Who writes a minor league blog and has a diminishing fever? THIS GUY!!!! I tried to get Sandy to deal my chest cold for a hangnail and an ailment to be named later but 4PM came and went yesterday with a whimper – or rather, a wet hacking cough. Brooklyn had the night off and Kingsport was rained out. Other than that, it was all smiles on the farm. Let’s take a look!
Buffalo 5, Indianapolis 4 (11 innings)
Zach Lutz capped a 3 for 5 night with his second homer of the game in the 11th to put the Herd ahead for good. He finished with two RBI and three runs scored. Colin McHugh went six strong, allowing two runs on three hits (one homer) while walking four and striking out four. Pedro Beato added a scoreless inning out of the pen, but Robbie Carson and Fernando Cabrera allowed Indy to tie in in the bottom of the ninth.
Binghamton 3, Harrisburg 2
Zach Wheeler bids a fond farewell to Binghamton (is there any other kind?) with a vintage effort – ok, he did walk four batters but look at the rest of the line: 6.2IP, 2R, 4H (1HR), 11K’s (!). He finishes with a 10-6 with a 3.26 ERA and a BB/K ratio of 43/117 in 116 innings. Now it’s off to Buffalo and I think, barring anything unfortunate, we should see him by mid-season next year (at the latest) in Queens. As for the game, Wilmer Flores (1 for 3, 2 runs scored while playing thrid) came around on a throwing error in the sixth to give the B-Mets a lead they would not relinquish in this see-saw affair. Jefry Marte, playing first, was 3 for 4 with a run scored. And hey, Frank Francisco threw a scoreless inning of relief while striking out the side.
St. Lucie 3, Clearwater 2
The pitching marches on! This time it’s Rafael Montero doing the heavy lifting, going six innings allowing two runs on five hits (one homer) while walking none and striking out 14 (yowzas). His ERA is now down to 2.51 since being called up to Hi-A, oddly enough it was 2.52 when he was promoted from Savannah. Guess who’s back – Danny Muno! The second basemen returned after a fifty game suspension for PED use with a 1 for 4 effort. Richard Lucas was 2 for 4 with a solo homer.
Savannah 2, Greensboro 1 (11 innings)
Dustin Lawley (2 for 5, 2RBI) singled home Gilbert Gomez with two outs in the 11th to give the Sand Gnats the win. After allowing a run in the first, the Savannah pitching staff combined for 10 straight scoreless innings. Jacob DeGrom went the first seven, allowing the lone run on four hits against two walks and five strikeouts. Estarlin Morel, TJ Chism, and Chase Bradford (who got the W) combined for four shutout innings in relief.
Or rather Wright?!? } – 
4 comments
NJstuckinTX
8/1/2012-8:52am at 8:52 am (UTC -4)
Peter, Where does the Mets system rank amongst other teams? And how much does it drop with Harvey being on the big club?
Also, one cannot help but be impressed with the minor league pitching that is coming along nicely… Now, if there only was a position player of note anywhere other than in A ball…
srt
8/1/2012-9:51am at 9:51 am (UTC -4)
Ha! Feel better soon.
I have the same concerns TX does on the bats down on the farm. Looks like we’ve got several good potential arms but really light on bats.
Peter Duffy
8/1/2012-10:49am at 10:49 am (UTC -4)
I would say the system is near the middle of the pack now. BA ranked it 24th coming into the year, which I felt was low, and believe we were all proven right by the performance of role players called up from Buffalo to the emergence of Harvey and Wheeler as perhaps better than we envisioned. As usual, the Mets are a pitching heavy organization and light on bats, but that doesn’t bother me all that much. Pitching is the currency of the league, and it is most difficult to go out and buy/trade for it. Bats can be bought. Which is a good thing because Nimmo is going ot take years to progress, and the other impact bats in the system right now (Flores and Marte) don’t seem to have a position set at the moment.
I’ve never been against hte model of develop young cheap pitching and depth (pen and bench) and you can spend big on a bat.
And thanks for the well wishes. Had to cancel my wife’s b-day dinner at the River Cafe. Not an easy res to get. I’m a terrible husband…
Mr North Jersey
8/1/2012-12:49pm at 12:49 pm (UTC -4)
Montero & Wheeler were just strikeout machines last night. Very impressed with Montero’s line score from last night. Also DeGrom pitched a very nice game as well.