Mack Atack: June 28, 2008

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Saturday, June 28, 2008

Phils: 38 losses - Marlins: 38 – Mets: 39 - Braves: 41 – Nats: 49

1st Game Tidbits:

Carlos Delgado - 9 RBIs

Aaron Heilman - June Split: 13 appearances - 0.70 ERA

Luis Castillo - only 1 extra base hit in June

Trot Nixon - 2004 Slugging %: .510… 2008: .280

Mets Current Projected Team (w/o trades/FA signings):

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

1B: Delgado Evans/Carp Davis Davis Davis

2B: Castillo Castillo Castillo Castillo Tejada

SS: Reyes Reyes Reyes Reyes Flores

3B: Wright Wright Wright Wright Wright

OF: Beltran Beltran Beltran Beltran Puello

OF: Alou Martinez Martinez Martinez Martinez

OF: Church Church Church Church Church

C: Schneider Schneider Havens Havens Havens

SP: Santana Santana Santana Santana Santana

SP: Maine Maine Maine Maine Maine

SP: Pelfrey Pelfrey Pelfrey Pelfrey Pelfrey

SP: Perez Niese Niese Niese Niese

SP: Martinez Heilman/Parnell Holt Holt Holt

A Look Back at the Trades:

1/27/05

Acquired: 1B Doug Mientkiewicz Traded: 1B Ian Bladergroen

Mientkiewicz: played 1 year for Mets (2005): .240/.322/.407 – became free agent

Bladergroen: still hacking around the Red Sox minor league system – 25 years old

Winner: wash

B-Mets:

OF Ambiorix Concepcion placed on Suspended List.

Added OF Fernando Martinez from Rookie GCL Mets.

3B Daniel Murphy taken off Disabled List and assigned to SS-A Brooklyn

From Baseball America:

Double-A Binghamton 1B/LF Nick Evans (Mets) proved he wasn't quite ready for prime time by hitting just .174/.208/.304 in a 23 at-bat big league trial this season. That's OK. He's still just 22 and is turning in a fine season in the Eastern League, where he ranks second in slugging (.566) and fourth in extra-base hits (32), despite spending a couple weeks in the Nationals League. He batted .407/.448/.741 (11-for-27) last week, with two homers, a double, a triple, seven RBIs, six runs, two walks and four strikeouts .

Nick Evans played 3B tonight...

The Binghamton Mets got a strong outing from starter Jonathan Niese but couldn’t get him enough run support, falling to the Connecticut Defenders 4-2 on Friday at NYSEG Stadium. The loss snaps a four-game Mets winning streak against Connecticut.

Binghamton (44-35) took a 1-0 lead after an inning. With one out, Fernando Martinez singled and moved to second on a Dave McKae wild pitch before Mike Carp drove him in. McKae (6-4) got the win for the Defenders, pitching five innings.

Connecticut (36-43) was quick to answer, scoring twice in the second thanks to an RBI single by Eddy Martinez-Esteve, and a run-scoring double by Jake Wald.

The Defenders scored twice more in the fourth, getting back-to-back RBI doubles by Carlos Sosa and Wald to take a 4-1 lead. Niese (5-5) then settled down, allowing only three base runners the rest of the way. His complete game was the first for a Mets pitcher since Willie Collazo accomplished the feat on June 13, 2006.

Binghamton tried to get Niese off the hook in the ninth against reliever Osiris Matos. With one out, Emmanuel Garcia reached on a bunt single before Jose Coronado singled, putting runners on first and second for pinch-hitter Josh Petersen. Petersen singled in Garcia, cutting the Connecticut lead to 4-2. Eric Reed next walked to load the bases, but Kelvin Pichardo came on and slammed the door, getting Martinez to pop out and Nick Evans to strike out to end the game. Pichardo earned his 3rd save.

Lucy:

Game one a success... 3B Shawn Bowman went 2-3, and raised his BA to .385... guys, I'm telling ya... this is a real time 3B prospect ... C Josh Thole had 2 hits and is now batting .295... he's getting close to his first .300+ professional BA... my 'main man' Emary Frederick threw 2 scoreless innings for his 4th save... his last 10 game ERA is 2.35.

From Baseball America:

High Class A St. Lucie SS Ruben Tejada (Mets) was arguably the worst hitter in the Florida State League during the first two months of the season. But Tejada, 18, showed in June that he's not as overmatched as many thought. This week, he hit .409/.458/.500 (9-for-22) with two doubles and a 2-2 walk-to-strikeout ratio. For the month of June, he's hitting .373/.428/.482

Gnats:

The Sand Gnats and Rome Braves split a doubleheader before 3,012 at Historic Grayson Stadium on Friday night. The Gnats prevailed in game one, 3-2, before the Braves took the night cap, 2-0.

Greg Veloz led off for Savannah in the first inning of game one and launched his third home run of the season, a shot over the fence in left to give the Gnats a 1-0 lead.

The Gnats (3-6, 36-43) added a pair in the third after Jake Eigsti singled and Greg Veloz doubled to start the inning.

The three-run cushion was enough for Scott Moviel, who permitted 2 runs on 3 hits over 5.0 innings for the win. Moviel (8-7) won his fifth straight start to go 5-0 in June. Julio Polanco didn’t allow a base runner over the final two frames for his fourth save.

Game two was a pitchers duel, with Yeliar Castro and Elvin Ramirez trading zeroes for the first five frames. Samuel Sime broke the tie in the sixth, hammering a two-run homer off Josh Stinson (1-4) for a 2-0 lead.

In the seventh, Cory Gearrin entered from the Braves bullpen after Casey Beck plunked Nick Giarraputo with a pitch to begin the inning. With the tying run at the plate for Savannah, Gearrin retired the next three hitters, two with the strikeout, for his first save.

Clones:

Dan Murphy is heading to Single-A Brooklyn for at least a couple of days. That'll allow Murphy, who's been out with a right shoulder strain, the chance to play DH for a couple games and get some much needed swings in.

THT on Ike Davis and Reece Havens:

Davis: - I’ve seen a lot of reports pegging Davis as a player with 30-homer potential, but I don’t see it. Davis is way too handsy, meaning that his hands get too far out in front of his body. He brings his hands to the ball when he ought to be letting the ball come to him, and in the process he should be turning his hands and hips together. Also, notice Davis' contact point: He is making contact far out in front, which is one way to diminish your power. There are players who can hit for power even when making contact far out in front—Miguel Cabrera is well-known for this—but most cannot. Davis' swing is more suited for line drives, meaning a higher batting average and more doubles. By most accounts, Davis has good hand-eye coordination and is able to square up the ball to the bat, but to reach 30 (or even 20) home runs, Davis will need to learn to keep his hands back and let the ball travel deeper. Grade – C

Havens: - I wasn't crazy about the Davis pick, but I really like Havens. Some people think that he'll stay at shortstop, others don't, but his bat will play wherever the Mets place him. However, his bat will have much greater value at short, second base or catcher than at third. Havens doesn't offer the highest upside of any player, but he's one of the safest bets in this draft to actually hit at the big-league level. He possesses excellent plate discipline, and he centers the ball well as he makes consistent, hard contact. A few things that I like about Havens' swing: 1. He efficiently carries his weight forward. 2. He keeps his hands very quiet until he's ready to swing. 3. He keeps the bat head in the hitting zone a very long time, thanks to his hand position before swinging. 4. Although he can occasionally get out in front, he generally does a good job keeping his hands back. 5. He lets the ball travel deep into his hitting zone instead of reaching to make contact out in front. Havens doesn't project to have huge power, but if you add everything up, the Mets are getting a player with a great combination of strike-zone judgment and pop, not to mention that he will probably be playing at a premium defensive position and he won't take long to develop into a major leaguer Grade: A-

From MiLB.com:

First-round pick Brad Holt did not disappoint Mets fans in his Coney Island debut. The North Carolina native had never been to New York City before he was drafted by the Mets, but he's quickly warming to the Big Apple. "I'd never been to Brooklyn before, it's a little different from North Carolina," Holt said. "It's not bad, I like it. It's different, but I like it." Holt (1-1) tossed five hitless innings for his first professional win and rehabbing Ryan Church went 3-for-3 as the Brooklyn Cyclones beat the visiting Aberdeen IronBirds on Thursday, 4-2. "I felt good, after the first it was all up and down, I felt fine," Holt said of the stint. "My breaking ball was good, everything was working." The 33rd overall pick earlier this month, Holt struck out six and walked one in his second career appearance. He faced 17 batters and induced six grounders and three fly balls in his home debut.

K-Port:

From Baseball America’s ‘Hot Sheet’ of top prospects:

No. 10 WILMER FLORES, SS - METS - Team: Rookie-level Kingsport (Appalachian) - Age: 16 - Why He's Here: .400/.417/.578, 3 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 7 RBIs, 0 BB, 7 SO - The Scoop: Flores is a 16 year old playing in a league where the average age is more than 20, and he has been arguably the best player in the league for the first week and a half. After belting a home run in his professional debut, Flores has continued his steady production. Enduring the loss of manager Nick Leyva, who also served as his Flores' translator, could have been a hitch in the road for Flores, who had grown close to Leyva, but the teenager's makeup impressed observers in Kingsport as he kept up his steady production under new leadership. The only knock on Flores is his defense, which at times can be shaky. He made three errors in a game on Tuesday night, but played the next two games error-free. Flores' hitting is his best present tool and he showed it on Thursday night, going 4-for-5 with a triple and three RBIs.

the 2nd nice 5 inning start from 18-year old Jeurys Familia (0.00)... 5.0 IP o ER 4 Ks... that's 10.0 IP of scoreless ball so far this year in 2 starts...

GCL Mets

GCL lost, 5-3, to the Nats, but that wasn't the story... the Mets had 9 errors, which created a situation where 3 Mets pitchers didn't have one ER against them... is that a good thing?... no real hitting stars... most Mets players had as many errors as hits... early infield practice tomorrow, I'm sure...

VSL Mets:

The VSL Mets lost to the VSL Pirates 6-2... Jhonathan Torres (5-1) picked up his 1st loss... Jose Bellorin went 3-4 with 2 runs scored.

Minor League Bios:

Ryan Coultas SS R R 6-3 180 4-24-82 University of California-Davis

Coultas played college ball at the University of California-Davis, where his 3 year career was marred by injuries. He injured his right hand during the 2003 Division II National Playoffs and in 2004 broke a bone in the same hand. Both injuries ended his season.

Actually, Coutas was first drafted by the Cubs in the 13th round of the 2003 draft; however he chose to go back to school for his junior year (where he broke his hand). Coultas was drafted by the Mets in the 6th round (164th overall) of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of California-Davis. His hometown is Ventura, California. On June 29, 2004, he signed for a $135,000 bonus. Coultas put up some impressive numbers in 2005 at H-Town (304 at bats - .289/.338.447); however, 2006 was a major disappointment at both Hagerstown (.232/.277/.284) and especially, St. Lucie (144 at bats .146/.183/.167).

In 2007, Coultas played a little for Binghamton (.182/.207/.218 in 55 at bats), but ended the season back at St. Lucie (.257/.305/.377 in 183 at bats).

Ex-Mets:

David Newhan had 3 hits as the Astros dominated the Rangers, 7-2

Quote from Paul LoDuca:

“I’m not saying I’ve got a lot of wisdom, but you know, I’ve been through a lot of hard times in this game. The last three years of my career have been hell, off and on the field, off the field more than on. But I’ve straightened my life out, I’m happy, I’m gonna get married again. I went through a bad divorce. I went through all of it...We’ve all got skeletons in the closet. But when you come to the ballpark, get here early, get your crap done and get ready to play. Go to that batter’s box knowing that I’m prepared. And that’s what we need to do: prepare ourselves. Baseball players, preparation is everything. And if you’re not prepared, that guy on the mound ain’t gonna make friends with you.”

This Day in Mets History:

1996 - Darryl Strawberry's 300th career round-tripper is a dramatic ninth inning, two-run dinger which gives the Yankees a come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Royals.

2006 - With his worst outing in the two seasons with the Mets, Pedro Martinez is routed by his former teammates in his return to Fenway as the BoSox maul the Mets, 10-2. The crowd, who chanted "Pedro! Pedro!" before the game, showed their appreciation of the Dominican's history as a Red Sox player with a standing ovation during yesterday's video tribute which highlighted the right-hander's achievements with Boston.