Down On The Farm - 6/21/10

It was a fairly quiet night for the minor leagues last night. There were only two teams in action (we won't be covering short season teams) and both of them took the loss.

Down in Georgia, the Bisons took a loss to the Gwinnett Braves, 7-2 in the opener of their three game set. The Bisons just couldn't overcome the poor start by Dylan Owen in this one. He went five innings, giving up nine hits, no walks, stuck out three and let up six earned runs on the day. Owen's now 3-3 with a 6.39 ERA in seven starts since being promoted from Binghamton. If he doesn't turn a corner real soon he may find himself right back there again. Shortstop Justin Turner continued to tear it up since coming over to Buffalo from Norfolk when the Mets claimed him off waivers from the Orioles on May 25. He went 3-4 on the night to raise his average to .315 in 92 at bats since coming over to Buffalo. Mike Jacobs managed a 2-4 night with a walk and run scored on the night, as well. Not much else to see here.

Up in Binghamton, the Mets had the night off, as did the entire Eastern League. They'll be back in action tonight, at home, against the New Britain Rock Cats.

In Bradenton, the St. Lucie Mets were scheduled for a doubleheader to make up for their rainout on 4/18, but they saw that second game get rained out again. Unfortunately for the Mets, they lost the first game 3-2 before the rain came. Jeurys Familia did have a nice bounce back start, though, as he went 6.2, gave up only four hits, two runs (one earned), three walks and struck out seven. The Mets offense just couldn't back them up as they managed only five hits and only one extra base hit. Nobody really had a night worth mentioning on the offensive side, although I guess since Hector Pellot didn't totally suck (1-2 with a run scored and RBI) that's worth mentioning. He raised his average to .179 on the season. Geez, I remember when the Mets raved about this kid a couple years back. Not so much anymore.

Down in Savannah, the Gnats were out of action for the All-Star break. Their All-Star game will be tonight and they'll send an astounding six of their players. On the offensive side, they'll send C Kai Gronauer, SS Wilmer Flores, and OF Juan Lagares. On the pitching side, they'll send the three headed monster that is Jimmy Fuller, Brandon Moore and Mark Cohoon. Not a big shocker there, as all three of those guys have been superb this season.

Read More

Video: Mejia's Reaction To Demotion

Courtesy of ESPN.com, I bring you video of Mejia's reaction to being demoted.




The kid has an infectious smile and doesn't seem to get rattled easily. For someone as young as him, it would have been somewhat understandable if he'd hung his head a little and avoided questions. But he didn't seem bothered at all and took each question with enthusiasm. I hope and pray that he'll be at the top of the Mets' rotation for years to come.

Read More

Injury Update: John Maine

The Mets' world is abuzz today with news of Maine's latest setback. Apparently Maine is feeling some pain in the same spot that he had surgery last season. Check out the following quote from Jerry Manuel:

John Maine didn't feel particularly well after that last start, so what we're doing with him is somewhat of a re-evaluation, day-to-day type of thing," Manuel said. "He is not very comfortable with how he's pitching right here, so we're going to have to re-evaluate that situation. ... He will be re-evaluated tomorrow, and they'll probably come up with a plan of attack on that. -Andy Martino, NY Daily News

The whole article is a pretty interesting read, as you pick up on the fact that there isn't a whole lot of love going on between Maine and Manuel/Warthen. At this point, after defending Maine for so long, I don't feel I can do that any longer. What it all comes down to is that when you're pitching like Maine was and your velocity is way down, there's absolutely no reason why you should feel like you're owed anything. I do believe, barring a miracle, you've seen the last of Maine on the Mets. Can't say I'm all that disappointed, really.

Read More

Down On The Farm - 6/20/10

It was another busy day down on the farm and once again a mixed bag. The highlight of the night definitely comes out of Savannah, where the Gnats wrapped up the first half championship and a playoff spot by beating Augusta. The rundown:

Up in Buffalo, the Bisons dropped a tough one to the Indy Indians in extras, 7-3. Tobi Stoner pitched fairly well to start the game, going 5.1, giving up seven hits, one walk, two earned and striking out seven. The Bisons' bullpen then combined for 5.2 of shutout ball before Adam Pettyjohn gave up four earned in the top of the 12th to lose it. On the offensive side, Justin Turner and J.R. House were the standouts. Turner went 2-5 with two RBI while J.R. House went 4-4 with a double and a run scored.

Sliding over to Binghamton, we saw the B-Mets lose one to the Thunder, 4-3, after leading most of the way. Sean Ratliff got on the board by hitting his first home run since being promoted, a solo shot in the third to put the B-Mets up 2-1. Shortstop Luis Hernandez continued his hot streak by going 2-5 with a run scored and Nick Evans also continued his solid season with a 1-4 night and an RBI. The starter, Mike Antonini, pitched quite well on the night. He went seven innings, gave up four hits, walked one, gave up two earned and struck out six. He was in line for the win until Derrick Ellison came on to start the eighth and promptly blew the one run lead by allowing a two run shot to Austin Krum.

Down in St. Lucie, the Mets salvaged the final game of the series against Palm Beach, 5-3, to avoid the sweep. Eric Beaulac got the win by going 6.2 giving up four hits, three walks, two earned and striking out four. Catcher Juan Torres was the offensive MVP, going 2-4 with two RBI. You could make a case for Joey August, as well, as he went 2-4 with a double and two runs scored. Jordany Valdespin added two hits of his own to extend his hot streak. In total, the St. Lucie Mets saw five different hitters pick up two hits on the day. Very nice.

As mentioned in the beginning of the post, the Gnats wrapped up the first half championship (and a playoff spot) in their last game of the first half. They won 9-5 on the strength of their offense, as opposed to their pitching, which has carried them in the first half. More impressively, they did it against Augusta, who was tied with Savannah coming into that last game. More impressively, every Gnats hitter had one RBI on the day except for 2B Mike Fisher. Don't know if I've ever seen such even run producing up and down the lineup. Wilmer Flores broke out of his slump with two hits, a run and an RBI. Juan Lagares went 3-5 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI. He's been very good this year. Jefry Marte finished with three hits, two runs and an RBI of his own to finish the first half strong. James Fuller had a decent start that was marred by bad defense. He went five, gave up seven hits, a walk, five runs (one earned) and struck out two to earn the win. My first half MVP for the Gnats is undoubtedly Mark Cohoon. In 90.1, Mark went 7-1, allowing only 68 hits, 17 walks, and striking out 75. That includes three straight complete game shutouts (tying a Sally league record) and more impressively, only two homers allowed.

Read More

Pack Your Bags Fellas

The Mets made a long overdo roster move when they sent Jenrry Mejia back down to the minors. He'll be replaced on the roster by Bobby Parnell. Ever since Maine and Perez started to have problems this year the Mets, or Omar Minaya, have looked woefully inept at making proper decisions with their minor league talent. I was a big supporter of letting Mejia ride it out in the minors all year long coming out of spring training but the big team had other needs. However, they should have avoided changing Mejia's mindset at all costs. This team has had too few young starting pitchers in the upper minors in recent years, it would be a shame to use yet another as a reliever. The other being the same pitcher who now replaces him on the roster.

Read More

Postgame Run Through

Today the Mets were put to sleep by the beast that is C.C. Sabathia. He held the Mets to just 4 hits during eight innings of work while only tossing 100 pitches. The other killer on the day was Mark Teixeira who provided the Yankees with the only hit that made a difference, a grand slam off of Johan in the 3rd inning. Some other points of the game...

-The Mets 5 through 9 hitters were a combined 1-13 and left 7 runners on base.

-Johan Santana gave up 8 hits and labored through 6 innings, throwing 114 pitches.

-After a great game yesterday, Jose Reyes was held hitless today.

-The Umpires in this series were atrocious.

So the Mets will have Monday off to forget about the way they finished the series against the Yanks in the Bronx. After that they will try to rebound against the Detroit Tigers at home when they send Jon Niese(4-2 3.64) to the mound against Justin Verlander(8-4 3.54). Game time start at 7:15

Read More

NL EAST Pitching Comparison

Out of curiosity I ran some stats and setup a chart with each NL East teams starting rotation. When comparing the charts you can clearly see why the teams records are what they are. Starting rotation can make or break ya....

Read More

Mets Eyeing Pitcher Not Named Lee

There have been reports, one by Buster Olney of ESPN, that the Mets have had their eye,and are interested in, Cleveland Indians righty Fausto Carmona. I hope this is only a rumor to keep Met fans satiated with possibilities not likelihood. Carmona is not the answer... I repeat a 26 year old righty who is wildly inconsistent from year to year is not the answer. Have we not learned our lesson from the Oliver Perez situation? A guy with great stuff and varying degrees of effectiveness will earn you fewer wins than headaches.

Read More

Mets Acquire OF

Yesterday the New York Mets made their first, and maybe not its last, transaction of the season by acquiring Jorge Padilla from the Blue Jays. Padilla was signed as a minor league free agent by the Jays in the off season and has put up some pretty good numbers for their triple a affiliate before the Mets acquired him.

AB-185 H-61 HR-4 RBI-27 SB-7 R-32 AVG-.330 OBP-.405 SLG-.459 OPS-.864


He has been assigned to Buffalo and already has one at bat(a strikeout).

Read More

Starting Lineup - 6/20/10

The Mets look to get some revenge on the Yankees for snapping their win streak yesterday. They're also looking to finish off their road trip by going 8-1. They'll throw Johan Santana (5-3, 3.13 ERA) to face CC Sabathia (7-3, 4.00 ERA). The lineup:

1. Jose Reyes SS
2. Angel Pagan CF
3. David Wright 3B
4. Ike Davis 1B
5. Jason Bay LF
6. Rod Barajas C
7. Fernando Tatis DH
8. Jeff Franceour RF
9. Ruben Tejada 2B

This should be an interesting to watch, as it'll the battle of the lefty aces who have so far not quite produced up to standard. I'm just sorry I'll miss it as I have to work my regular job all day. Hopefully, the Mets will finish off the Yanks, take the season series, and start a new win streak. Let's go Mets! Game time is 1:05 PM.

Read More