While Matt Harvey was making his big league debut, the minor league clubs were going a perfect 6-0, as the pitching was, for the most part, fantastic all the way down, except for Juan Urbina who is just plain terrible. A lot of good stuff, let’s check it out:
Buffalo 10, Louisville 7
Of all people Gonzalez Germen got the call up to fill one of the empty rotation spots (unsure if that’s permanent or not). He wasn’t great but he lasted for 7 innings, giving up 4 runs on 7 hits and got the win. Pedro Beato did his best to give the game away, allowing a 3-run homer. Fred Lewis was 4 for 4 with a double. Josh Rodriguez was 3 for 3 with 3 doubles and 5 RBI’s. Zach Lutz was 3 for 3 with a homer, 3 RBI’s and 2 walks. Mike Baxter was 2 for 5 with an RBI, while starting in centerfield. In 4 games for Buffalo Baxter is hitting .438; expect to see him before the road trip is over. Lucas Duda was 0 for 4 and played right field; according to tweets a couple of the outs he made were hit quite deep.
Binghamton was rained out due to terrible thunderstorms along the southern tier that even produced tornadoes. They’ll try to play a double header today.
St. Lucie 7, Lakeland 2
Thursday night was Gary Carter Tribute Night at Digital Domain Park. His wife, Sandy, and daughter, Christy, threw out the first pitch and were escorted by Howard Johnson. Gary managed St. Lucie in 2006 when they won the Florida State League Championship. Fittingly, Tim Teufel’s son, Shawn, was the starting pitcher for Lakeland. As for the game, Erik Goeddel had a nice outing, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits in 6 innings of work, walking 2 and striking out 6. Cory Vaughn was 2 for 4 and hit his 17th homer of the season; in July he’s hitting .305/.418/.537, but there’s no way of knowing whether he’s coming around or he’s just having another hot streak. Aderlin Rodriguez had 2 hits. Rafael Fernandez was 3 for 3 with a double, homer, and 3 RBI’s.
Savannah 4, Kannapolis 2
Alex Panteliodis is on the up with another good outing, going 7 innings and giving up just 1 unearned run on 3 hits while striking out 9. Matt Reynolds and Charley Thurber both had 2 hits and 2 RBI’s.
Brooklyn 7, Batavia 1
Luis Mateo blew people away for 6.2 innings, allowing 1 run on 6 hits with no walks and 7 strikeouts. Matt Koch pitched 2 shutout innings out of the bullpen. Jayce Boyd and Kevin Plawecki were both 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored. Stefan Sabol doubled twice and drove in a run. Brandon Nimmo was 1 for 5 with an RBI from the leadoff spot.
Kingsport 1, Bristol 0 (Game 1, 7 innings)
Steven Matz let up 2 hits and 3 walks over 6 shutout innings while striking out 8; I have to think that a promotion to Brooklyn is coming soon since the Mets like their top prospects to play in Brooklyn and at this point you have to set him up to break camp with a full season team next year. Apparently with Matz on the mound 3 singles is all you need to win because that’s all the K-Mets got.
Kingsport 6, Bristol 3
Break up the K-Mets, as they sweep a double header. Persio Reyes gave up 1 unearned run over 5 innings while striking out 5 and lowering his ERA to an even 7. Juan Urbina continues to be terrible: he got 1 out, walked 4, and gave up 2 runs without allowing a hit, but Ramon Estevez struck out all 5 batters he faced to get the save. Julio Concepcion and Jorge Rivero both drove in 2 runs.
15 comments
Stickguy
7/27/2012-8:17am at 8:17 am (UTC -4)
Fire Hojo again!
anyway, Fulmer to PSL, Mateo to Savannah, and Matz to Brooklyn? And Wheeler to Buffalo.
Keep moving the big guns along the chain.
NJstuckinTX
7/27/2012-8:43am at 8:43 am (UTC -4)
Amen.
srt
7/27/2012-10:30am at 10:30 am (UTC -4)
I’m curious why Wheeler isn’t already in Buffalo.
Oh, and just activate Baxter and cut Bay.
Stickguy
7/27/2012-11:00am at 11:00 am (UTC -4)
I think he was scheduled to be as soon as Harvey went up, but the last few games may have changed that?
Though I don’t see what staying in AA will do over AAA to get him fully ready.
Bryan
7/27/2012-2:29pm at 2:29 pm (UTC -4)
His next scheduled start didn’t line up with when Buffalo needed someone last night, but with Hefner and Harvey both gone I think they’ll make an effort to slot him in.
wanny
7/27/2012-10:58am at 10:58 am (UTC -4)
Hard to believe Zach Lutz cant hit in the majors. This year in AAA: .312 .417 .518. Minor league career: .289 .384 .490.
He deserves a shot somewhere, even if as a right handed bat on the Mets bench or on another team. His problem has always been health. He’s 26.
Josh Satin is another guy who just keeps hitting at AAA: .292 .403 .447 this year and .305 .398 .464 for his minor league career.
Even if you took 30 points off across the board, these guys are at least good enough to hold roster spots somewhere.
Stickguy
7/27/2012-11:01am at 11:01 am (UTC -4)
lutz can’t stay on the field, and has no position with the Mets.
Satin seems to have issues with his swing translating, and is nto enough of a glove to be an asset.
wanny
7/27/2012-11:10am at 11:10 am (UTC -4)
You’ve determined that Satin’s swing doesn’t translate (whatever that means) in 26 MLB at bats??? Wow.
As I said, Lutz’s big problem has been his health. And while he doesn’t have a starting gig on the Mets available to him, he could certainly fit as a RH bat on the bench (which we could certainly use). The problem is that the Mets bench has 40 outfielders because none of them are capable of playing every day.
In any event, I was not really advocating that either of them should be on the team. Rather, I was just commenting that I would be surprised if these two couldn’t be competent hitters at the MLB level here or elsewhere.
They will likely end up as AAAA players simply for lack of opportunity at young ages. When guys get to be 26 and 27 and haven’t already received their shot they get lost in the shuttle shuffle.
Stickguy
7/27/2012-11:42am at 11:42 am (UTC -4)
problem with lutz is that while he could be a PH off the bench, they don’t really have a need for him to play the field. Unless you want to give him starts at 1B? In theory he would replace Turner, without the ability to play MI.
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Satin? That was based on scouting reports, not 26 ABs. He would actually be a closer fit to Turner’s role, since he can play 2B.
I would not be broken hearted if they called either one up (and both can come up 9/1 if still on the 40 man), though to do it sooner would mean dumping Turner?
I can’t keep track of how many excess OFs they have. Pretty sure they are good now, the interesting piece will be what happens when baxter comes back.
Bryan
7/27/2012-2:32pm at 2:32 pm (UTC -4)
Lutz can hit in the big leagues, the Mets just don’t have room for him, and he’s never healthy, but he can hit for sure. Satin, meanwhile has no position and doesn’t have nearly as much power as Lutz, so there’s even less room for him.
srt
7/27/2012-11:03am at 11:03 am (UTC -4)
Rubin reporting this morning that Mejia is headed back to the rotation in Triple A…even though they still see him as an eventual reliever.
wanny
7/27/2012-11:12am at 11:12 am (UTC -4)
This guy is being jerked around by a second regime. Hopefully he finishes the season at AAA strong enough that he is again considered for the rotation next year. (doubt it, tho)
srt
7/27/2012-11:39am at 11:39 am (UTC -4)
I’m wondering if his struggles in the BP have something to do with the fact that he’s only a little over a year removed from TJ surgery and might still be rusty and recovering.
And I’m sure they only reason they stuck him in the BP was they saw a need on the ML and maybe he could help out, more so than anything to do with his development. You’re right….they need to stop jerking this kid back and forth.
Stickguy
7/27/2012-11:46am at 11:46 am (UTC -4)
I don’t buy the jerked around bit. Many pitchers in the minors go back and forth from SP to RP (in the majors too) and survive. When it is not clear cut, it happens.
the 1st time, it made no sense since he really was not ready for the majors, and did not have a chance to transition in the minors.
this year, complicated by coming back from TJ, so he was essentially rehabbing at the same time. And since Omar started his clock, they have little time to figure out what to do with him. So, combined with the pen issues on the Mets, they decided to see if he could work out there. Once it became obvious that he would not be, they are just putting him back into the rotation to get his innings in.
I believe they said he was nto precluded from starting next year regardless. So, hopefully he finishes out the year as a SP in AAA, then comes to ST with a chance to earn a job, SP or RP.
srt
7/27/2012-2:09pm at 2:09 pm (UTC -4)
OT: The Braves just signed Batista.
He’s more or less Livan, who they released already.