Ike's Walk Rate, R.A. Dickey, Mets Organizational 1B Projections, Projec Protest... and Who's Next?

Ike’s Walk Rate:


He also showed patience last year by posting a walk rate of more than 11%, but the strikeouts could be an issue, especially early on in his MLB career. Davis had a 26% strikeout rate last season. It remains to be seen how well Davis will hit for average; it’s risen with each promotion but so has his BABIP, which was up to .381 in double-A. Given his lack of foot speed, Davis is unlikely to maintain that high rate as a result, which will ultimately be felt in the batting average. His struggles against southpaws could also be an issue (OPS of .672 vs southpaws in ‘09, 1.000 vs right-handers) unless a platoon situation – which would make a lot of sense – is utilized, at least early on in his career. - link

R.A. Dickey:

Stock Up: Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey threw his second great game in a row last night. That’s 4-ER in 17.0-IP with 7-K and 2-BB… yes, the Mets pitching is holding their own right now, but the future of John Maine as a rotational pitcher remains in question. Dickey gives the Mets an additional option to Tobi Stoner, who does have MLB experience, but not as a starter. Fellow-Bison Dillon Gee may be off the a great start, but I don’t see him coming to Queens until possibly September. The Mets other option would be Fernando Nieve switching roles with Maine.

Mets Organization 1B Projections:

Don’t look for any big moves at this position because Ike Davis went to Queens. Mike Hessman (.333/.381/.722/1.103), who has been playing 3B at Buffalo, will return to his “other” position, first, allowing Mike Cervenak, to be the everyday third baseman. For the record, going into this season, Hessman has played 199 games at 1B, 1288 at third, 97 in the outfield, 16 at short, 5 at 2B, one as a catcher. And 4 times as a pitcher. Now, THAT’s a utility player! Regarding Chris Carter, it seems the Mets are content using him as a DH this season and not developing him into any kind of positional player.


UPDATE: AA-Binghamton 1Bman, Marshall Hubbard, was injured in the 2nd inning Friday night and Hector Pellot replaced him at first. Word is Nick Evans was not in uniform and probably on the way to Buffalo… but now what? We'll update this when we find out...

Prospect Protest:

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – Nearly 1,000 baseball prospects and their coaches protested outside the hotel of Major League Baseball (MLB) representative Sandy Alderson on Wednesday in Santo Domingo. Alderson has been tasked by MLB to curb the corruption besetting the Dominican baseball scene Due to rampant age fraud, the use of performance enhancing drugs, and the theft of signing bonuses by unscrupulous Dominican recruiters, Alderson has devised several unilateral measures that he detailed in meetings with scouts of MLB teams. However, several scouts left with serious concerns. Diariolibre.com reported that some scouts who met with Alderson confirmed under the condition of anonymity that Alderson’s proposals could signal the death of the Dominican Summer League while reducing the number of prospects signed by each MLB organization. -
link

Who’s Next?

Okay, Ike Davis has arrived, joining Jenrry Mejia as two members of the “Class of 2011” now in Queens. So, who comes next? A return of Tejada? F-Mart? Well, hopefully, the next “new” Met you see will be CF Carlos Beltran… once that happens, Angel Pagan will become the 4th outfielder and we probably have seen the last of Gary Mathews Jr… beyond that, my vote would be RP Manny Acosta (0.91 WHIP so far this season) to replace Mejia and return him to Binghamton, as a starter. After that, Daniel Murphy will be returning… where is up to Ike. And that should be it until well after the all-star break. No one else is close to ready, and, frankly, there is enough talent on this team to compete. Trust me, if Jose Reyes, David Wright, and Jason Bay start hitting the way they can, this team will win more ballgames than last year.