INT’L LEAGUE HITTERS DO THIS TO EVEN VERY FINE PITCHERS
Out in the hitting-crazed PCL yesterday, Tacoma scored 2 runs in the top of the first, and no doubt were feeling blessed, but then got bludgeoned by Reno, 22-4. Runs happen. Bad days do, too.
Brandon Sproat’s AAA debut by comparison was not so bad after all.
First inning, after 11 straight Ks in his last outing? No runs, no hits, no Ks. Second inning, 1-2-3, 2 Ks. Rolling along.
Third inning? Not nearly so friendly. 6 runs on 6 hits, including 2 homers.
I only saw one of them. A guy named Hickey, a lefty hitter, pummeled a 97 MPH pitch knee high on the inside corner fastball for a 3 run blast.
The other HR was hit by a 28 year old catcher named Gasper who has never hit a lot until his time in AAA this year, where he is scorching at .392 in 130 at bats, after hitting .282 in 40+ games in AA earlier this year.
So, it seems like one of those s..t happens innings. Every pitcher has them. He then threw 1.2 more scoreless innings before the hook.
Next Sproat start is likely to be quite different. And much better.
Joey Lucchesi, who has struggled a lot over the past few months, went 3.2 scoreless innings.
Luke Ritter needs to change his name to Luke Raker.
He hit his 23rd, a 2 run shot giving him an IL-leading EIGHTY ONE RBIs, and added a hit and a walk. He might be the league’s MVP at this rate.
Brooklyn lost 4-3, but Felipe de la Cruz went 6, allowing 3 hits and 2 runs and fanning 7.
Nick Morabito had 2 hits and a walk and 2 steals, giving him 49 steals in 95 games. A real good one, that Morabito.
St Lucie had a Starling Marte HR, but just one other team hit in a lopsided loss. If StLucie had Marte all year, they’d probably be a sub-.500 team. They fell to 34-69. (.330 for you mathematicians).
Binghamton got rained out.
The Mets got a much needed win behind ace David Peterson (6-1, 3.34).
Alonso hit 3 hits and including 2 HRs totaling 925 feet, and added 3 ribbies, and Vientos added his 17th and hit a few more deep flies that were caught. What would those 2 do if they plated in Coors? Tyrone Taylor had a few hits AND a few far-ranging catches. And OMG Iglesias had 2 RBIs and is hitting friggin’ .333. Lindor had his first XBH in 12 games, and hopefully is reignited.
Off to Seattle, where scoring runs is stingy, the opposite of Coors.
Seattle’s home pitching ERA is 2.85. Road? 4.25.
Quite the disparity.
Win all 3 in Seattle, you Metsies, and get back home happy.
Atlanta has lost 5 in a row, and the Mets jumped over them into their WC spot. San Diego and Az are SIZZLING and reside in the other 2 WC spots as of right now. SD got lucky as a 9th inning botched DP by Pittsburgh allowed them to snatch a come-from-behind win.
The DSL? Too many walks, steals, errors and hit batsmen to count.
Crisp DSL baseball, as always.
6 comments:
It will be interesting to see how Sproat does next time out.
Another Brennan “what if”…. Ben Joyce fanned Martinez recently in one of the Angels games to get the save. The last pitch? 104.7 MPH. Essentially 105 MPH. JOYCE was picked JUST ONE PICK before the Mets first drafted Sproat in 2022, the draft year when Sproat did not sign. Joyce has already been in 34 MLB games in relief. Would the Mets have picked Joyce in 2022 instead of Sproat one pick later, if the Angels had picked someone other than Joyce? We will likely never know. The Mets, of course, picked Sproat again in 2023.
Tom,
Always enjoy the minor league reports. Thanks for the posts. I have found minor league players to be very inconsistent, but seeing a kid strike out in a low A game ( Columbia,S.C.)and then start at third for the Mets years later ( David Wright) makes it all worth it.
D J, I chose to do one today because of Sproat and Ritter. Ritter is exactly one of my pet peeves: the not only not allowing teams to any longer expand the roster to 40 (very few did), but lowering it from 40 to 28. Ritter has a glass ceiling. A few years back, when it was stil 40, Travis Taijeron got a chance. He failed, but he got to the show. I wonder if Ritter ever gets to the Show. If it was still 40, or even 32, and not just 28, when 15 of them will be pitchers, he'd undoubtedly be called up Sept 1. Under current rules, I'd be shocked if he is.
The Dodgers are excellent in the International Arena. Emil Morales was signed for $2.4 million. This year, he is .346/.489/.699 with 13 HRs.
Seattle's starters vs. the Mets this weekend have a combined 1.04 WHIP. Seattle has only had 5 starts taken beyond their regular 5 starters. Compare to Mets. Mets, however, have scored nearly a run per game more than Seattle.
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