Mack Attack: August 1, 2008

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Friday, August 1, 2008

Pennant: Phillies: 49 losses - Mets: 50 – Marlins: 51

Wild Card: Milw: 49 losses - Mets: 50 - St. Louis: 50 - Marlins: 51

Wednesday’s night loss to the Marlins was the first lost series for the entire month… Mike Pelfrey took the loss, which is his first since May 26th… and to round out the series of three… Carlos Delgado's 10 game hitting streak came to an end

The Mets are scheduling 5 rehab games this/next week for 2B Luis Castillo.

Starting August 1, the Mets will have 53 games remaining, 28 at home and 25 on the road (Good thing. They're 32-20 at home, 26-29 on the road). They play the Braves, Nationals and Marlins nine more times and the Phillies five more times. Get this: they have seven games remaining against the Astros, whom they have not yet faced this year. They play most of their games on the East Coast, except for quick swings to Houston and Milwaukee. The home games and the games against the Astros would seem to favor New York a bit. The Mets will finish the season with a seven-game home stand: four games vs. the Cubs and three games against the Marlins. Those will be tough games; the Cubs may be locked with the Brewers for the NL Central lead, and there could also be a Wild Card slot at stake. The Marlins will have a chance to once again torment Mets fans at the end of a season. And this time, the Marlins could be the direct beneficiaries of their efforts. And if you want something to be nervous about, here it is: the Mets are 2-7 against old nemesis Atlanta this year, with nine more games against them. - HardballTimes

Zephyrs:

Former Tulane University standout Micah Owings will be starting for the Tucson Sidewinders against the New Orleans Zephyrs on Saturday, it was announced Thursday. Owings, recently sent to Tucson from the Arizona Diamondbacks, will be making his first start of the season for the Sidewinders. The 25-year-old earned Conference USA Player of the Year honors in helping the Green Wave reach the 2005 College World Series. Owings batted .354 that season, with a team-leading 18 home runs and 54 runs batted in.

B-Mets:

Omar Minaya said in a post-trading day press conference that P Jon Niese, P Bobby Parnell, RP Eddie Kunz, OF Fernando Martinez and 2B Daniel Murphy all would be considered for call-ups.

Tobi Stoner allowed two runs over eight innings and the Binghamton Mets erupted for eight runs in the fourth in a 9-3 win over the Connecticut Defenders at NYSEG Stadium Thursday. The B-Mets won their second straight. Binghamton (59-54) never trailed, getting on the board against Dave McKae in the second. Singles by Ambiorix Concepcion and Salomon Manriquez put runners at the corners for Shawn Bowman, whose sacrifice fly scored Concepcion. Concepcion started Binghamton’s fourth-inning rally with a single. Base hits by Manriquez and Bowman loaded the bases for Jonathan Malo, who reached on an error that scored Concepcion. Stoner delivered a single that brought in Manriquez and Bowman. Jose Coronado singled in Malo before Daniel Murphy doubled to score Stoner. After Mike Carp was intentionally walked, McKae (6-6) gave way to Adam Cowart, who allowed Stewart to reach on an error that scored Coronado and Murphy before Concepcion picked up his second single of the inning, bringing in Carp, for a 9-0 B-Mets lead.

Lucy:

P German Marte was reinstated on the suspended list, replaced by RP Emary Frederick… this probably stems from a brawl Frederick was involved in earlier this week…

Gnats:

I spent Wednesday hanging out on the field yesterday during a long, hot practice… buy, the Mets really practice their teams, game after game. The entire team is on the field at 2pm, with game time being 7… a three shirt day in Savannah… had a real nice conversation with SP Eric Beaulac, who starts Thursday night… Eric is very excited about coming to A-ball the same year he was drafted (only he and Mark Cohoons have ever played for the Mets affiliated Gnats in the same year they were drafted) and he got a kick out seeing his name on my prospect list that comes out today. I’ve been told that Mets are real high on this kid… C Sean McGraw, who has raised his average to the .300 range, was concerned with the news out of B-Town that P Sal Aguliar went down with a tear. Sean says he is a really great pitcher, which is something coming from a catcher. Game wise, SP John Holdzkom did not have a great first outing since returning from K-Port (4.2 IP, 4 ER, 6 Ks), but it’s great to have him back here so we can watch him mature…

Purposely went out Thursday night to see SP Eric Beaulac. As I have mentioned, the Mets are very high on him. The kid was drafted this year in the 9th round out of York, NY… talked with an unmanned scout at the game today that scouted him in college. Said that Eric only threw in the 80’s in college, with a change-up in the low 70’s. Now, he’s in the low 90’s (hit 92 once tonight) and has added an 83 slider.

I got there late and missed the first 1.2 innings he pitched, which included striking out the side in the first inning.

Here’s what I saw/had on the gun:

2nd inning – 2outs
92 F ball
91 F ball
92 F strike inside – double

90 F ball – outside
89 F strike Fl-o 8

3rd inning:
91 F S
73 Ch B
92 F S
82 SL K (5th)

91 F S – foul back
91 F swing – foul (pitch was a ball)
92 F B
83 SL S – single slow grounder to 1st – covered 1st too slow

90 F S
91 F S - line out 7

91 F S
81 SL B low
92 F S Fl-o 9

4th inning:
91 F B low
91 F B high inside
90 F S foul
89 F S FL-O 8

90 F S
82 SL S foul
91 F K (6th)

92 F B
90 F foul
92 F B low in dirt
91 F S double – error in field – runner to third – error at third – Runner thrown out at home

5th inning:
77 C S
79 C B
90 F S single – stolen base

91 F B high outside
87 F B
89 F B
88 F S
88 F S 1-3

88 F S
78 SL B in dirt
91 F S 1-3

91 F S
90 F B
90 F S
90 F S K (7th strikeout)

68 pitches - 5.0 IP 0 ER 7 Ks 0 BB

Beaulac was on a strict pitch out and was done after five. A very impressive first outing.

Clones:

In 2007, Cyclones reliever Stephen Clyne impressed scouts and media alike with an explosive slider and a fastball that put hitters away faster than a Chuck Liddell cross, going 1-1 with a 2.05 ERA and eight saves in 20 games. After spending most of the 2008 season in St. Lucie, where he went 1-3 with a 5.93 ERA in 27 games, Clyne was sent to Brooklyn a few weeks ago to be the team’s closer, a role he had for most of last season. Despite some problems in Brooklyn as well this season, Clyne has six saves and eight strikeouts in as many innings. Chatting with DemBrooklynBums.com, Clyne talks about his game and being back in Brooklyn.

Dem Brooklyn Bums: You were the closer in Brooklyn a good chunk of last season. How does it feel to be back in that role this season?

Stephen Clyne: It feels great to be back. They brought me back because they were having problems late in ballgames. When I was in St. Lucie, they told me they got a call from management saying they needed me here and they wanted me to be their guy so I packed my bags and headed here. I was starting to pitch much better in St. Lucie and I’m hoping I can convert that into some success over here as well. – DemBrooklynBums

-the hitting just keeps getting more anemic for Brooklyn (9 hits in 14 innings), even though they won the game in the 14th inning when recent addition Jason Jacobs singled in J.R. Voyles… Pedro P.Martinez (3.65) was pulled after 2.2 IP with 3 ER… still seems a little early and I hope he wasn’t injured… excellent relief job by Eric Turgeon (4.0 IP 0 ER, 5 Ks, 1.54)…

VSL Mets:

The VSL Mets continued losing, 6-4, to the Cardinals… a poor outing for usually consistent Ramiro Peralta (5.0 IP, 4 ER, 4Ks, 3 BBs, 2.74)… this is Peralta’s 2nd season with the VSL team, so you might see him coming stateside soon… multiple hits game for RF Jose Diaz (.265), 1B Adrian Pirela (.291), and DH/C Albert Cordero (.270)…

Minor League Bios:

Jose Jimenez 3B R R 6-0 194 5-9-87 Bonao, Dominican Republic

In 2005, Jimenez was originally signed by the Milwaukee Brewers as a non-drafted free agent. He played briefly for the Brewers rookie team in Helena (.158 in 19 at bats) and spent most of the season with the GCL Brewers (.299 in 187 at bats).

Jimenez played winter ball after the 2005 season and was 3rd in the Arizona League in doubles and 4th in extra-base hits.

He was signed by the Mets as a free agent on 7-9-06 and played the remainder of the year for the GCL Mets, where he batted .309 in 110 at bats.
In 2007, Jimenez played 3B for Kingsport and played well: .309/.379/.521 in 188 at bats, 17 doubles, 7 HRs, 41 RBIs, only 8 errors. He ended the seasin in Brooklyn (.000/.333/.000 in 2 at bats). He was named the winner of the 2007 Sterling Aaward as the MVP of Kingsport.