MACK – THOUGHTS & OTHER TIDBITS

 

MACK – THOUGHTS & OTHER TIDBITS

 

Thoughts

 

One doesn’t put on a NEW YORK Mets uniform, on 9/11, then walk into NEW YORK Yankee Stadium, and try to lose a baseball game. There’s probably no game on the Schule that means more to a NEW YORK baseball player than this annual sacred game against your fellow city team. So, trust me, Nolan McLean did not jump into the tank on Friday night. He not only gave up 10 hits, but one of them was a home run against his deadly curveball. Actually, the first time that has been done all season. So much for his chances to become the Rookie of the Year. Shite happens, and in the Bronx, it just did.

 

Game Two vs. the Yankees proved two things to me… one, the nucleus of Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor, Carson Benge, and AJ Ewing are developing quite the formation of a primo foundation for a solid pennant contender. Yes, there are five more steady bats to create a killer lineup, but these are four bats than any major league pitcher is going to find hard to get through. The other thing this game proves is this version is not going to sit on their hands and wind up with one of the six worse records in the league. Nope. Not gonna happen.

 

I’m just thrilled that SP Jonah Tong is finally coming around. His 6.0-IP, 4-H, 0-ER- BB, 6-K outing on Monday, against Baltimore, is a vast improvement from the 4-R he gave up on his previous major league outing on September 7^th. We may just have found our 4^th rotation piece to join his buddies (McLean, Scott, Thornton) in the 2027 Mets rotation. Team control heaven.

 

RP Nate Lavender continues to impress at the MLB level. Tuesday brought 1.2 scoreless innings, four strikeouts, and an ERA of 1.59. The 26/year old now has 17 major league appearances under his belt and he just may be a permanent member of the future Mets pen. 22-Ks in 17-IP, and a WHIP of 0.88 doesn’t hurt either.

 

On Wednesday, the Mets managed only seven singles and struck out eight times. That lack of effort doesn’t win ballgames. The good news came from RP Jefry Yan, who returned and three scoreless innings while jumping all around the mound. I’m tellin’ ya… some day some bat is going to come loose from a pissed off batter and…

 

Promotions

 

RP Luis Rodriguez – from A+ Brooklyn to AA-Binghamton

3B Jefferson Rojas – from AA-Binghamton to AAA-Syracuse

RP Jefry Yan – from AAA-Syracuse to MLB-Mets

 

Prospect Color Changes

 

AA-Binghamton SP Jack Wenninger from RED to BLUE

 

Minor Tidbits

 

So, we’re down to one active minor league team. The question for me was who from the Binghamton roster gets promoted on Monday. Well, the Mets beat me and promoted 3B Jefferson Rojas on Sunday night. Amick, Pitre, Mauricio, Rojas… that’s quite the infield that have going there.

It wasn’t the three strikeouts Rojas had in his AAA debut on Tuesday; it was what he did with his other at-bats. Two hits, one home run, and three runs batted in. Welcome to Syracuse, Jefferson.

On Wednesday, he did it again… 3-3, .625, 2.042-OPS, 2^nd AAA homer, 26 total. Let’s say he ended this season this hot… at this level… just where do you start him off next year?

 

The additional observation… do you realize that, if there is a strike next opening day, do you realize how powerful the Syracuse Mets are going to be. All the cream from Binghamton rises to there and all the current cream remains. Hitting, power, speed, defense, pitching… everything will be there. And, SNY will probably televise the games. You basically will get to see the majority of the 2028 Mets in action. I’m just saying…

 

I’m starting to doubt the future of AAA/Syracuse SP Jack Wenninger. He went 5-IP, 6-H, 2-ER, 2-BB, 7-K on last Thursday, which just may be the best he can do in the future. Whether this translates into the MLB level is your guess. My guess is a pen piece at best.

 

Are we supposed to take AAA/Syracuse OF, ML Melendez, serious? Friday, he went 4-5, 3-R, 18^th-double, 19^th & 20^th-HR and raised his seasonal AAA BA to .266 and OPS to .968. He’s only 27 and it seems he would make a perfect 5^th outfielder next season. But I still have one question… his proper name is Mervyl S. Melendez. Where did the J come from?

 

You always like to end the season with a great outing. Right? Well, AA-Binghamton starter, R.J. Gordon didn’t on Friday night. He only pitched 1.2 innings, giving up 1-HR, 3-BB,4-H, and 6-ER. It doesn’t matter what his ERA now is. Just a bad ending to a bad season.

 

AA-Binghamton RHSP, Gabe Davis, continues to impress. On Saturday, he went 4.2-IP, 4-H, 1-R, 1-BB, 3-K and improved his ERA to a respectable 2.53. Davis came to the Mets earlier this season, in a trade for RP Huascar Brazoban. The 6-9 ex-teammate of both Carson Benge and AJ Ewing throws a downhill plane fastball that hits 100. In case you didn’t know this, 6-9 and 100 work well together.

 

AAA-Syracuse 2B, Emilien Pitre, put up another multiple-hit game on Saturday, going 2-4,2-R, 1-RBI, 1-BB, .292, .802-RBI. For the season, he was then at 4o7-AB, .312, .861-OPS, with 6-HR, 58-RBI, and 35-SB. Yes, he only had 65 at-bats at the AAA level, but this guy may just be ready to take the place of Marcus Semien on opening day. Why not? 2027 is going to be a building year to 2028 anyway. Would Cohen grow a pair and dump both Semien and Jorge Polanco? Now THAT’S the 64,000 question.

 

Well, so much for AAA/RP Ryan Lambert being back. Sunday: 0.2-IP, 1-H, one friggin’ hit, 4-ER, 2-BB, 1-K, 1-HR. His ERA is now 7.61. Leave it that way. Shut him down and start thinking about what winter ball league you want to send him to.