Gulf Coast League
- The GCL Mets beat the GCL Astros 7-6 Monday. 5 players drafted in 2009 took part. 3B Josh Dunn came on for defensive purposes in the 8th inning but did not make a plate appearance. RF Cody Holliday was 0 for 2 with 2 walks. In the 2nd inning, 1B Travis Ozga walked and came around to score. He finished the game 0 for 3. CF ZeErika Hall had a 4th inning RBI single and stole his 2nd base of the season. The RBI was his 4th of the season. He wound up 1 for 4 in the game. C Nelfi Zapata singled in the 5th inning and hit his 4th double of the season in the 7th to drive in his 12th run in 14 games this season. His 2 for 4 on the game raised his average to .378. For more see the box score and recap. The GCL Mets are currently in 1st place in the GCL East division with a record of 12-5.
Appalachian League
- The Bristol Sox beat the Kingsport Mets 7-4 Monday. It was not a big night for 2009 draftees. Darrell Ceciliani came on as a defensive replacement in RF in the 7th inning and walked in his only plate appearance. He replaced John Semel who went 0 for 3. C John Freeman also went 0 for 3. Kurt Steinhauer singled pinch hitting for Freeman in the 9th and finished 1 for 1. See the box score and recap for more. The K-Mets are currently in last place in the Appalachian West Division with a record of 7-14, 10 games out of 1st place.
Since once again 2 of the 4 teams that have 2009 draftees on them had the night off, let’s fill some space by taking a look at another Mets top 10 prospect.
- Baseball America ranks Jonathon Niese the #3 prospect in the Mets system. Niese was selected in the 7th round of the 2005 draft. He made 7 appearances, 5 starts, in the rookie level Gulf Coast League that year. 2006 he spent mostly at the A ball level (then Hagerstown) from where he was briefly promoted to advanced A ball, where he spent all of 2007 with the St. Lucie Mets. In 2008 he made 22 starts at AA Binghamton, 7 at AAA (then New Orleans), and 3 for the major league club. This year he has spent the majority of the season at AAA Buffalo, but did make 2 starts for the Mets May 8th and 13th, both no decisions for Niese. May 8th was versus Pittsburgh and Niese allowed 2 runs over 6 innings. 5 days later versus Atlanta he allowed 5 runs in 4 2/3 innings, and was shortly returned to Buffalo. His stay in Buffalo has been A Tale Of Two Seasons. In April and May, he made a total of 7 starts for Buffalo. He allowed 48 hits and 34 runs (28 earned) in 31 2/3 innings to go 0-4 with an ERA of 7.96. Since then, in 8 starts he has allowed 45 hits and 13 runs (12 earned) in 55 2/3 innings, going 4-2 with an ERA of 1.94. Jon may be letting the Mets know he’s ready to help them in the second half, and beyond. Niese was recently named IL Pitcher of the Week. Mike Silva of New York Baseball Digest believes it is time for Niese to join the Mets rotation. He played little league and high school varsity baseball with Chad Billingsley. Jerry Manuel considers Niese to be a safety valve that he’s not sure he wants to use right now. Mack’s Mets has a quickie take on what Niese attributes his recent improvement to.
Brad Holt
- Baseball America named AA Binghamton starting pitcher Brad Holt “Prospect Pitcher of the Day” for Monday. Holt (1-3, 5.79) picked up his 1st Binghamton win by throwing 7 shutout innings, allowing 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 7. Check out the game story. Holt photo courtesy mrzeising of Flickr. Happy All-Star Game day!
4 comments
wannybackstra
7/14/2009-11:11am at 11:11 am (UTC -4)
It looks to me like Livan is starting to fade away, which should open the door for Niese at some point (unless John Maine is ready). But I’m hoping that the break helps Livan regain his strength and that he pitches like he did earlier in the season.
Nieve’s spot may be up for grabs eventually too.
Holt’s ERA is largely the result of a shellacking he received during his first start back from his injury.
Jenrry Mejia was held out of the Future’s game because of his finger injury.
stickguy
7/14/2009-11:25am at 11:25 am (UTC -4)
” C Nelfi Zapata singled in the 5th inning and hit his 4th double of the season in the 7th to drive in his 12th run in 14 games this season. His 2 for 4 on the game raised his average to .378.”
C’mon, what more do we need to see? Free tha man already (kid? Boy? Heck, he might be younger than my son!)
also nice to see Holt with his 2nd straight dominant performance. Having some nice pitching prospects knocking on the door for a change is a good thing.
I think they are putting Livan on a start by start basis. If he sucks next time out, he could be done. if he does OK, he gets one more.
I forgot about Maine rehabbing. If he is coming back in a few weeks, that could easily push Livan out too.
Johan, Pelf, Maine, Perez and Neise? Very lefty, but could certainly be your 2010 rotation right there, with Holt as #6 waiting for the inevitable injury.
wannybackstra
7/14/2009-12:14pm at 12:14 pm (UTC -4)
Zapata certainly seems to be the standout among the draft picks very early on. I guess Sam Honeck deserves some recognition too.
GravediggerHebner
7/14/2009-12:20pm at 12:20 pm (UTC -4)
I can’t figure out what’s happened to Honeck. He started every game at 1B batting 3rd right out of the gate, then about a week ago disappeared from the box scores. He’s still listed on Brooklyn’s roster as active but the OF Alex Gregory has been playing 1B.
Joe Bonfe was off to a nice start at Kingsport with the bat, but had made I believe 6 errors at 3B. I’m interested to see how he does in Brooklyn now that he’s been promoted.