The Mack Report - Sunday, July 10th

We need to spend some more time on a St. Lucie pitcher that Tom talked about yesterday.

LHSP Keyshawn Askew that.  

Yesterday, he went 4.2-IP, 1-R, 9-K,

The 6-4/190 lefty was drafted in the 10^th round last year by the Mets, out of Clemson University.

He really didn’t stand out at Clemson. In fact, he only went 1-2, 5.84, in 12-games, 11-starts, but some Mets scout must have seen something that made him keep coming back.

He joined the FCL Mets after the draft and went 2-0, 1.00, in 4-games (1-start), with 14-K in 9-IP.

This year, for St, Lucie, he is 2-0, 1.65, 0.92, 32.2-IP, 50-K.

Scouts credit Askew’s unorthodox pitching mechanics for his current success. He throws from a very low 3/4, almost sidearm slot. Hides the ball really well due to his high leg kick.

His fastball only tops out around 93, but his delivery makes it very hard to pick up the ball, causing a high whiff rate.

2021 will go down as the Mets draft of pitching. Led by the Kumar Rocker mess, the Mets concentrated throughout the draft trying to find multiple chips to develop as successful starters in the majors.

My guess right now, Askew and Calvin Ziegler will emerge as two of the top pitching prospects in the minors. 

 

You all know how much I like drafts. I also get charged during the times when teams sign the top 16-years old international players to bonus contracts. 

I was always annoyed with that period when the Tampons owned the team because they never committed big money to an area you didn’t have to wait for 29 more picks to sign the next player. It’s come and feast like the Dodgers, Padres, Astros, and Yankees did every year. 

Then came Steve Cohen and that is all beginning to change. 

Or is it? 

There is rumblings out there between the owners and players union again regarding the future of this process: 

Jeff Passan @JeffPassan 

In a meeting today, the Major League Baseball Players Association offered the league an international draft proposal, sources familiar with the situation told ESPN. It differs significantly from the league's proposal. There is a July 25 deadline to reach an agreement on a draft. 

The int'l draft nearly scuttled collective-bargaining talks at the height of the lockout. The sides agreed to kick the can down the road. Accepting a draft is linked to the death of the qualifying offer. But the union wants more money for players, among other things, to say yes. 

Do I think there will another lock-out? I don’t. But you need to know both sides are pretty far off with a deadline looming. 

 

Next up, 

We will move to the Mets 4^th pick in the upcoming draft. 

The Mets have the 90^th pick in the 3^rd round this year. First up as one of the players that might still be on the board here: 

Connor Staine is a 6-4/200 RHP, out of Central Florida. 

His 2022 stat line was:  10-starts, 4-1, 0.92, 39-IP, 46-K, 15-BB 

MLB.com says this about Staine: 

Scouting grades: 

Fastball: 55 | Slider: 50 | Curveball: 45 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 45 | Overall: 45 

A product of the New Jersey high school ranks, Staine began his college career at the University of Maryland, pitching sparingly out of the bullpen as a freshman in the shortened 2020 season, then getting inconsistent work in 2021. That led him to transfer to Central Florida for a better opportunity to start, and he’s served largely as the Friday night guy for the Knights this year. He didn’t allow an earned run until mid-April. 

Staine is a 6-foot-5 athletic right-hander with a loose arm and some upside. His fastball has been up to 96-97 mph and has averaged just over 93 mph this year at Central Florida, a bit of a velocity spike from earlier in his college career. His 80-81 mph slider has also improved, and while it’s probably fringy now, it has an up arrow next to it and it’s easy to see it being an average breaking ball that misses bats. He can fold in a slower get-me-over curve, and while he doesn’t throw it much, he shows feel for at least an average changeup. 

While he’s largely been around the strike zone, Staine’s command has come and gone at times this season. A minor back issue slowed him a bit, as did a blister, but his size and pure stuff provide some projection and a college arm to dream on in the top few rounds. 

Mack - Staine has flown under the radar this season because his college starting didn’t really start until this past season. 

A very dominant stat like for a team with a lot of losses.

Buffalo, NY – The Syracuse Mets scored four runs in the top of the eighth inning to beat the Buffalo Bisons, 4-2, on Saturday night at Sahlen Field. With the win, Syracuse has secured a series victory, winning four of the first six games of this seven-game series against Buffalo.   

Buffalo (43-40) scored the game’s first run in the bottom of the second inning. Stevie Berman was hit by a pitch to start the frame. Then, Cullen Large doubled to put runners at second and third base. After Chavez Young popped out, Nick Podkul grounded out to shortstop, but Berman scored on the play to give the Bisons a 1-0 lead.   

Syracuse (36-47) held Buffalo’s offense in check after that point. Starting pitcher Nate Fisher didn’t allow a hit the rest of his outing. In all, Fisher pitched four and one-third innings while allowing just two hits and the one run. Stephen Nogosek then came out of the bullpen and pitched one and two-thirds scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Nogosek now has a 1.27 ERA in 21 and one-third innings pitched in Triple-A this season. Michel Otañez followed with a 1-2-3 seventh inning to keep the deficit at one.   

The Mets offense broke through in the top of the eighth. Travis Jankowski singled, Kramer Robertson singled, and Francisco Álvarez was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Kahlil Lee then stepped to the plate and was also hit by a pitch to score Jankowski and tie the game up, 1-1. Nick Dini followed with a two-run single into right field that brought home Robertson and Álvarez to give the Mets a 3-1 lead. Gosuke Katoh put the capper on the inning with a single into right field that plated Lee to push the Syracuse advantage to three, 4-1.   

The Bisons did respond in the bottom of the eighth. Spencer Horwitz led off with a home run that he crushed over the right-field wall to trim the Mets lead to two, 4-2. This is Horwitz’s first week in Triple-A, and the 24-year-old has gone 8-for-19 at the plate with three doubles and a home run, including a three-hit day on Saturday.    

The home run to Horwitz was the only run that Mets reliever Trey Cobb allowed. The right-hander retired the next three batters in order. Then, Bryce Montes de Oca entered out of the Syracuse bullpen and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning with three strikeouts to secure his third save of the season and the 4-2 Syracuse win. 

 

The Binghamton Spiedies (3-8, 31-49) fell to the Portland Sea Dogs 11-5 on Saturday night at Mirabito Stadium as the Sea Dogs have now taken five out of six against Binghamton. 

Down 2-0, Zach Ashford’s RBI single in the second made it a 2-1 game in the second but the one-run deficit became five after a sacrifice fly from Christian Koss in the second and a three-run home run from Alex Binelas in the fourth off Ponies starter Justin Lasko (3-2). Portland tacked on two more in the sixth to increase its lead to 8-1. 

The Spiedies didn’t go away quietly however as a solo home run from Luke Ritter and RBI singles from Jeremy Vasquez, Ashford and Brandon McIlwain shrunk the margin to just three at 8-5. Ashford went 2-4 with two RBI. 

Portland (9-2, 39-41) added three in the ninth on three bases loaded walks to make the score 11-5. Relief pitcher Zach Bryant (1-3) got the win for the Sea Dogs pitching two and two-thirds scoreless innings giving up a hit and striking out four. 

Sea Dogs outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela went 4-5 with four singles and two runs scored and Izzy Wilson went 2-6 with two RBI. 

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 9, 2022) – Saturday’s game between the St. Lucie Mets and Daytona Tortugas was postponed due to inclement weather. 

The teams will play a doubleheader on Sunday at Jackie Robinson Ballpark to wrap up the series. First pitch is game 1 is 3:35 p.m.