 10, and allowed just 3 hits - with each being a solo HR.  Odd - he had only allowed 5 career HRs before last night. 

The 6'6" righty (6th rounder in 2021) is 5-5, 2.85 this year with 83 Ks in 76 innings.