Very interesting pieceon Brandon Nimmo in the Times today. Highly recommend checking it out. Other than that, tough night on the farm as only St Lucie won, and even that was a touch and go affair.
Louisville 5, Buffalo 3
The good news? Jeurys Familia got the walks under control (two in five innings) and kept the team in the game. Would have liked to see him go more than five, and he did give up six hits, though only one run scored. The fact that his outings are not really getting past five innings on good days leads me to believe the bullpen is probably in his near future. The bad news? Jenry Mejia gave up two more runs, this time in the eighth to allow the Bats to tie the score, and Fernando Cabrera gave up two of his own in the ninth for the loss. That would be seven in a row now for the Bisons. Matt den Dekker had a solo homer, so that’s nice. However, he did strikeout again –that’s fifteen in fourteen AAA games. Jordanny Valdespin was 2 for 4 in his first game back in Buffalo.
Bowie 10, Binghamton 1
Speaking of guys who might head to the bullpen, the Mets have tried out Corey Mazzoni in a starter’s role this year, and that makes sense. Many scouts thought the former NC State closer who ultimately go back to the bullpen however . After a successful stint in the rotation at Hi-A, it would be interesting to see how he handles the jump to AA. Well, his first start went swimmingly. Last night? Not so much. Mazzoni what smacked around to the tune of 6IP, 7R, 6ER, 10H, 1BB, 4K – two homers. Not that it matters all that much. The B-Mets managed only three hits of their own. Hey, Brad Holt threw two scoreless! Also, bah-bah-Bowie jokes anyone?
St. Lucie 4, Daytona 3 (12 innings)
Alonzo Harris ( 4 for 7) delivered a two out single to plate Travis Taijeron with the winning run in the bottom of the twelfth, giving the Lucies the ‘W’ in an early morning affair (first pitch was at 10:30 AM). Tyler Pill got the start and went 6.1 shutout innings (five hits, one walk, six strikeouts), however, Jack Leathersitch got roughed up for two runs in the eighth and one in the ninth. In the bottom of the inning, Alonzo Harris led off with a double and Rylan Sandoval (3 for 6) singled him in to send it to extras. John Church, Jeffery Walters, and Hamilton Bennett (who got the win) combined for 3.2 scoreless innings of relief.
Charleston 7, Savannah 6 (10 innings)
Domingo Tapia’s innings are going to be limited until the AAL All Star break, so he only went three last night – though he did have some control issues (3IP, 1R, 2H, 3BB, 3K). Gilbert Gomez (two runs), Camden Maron (one RBI), and Brian Harrison (two RBI) all had three hits as the Sand Gnats took a 6-2 lead into the seventh. Jared West got roughed up for four runs in the bottom of the frame however, and the powerful River Dogs lineup pushed across a rerun in the bottom of the tenth for the win.
Hudson Valley 4, Brooklyn 2
The Cyclones were clinging to a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh when two errors on one [lay followed by a wild pitch gave the Renegades the lead and set up an insurance run. No confirmation if Yakkety Sax was playing during this sequence. Nimmo was 0 for 3 but drew yet another walk (his OBP is .405) and Kevin Plawecki was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
Danville 5, Kingsport 3
I keep on wanting to do a STEVE MATZ! shout every time I write about Steven Matz – a la Steve Holt from Arrested Development. I suppose it would be more apropos for Brad Holt. BRAD HOLT! Regardless, nice to see Matz getting some serious professional work in after he was the top pick (2nd round) in the ’09 draft out of a high school in East Setauket on Long Island. He took the loss last night in his first decision, but pitched well (5IP, 2R, 1ER, 3H, 1BB, 5K). After two major arm surgeries this is his de facto pro debut (outside of instructional league), but he will be 21 this year, so it is interesting to see how he progresses. Gavin Cecchini was 2 for 4 with an RBI.
Or rather Wright?!? } – 
7 comments
NJstuckinTX
6/27/2012-9:00am at 9:00 am (UTC -4)
Would like to start to see Nimmo hitting, but the eye is obviously there. .405 OBP while batting under .200 is quite the oddity.
srt
6/27/2012-9:15am at 9:15 am (UTC -4)
I see Rubin commented yesterday that Mejia is very likely going back to the starting rotation ‘to get him back on track’.
Have to say, if putting Mejia in the BP was strictly a move to help the big club this year – since our BP is god-awful – this was really a questionable move, IMO. Yes, it might have gotten him to the MLs faster but that’s not a reason to alter his development.
Peter Duffy
6/27/2012-9:22am at 9:22 am (UTC -4)
Mejia is a tricky situation in regards to rotation v. bullpen. Obviously, a starter is more valuable and if he has the chops for it, great. However, there are a few issues about Mejia right now – will his secondary stuff develop (which is a good reason for leaving him in the rotation to see if ti does), he has a small frame which leads to durability questions, and he is in a unique position in that he started baseball late and no one really knows what kind of pitcher he is. The book is so small on him. Throw in the TJ surgery and I was fine with limiting his innings this year in the pen – but that should not be an indicator of where he will end up. Clearly, he is not responding well to the move, so whether he is a future reliever or not, doing it now is not helping his development.
Stick
6/27/2012-9:34am at 9:34 am (UTC -4)
but is 3 outings and 4-6 innings really enough time to say if he is going to respond well? Could be an adjustment period, could be mental (approach) or could be coincidence.
remember, SPs often have 1 rocky inning, but they have another 5 or so to overcome it. As a RP, a couple bad pitches and the outing is shot.
I think he should just be starting still, but I also don’t think this move was purely because the ML pen needed help, but a sign that they do think he will be a RP long term. Though in that case, move Familia too!
and mostly, I call BS on how going back and forth is going to ruin or destroy him (or is putting his health at risk). Guys go back and forth between the pen and the rotation all the time, especially in the minors.
it is also not analgous exactly to what Omar did, since that put him on the 40 man among other things. So now they are looking at a guy running out of options.
so, let him start, and if he runs close to his innings max, and is doing well, maybe then put him in the pen for a bit to help out (hopefully that is for september call ups)
srt
6/27/2012-9:36am at 9:36 am (UTC -4)
O.K., fair enough.
I agree that he may not wind up as a SP. With the book still out on him though, I thought the move to the BP was premature and predicated only on a need right now in the ML BP.
If he did do well in the BP, came up and helped the big club out of the pen – no harm, no foul. Several rookie SPs started their stints in the MLs in the BP.
From what I’ve seen of him in the BP these past several days, he didn’t acclimate well at all there. Not following that closely so don’t really know what the reason for that was.
Prismo
6/27/2012-10:46am at 10:46 am (UTC -4)
The NY Times piece on Nimmo is pretty good. Weird to think he’s the same age as Bryce Harper, yet so much more raw.
Given how much he’s walked, I wonder if he just hasn’t seen pitches to hit yet.
NJstuckinTX
6/27/2012-11:03am at 11:03 am (UTC -4)
To me, having the good eye is really important. Really don’t need more hackers (such as spin and Kirk). If he can develop that hitting, he’ll be ok. Didn’t someone compare him to Andy Van Slyk? I’d take that in a heartbeat.