Last night on the farm was basically about starting pitchers trying to one up each other. How childish, right? Let’s take a closer look:
Gwinnett 5, Buffalo 3 10 innings
Jeremy Hefner made another strong start, going 7.2 innings and giving up 2 runs on 4 hits while striking out 6. Josh Edgin gave up 1 run on 2 hits and struck out 1; his ERA is now at 8.22. Val Pascucci was 3 for 5 with an RBI. Omar Quintanilla doubled twice. This lineup continues to struggle, as it is made up mostly of minor league veterans and lacks any true prospects outside of Zach Lutz.
Binghamton 9, New Hampshire 2
Zach Wheeler only lasted 5 innings throwing 94 pitches, but he struck out 7 and walked 1 while giving up a couple runs. He earned his second victory of the year after missing a start with fingernail problems. Armando Rodriguez and Jeff Kaplan both pitched 2 scoreless innings each. Rodriguez recorded 6 outs, allowed 1 hit and struck out 5. The B-Mets racked up 14 hits in all. Raul Reyes and Juan Lagares had 3 each. Reyes drove in 3 and Lagares had 2 RBI’s. Reese Havens also had 2 RBI’s on a 1 for 4 night that included a double. Matt Den Dekker was 2 for 5.
St. Lucie 4, Brevard County 3
Chris Young made his first rehab appearance and everything went well. Young pitched 5 shutout innings allowing 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4. Hamilton Bennett pitched 2 innings, blowing the save but ending up with the win. Adam Kolarek gave up a couple runs in 1.2 innings. They were the first runs he has given up all year. He also struck out 3 and his ERA remains under 1. Adrian Rosario picked up save number 10 on the year. Ronny Cedeno also made his first rehab start, going 0 for 4 and playing 9 innings at shortstop. Cory Vaughn also went 0 for 4, returning to the lineup after missing a couple games with a bruised glute. Cesar Puello was 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles and Daniel Muno hit his 4th homer of the year to lead the offense.
Savannah 7, Hickory 2
The bad news is the Gnats committed 5 errors. The good news is they only allowed 3 hits. Domingo Tapia started and allowed no hits for 5.2 innings. He did allow 3 walks and an unearned run in that time while striking out 6. Marco Camarena pitched the next 2.1 innings allowing another run and all 3 hits while striking out 4. Jeffrey Walters finished out the 9th. Walters didn’t start the season with Savannah but he has yet to allow a run in his first 11.1 innings, and has struck out 14 along the way. The Gnats bats were unusually productive, totaling 11 hits and getting 7 runs on the board. Dustin Lawley was 3 for 5 with an RBI. Brandon Brown, Travis Taijeron, and Brian Harrison all had 2 hits each, including a double. Harrison drove in 3 runs.
18 comments
Prismo
5/11/2012-9:33am at 9:33 am (UTC -4)
With so many starter prospects pitching well, the Mets might actually have some depth at the position within a year or two!
trs86
5/11/2012-10:19am at 10:19 am (UTC -4)
Well, I missed the Gnats game last night as I was packing to head with the family down to Charlotte for the weekend and do the camping, Carowinds (theme park) and Bisons vs Knights games. Can’t wait to see Harvey Sunday. Hopefully I can get some good pics.
Prismo
5/11/2012-2:45pm at 2:45 pm (UTC -4)
What do we need to do to drum up business on the blog? It’s always dead on off-days and the days after before the next game.
Bryan
5/11/2012-3:03pm at 3:03 pm (UTC -4)
say something controversial, that’ll work. Or, if you want the safe approach, ask me a minor league question and I’ll answer it in great detail.
Prismo
5/11/2012-3:28pm at 3:28 pm (UTC -4)
Who is the worst minor leaguer in the Mets organization?
(that aughtta take you awhile
)
Bryan
5/11/2012-3:50pm at 3:50 pm (UTC -4)
It actually wasn’t that hard to think of someone. Of the four affiliates currently playing, Savannah’s Tillman Pugh has been by far the worst and most disappointing minor leaguer in the system this year. He has 5 hits in 14 games for a line of .096/.175/.154. That’s really bad. I thought he’d be much better and might actually turn into a guy worth keeping an eye on because he’s such a great athlete, playing both football and baseball in high school, and playing on winning teams.
Prismo
5/11/2012-3:42pm at 3:42 pm (UTC -4)
Okay, real question. Is Tapia for real?
Bryan
5/11/2012-4:13pm at 4:13 pm (UTC -4)
Well, until a guy is in the big leagues and producing, especially for pitchers, you never know if someone is for real or not.
Right now there’s every reason to think he has a chance to be for real because thus far in his career everything has gone better than expected. If the rest of the season goes the same as his season has gone so far (3 real good starts, 2 pretty good starts, and 1 bad start) then you’ll undoubtedly see him in every single top-10 list you see next offseason, probably top-5 in most.
One thing to like about Tapia is that his production has always been good. With minor leaguers a lot of times its about projection and what kind of stuff they have, but in addition to that Tapia has performed well during his minor league career, putting him a good ERA and a nice WHIP in his first 2 plus seasons. So that’s definitely something to like.
As far as his stuff goes, there’s tons to like. Aside from being able to throw some serious mid 90′s plus heat, his fastball is so heavy, he’s just a ground ball machine. In his start on May 3 he only struck out 3 in 7.1 innings b/c the batters knew what was coming, they swing, made contact, but couldn’t do anything but produce a weak grounder. He also has a nice changeup and a slider that’s coming along, so if things develop well he could/should have 3 pitches that are at least average or above average, including a fastball that’s looking like a plus pitch.
He’s also 6’4” and still just 20 years old so he has the frame of a power-pitching starter and he could conceivably get stronger and throw even harder. Of course, as much as people want to get excited about him, he still has a long way to go. A lot can happen in the next couple years so to say he’s for real and a certain big leaguer would be premature. But his promise is off the charts, and right now his ceiling may be second highest in the organization behind Wheeler.
If you really want a time frame on him, I’d say he spends all of 2012 in Savannah, all of 2013 in St. Lucie, after which he needs to be added to the 40-man roster. He starts 2014 in Binghamton and if things go perfectly could be a September call up that year, or more realistically makes it to the big leagues in 2015.
Prismo
5/11/2012-4:38pm at 4:38 pm (UTC -4)
*bows down to your knowledge*
Great stuff, but phew is that a long time-frame! What an amazing process these guys go through compared to say…NFL prospects.
Regardless, great to see all these upside pitchers in the minors for us. So you’re not huge on Harvey?
Bryan
5/11/2012-4:49pm at 4:49 pm (UTC -4)
Please, no need to bow.
With Harvey, I think he’s more of a sure thing to contribute in the majors than anyone else. At this point it’s hard to imagine him not contributing in the big leagues at some point. But I’m not sure his ceiling is as high as Wheeler’s. It may not be as high as Tapia’s either, but of course Tapia is still a lot of projection at this point with his size, age, fastball, and early signs of quality secondary stuff.
srt
5/11/2012-10:27pm at 10:27 pm (UTC -4)
Your knowledge of the minor league guys down there is amazing.
Hazmet
5/11/2012-3:25pm at 3:25 pm (UTC -4)
Alrighty then, I’ll throw this out there to try to elicit something:
If the Nat’s stick to their guns and really do shutdown Strasberg in mid-August like they said they will do, regardless of where they are in the standings, where will they finish?
I say they don’t contend and finish 4th.
Pass or play.
Prismo
5/11/2012-3:32pm at 3:32 pm (UTC -4)
Well, assuming they don’t trade Lannan he would be their replacement. Lannan is seriously struggling in AAA, but we know he’s a decent starting pitcher. Considering the late point in the season, I can’t see this affecting more than a couple/few outcomes for the Nats. Of course, that could be the difference between making the playoffs and not making them, but I don’t think it’ll be the difference between a 94 win team and an 82 win team.
The Nationals will get so much heat if they’re in the race and they shut him down though…I kind of hope that happens just to hear about it.
Hazmet
5/11/2012-3:55pm at 3:55 pm (UTC -4)
My thoughts exactly on hoping this happens just for the melodrama of it all. Thinking WC too with the extra spot it’s quite possible they’ll be in the thick of both the division and WC.
I also thought of Lannan too but I’ve been wondering if he’s been tanking on purpose to get out of the organization so when called up he might not give it 100% for them.
Prismo
5/11/2012-4:02pm at 4:02 pm (UTC -4)
I’m not sure he’d do in on purpose, but I would think his performance is very likely related to his frustration with being stuck in the minors after several years of being a successful starter (and on of the best in his team’s rotation).
Either way, it’s lowering his trade value and I know teams are interested.
gategem
5/11/2012-4:08pm at 4:08 pm (UTC -4)
The Nats have no reason to trade him for essentially very little in return. He’s already in the minors so he’s not a cancer on the big club and the Nats could let him stay in the minors for the remainder of the season.
gategem
5/11/2012-4:04pm at 4:04 pm (UTC -4)
When your livelihood is at stake only an idiot would purposely “tank it” (Hello Gary Sheffield).
Stickguy
5/11/2012-5:18pm at 5:18 pm (UTC -4)
TRS keeps championing getting Lannan from the nats. Not expecting it, but it is his dream.
\
the Nats won’t suffer that much if they shut him down at the end of August. If they are still in first then, they certainly can stay in first (if nothing else changes). As long as they can plug the gap with someone decent (or get lucky with a quick start out of another prospect) just not going to be enough starts in there to matter.