St. Lucie clinching the first half title was the last night’s highlight down on the farm! There were a few other games too, including the season opener in the Gulf Coast League:
Durham 2, Buffalo 1
Dylan Owen did a fine job, but took the loss. Owen pitched 6 innings, giving up just 2 runs while striking out 5. Dale Thayer had 2 scoreless frames in relief. Zach Lutz had 2 hits, including a home run to give the Herd its only run on the night. Nick Evans also had 2 hits.
St. Lucie 3, Charlotte 2 11 innings
In dramatic fashion, Cesar Puello launched a double to left field allowing Travis Ozga to score from first with the winning run to give the Mets a walk-off win to seal a playoff birth. (According to the radio broadcast, the team mobbed Puello at 2nd base afterwards. Championship t-shirts were also handed out while the song “Celebration” was played at Digital Domain Park *cough Tradition Field cough*. Here’s a picture from Matt Den Dekker’s twitter feed: http://yfrog.com/kjgvmcj). Matt Harvey likely bid the Florida State League adieu with 6 strong innings, 2 runs, 1 earned, and 4 strikeouts. Josh Edgin allowed a runner inherited from Harvey to score, but was able to limit the damage. Nick Carr pitched 2 shutout innings, and Jeffrey Kaplan was perfect in the 11th and got credited for the win. Before knocking in the winning run, Puello had 3 hits on the night, as did Jefry Marte. Wilmer Flores was the only starter not to get a hit. Besides a playoff spot in September, what is St. Lucie’s reward after winning the South Division? A 10:30 a.m. start this morning.
Brooklyn 5, Aberdeen 4
As seen on SNY, the Cyclones edged the IronBirds to improve to 3-1 on the year. Chris Hilliard got the win after completing 5 shutout innings, giving up 3 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 3. Orlando Tovar gave up 3 runs, and looked very erratic, but Steve Winnick cleaned up his mess, getting 7 outs without allowing a hit. Jeremy Gould allowed a solo homerun, but still managed to get his 2nd save of the year. Brandon Brown was the only Cyclone who had a multiple hit game. Javier Rodriguez, Richard Lucas, and Travis Taijeron each drove in a run.
GCL Nationals 5, GCL Mets 3
The Gulf Coast League is underway, and Gabriel Ynoa got the start on the mound for the Mets on opening day. Ynoa went 5 innings, giving up 3 runs on 7 hits, and took the loss. Juan Gamboa and Jeyckol De Leon had 2 hits apiece.
DSL Mets1 3, DSL Nationals 2
Five different pitchers combined for a 3-hitter for the Mets, with Lenny Rosario getting the win after striking out 3, but also walking 3. Left fielder Jose Figuera had 2 hits, including a double. Catcher Adrian Abreu drove doubled and drove in 2 runs to help get the win.
A few more thoughts from watching the Cyclones game on TV (although I was admittedly distracted listening to the St. Lucie radio broadcast):
- Chris Hilliard wasn’t spectacular, which I guess can be expected in his first start of the year (although he did pitch one inning for St. Lucie and got roughed up earlier this spring). It being his 4th year in the organization and winning 9 games in Brooklyn last year, I thought he’d be a little more polished, but it was a promising start, and I do think there’s a good chance he heads to Savannah at some point.
- Definitely expected better out of Orlando Tovar, hopefully he picks it up.
- Really like Daniel Muno. College seniors have little leverage when negotiating signing bonuses, and I don’t think Muno even tried much to negotiate. He took $10,000 and signed quickly so he could get started right away, I like that. Kevin and Bobby O talked about him playing every game in college and always being on winning teams, that shouldn’t be overlooked. He may not have the best tools, or be a slam-dunk big leaguer, but watching him in the field and watching him leg out that triple, you can see the effort and you can tell he wants to play the game and play it the right way, which is a great thing to have in the minor leagues.
- You can see the talent in Javier Rodriguez, but it’s about the time when you have to results and stats.
- Richard Lucas did not have impressive range or defensive skills. Between that and having his development thrown off track last year by being pushed to a level he wasn’t ready for he is not where he could be after being a high draft pick and legitimate prospect a couple years ago. All that might be too much to overcome.
- Brian Harrison has gotten off to a slow start, but I like his bat.
-Travis Taijeron (pronounced like Tyrone, go figure) impressed me, despite 2 strikeouts; he’ll be one to watch.
- Could that throw down to second by Nelfi Zapata on the stolen base attempt have been any more perfect? He is someone to keep tabs on.
8 comments
metsfan4decades
6/21/2011-10:52am at 10:52 am (UTC -4)
I too watched the SNY broadcast of that Cyclone’s game last night. I don’t often get to see the minor league teams so this was a treat.
Bobby O was not that impressed with Tovar’s pitches and rightfully so. He almost gave that game away. Zapata’s throw? yeah, do we finally have a legitimate catching prospect down there?
I was distracted for some of the game as well but I heard Bobby talking about Backman’s being impressed with some pitcher. I think it might have been Famillia but I’m not sure. Bobby said Backman doesn’t like ‘a whole lot of people’, nor does he give effusive praise often but he was raving about this kid. I believe he went on to say he feels he could be as dominant as Doc was. So we might have a ‘Little Doc’ developing down there? Sweet….
Bryan
6/21/2011-11:55am at 11:55 am (UTC -4)
Zapata, I think is a legitimate catching prospect. There’s a couple more, there’s just no one that’s close, so unless you can make a trade you’re, it’ll be at least a couple more years of Thole and free agent X. Albert Cordero is legit, but young. Francisco Pena many think is approaching bust territory, but he’s still just 21 and playing in the FSL. Juan Centeno is hitting over .300 in PSL, but he’s a little small. Still waiting for Blake Forsythe to hit in Savannah.
Backman did say that he hasn’t seen someone like Familia since Doc Gooden. I actually thought it was funny when Bobby said that Wally doesn’t like a whole lot of people. Obviously there’s potential there, I just don’t think they can rush him, they need to give him plenty of time to refine his secondary pitches.
stickguy
6/21/2011-12:16pm at 12:16 pm (UTC -4)
I really liked what I read about Zapata a year or 2 back when he was drafted. Kid does have some power.
metsfan4decades
6/21/2011-1:40pm at 1:40 pm (UTC -4)
Wasn’t that you who kept posting ‘Free Zapata’?
Or was it another Zapata being referred to?
stickguy
6/21/2011-3:03pm at 3:03 pm (UTC -4)
that was me. And that was the Zapata. I remember he won some kind of HR contest at the Trop dome (where the rays play) in HS with some serious bombs.
Hey, eventually some catcher will really hit it big out of the system.
metsfan4decades
6/21/2011-1:39pm at 1:39 pm (UTC -4)
Thanks for the confirmation on Famillia. I thought it was him Backman was referring to. I too thought it was funny regarding the comments Bobby was making about Backman not liking anyone. LOL.
Famillia, Mejia, Harvey…might have a nice rotation up here in a couple of years.
I heard Pagan’s interview in the booth too during that one inning. I thought it rather telling how he kept going on about a great bunch of guys, the really good coaches, the chemistry in the clubhouse this year, etc. etc. He just about confirmed without really saying it that it was probably a mess on the big league club last year.
stickguy
6/21/2011-3:01pm at 3:01 pm (UTC -4)
I can feel a giant Knog “I told you so” coming soon…
stickguy
6/21/2011-12:14pm at 12:14 pm (UTC -4)
I hope that the Muno pick is a sign that they are looking to bring in complete ball players, not just flashy tool guys (especially ones that have no D to speak of!)
I have been to ironbirds stadium. Really nice place. Actually a whole complex there, with training facilities, other fields, etc. Cal and Billy Ripken own or have a stake in it, and run a summer BB camp that my son attended, and on the last day they went to the stadium complex to play.