Mack Attack: August 22, 2008

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Friday, August 22, 2008

The Daily News is reporting that, according to sources, Ryan Church will return to the New York Mets on Friday against the Astros at Shea Stadium

Frustrating is pretty much the only word to describe Ryan Church's season. He has suffered two concussions, which has limited him to just 57 big-league games in his first season with the New York Mets. He has been on the disabled list for more than a month, and he hasn't played in the majors since July 5 because of post-concussion syndrome. "It'd get frustrating," Church said. "I'd feel like I'm letting my teammates down, my team (down), the fans down. But I look at it now that I am on the mend, and hopefully I can get back there and help any way I can." Church continued his comeback to the big leagues on Wednesday night at NYSEG Stadium with the first of two rehab appearances with the Binghamton Mets. He played right field and went 0-4 in the B-Mets' 4-2 victory over New Hampshire. "Considering I'm going on about three hours of sleep, I felt pretty good," Church said. "My whole thing is going out there and not feeling any symptoms. I'm chomping at the bit to get back (to the big leagues)." In Church's first at-bat Wednesday, his bat slipped out of his hands and flew into the stands far down the left-field line. Nobody was hurt, and the fan who caught the bat received a souvenir bat from the B-Mets. He eventually grounded out to second base, and then in the second inning he grounded out to first. He struck out swinging in the fifth inning and grounded out to second in the seventh - PressConnects

Zephyrs:

ScoutingBook.com has raised Jon Niese to the 131st top prospect in baseball

B-Mets:

The Eastern League announced today at Binghamton Mets first baseman Mike Carp, infielder Daniel Murphy and pitcher Eddie Kunz have been named to the 2008 Eastern All-Star Team. The team was chosen in a vote by league managers and media members. Only the Bowie Baysox had as many All-Star selections as Binghamton’s three.

After an injury-shortened campaign with the B-Mets last season, Carp returned to Binghamton and established himself as a middle-of-the-lineup presence. The 22-year-old slugger is hitting .294 while leading the B-Mets in homers (17), RBIs (69), runs (64) and hits (130). A native of Long Beach, California, Carp has been able to put up impressive numbers while learning a new position – leftfield – where he’s played 46 games. He’s also played in 56 games at first.

Fresh off a solid season at High-A St. Lucie – his first full minor league season – Murphy opened even more eyes this year. A sweet lefthanded swing helped the 23-year-old compile a .308 average – which is currently eighth in the EL – 13 homers, 26 doubles and 67 RBIs in 95 games with Binghamton. That performance earned the Jacksonville, Florida native a one-game stay at AAA New Orleans before he was summoned to the NY Mets on August 2nd. Named to the All-Star Team as a utility player, Murphy saw time at third base, second base, first base and in leftfield with the B-Mets.

A day after Murphy made his way to Shea, Kunz got the call from the big club as well, but not after turning in one of the most dominant performances ever by a B-Mets closer. Kunz, the Mets’ first pick in last year’s draft, left Binghamton after earning 27 saves, one shy of the single-season club record, to go along with a 2.79 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 44 appearances. A 22-year-old native of Portland, Oregon, Kunz didn’t allow a run over his last 15 B-Mets appearances, converting all 11 of his save chances during that stretch. The only relief pitcher chosen for the All-Star Team, Kunz is currently at AAA New Orleans.

He was making his first start with his new team, but he knew that the Binghamton Mets needed a victory to keep their playoff push alive. Owen delivered in his Double-A debut, pitching six strong innings to lift the B-Mets to a 4-2 victory over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats at NYSEG Stadium."I know that we're really close to second place, which is what we need to reach for the playoffs," Owen said. "I was a little nervous, but I was able to throw strikes and give us a chance, and thankfully the offense got us some runs." The victory allowed the B-Mets (69-62) to keep pace with second-place Portland for the final playoff spot out the Eastern League Northern Division. Portland, which hung on to beat Altoona on Wednesday, has a two-game lead over the B-Mets. The B-Mets have 11 regular-season games left. Owen, a right-hander who went 12-6 at Single-A St. Lucie, was sharp from the start. He retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced. He finished with six strikeouts and two walks, scattering six hits over his six innings."I thought he was unbelievable," B-Mets manager Mako Oliveras said. "He showed me a lot of composure. He threw strikes, he attacked hitters." - PressConnects

Lucy:

Lucy's doubleheader rescheduled from a rained out doubleheader or a doublehead has been rained out...

Clones:

In just over a month with the Brooklyn Cyclones, reliever Erik Turgeon has quickly become a go to guy in the team’s bullpen, becoming a regular with stalwarts Roy Merritt and Jimmy Johnson and giving the Mets Single-A affiliate a solid three-punch that can keep them in ballgames. Looking at his stats, you’d think Turgeon would be a huge mass, armed with a plethora of tattoos, a Fu Manchu mustache and handle-bar sideburns. Striking out 19 and walking only four in only 14 innings this season for Brooklyn can do that kind of thing. However, the “real” Erik Turgeon looks more like a young soap opera star, sporting a scruffy black mop on his head and a trademark smile. Despite his unassuming and almost pretty boy look on the mound however, Turgeon has proved to be a commodity for a Cyclones team that depends on their pitching staff to win ballgames. “He’s been very good for us this season,” said Cyclones manager Edgar Alfonzo. “He has good command of his fastball and hits his spots. All of our guys have had a chance to pitch in all types of situations this season and they’ve proven themselves. He’s definitely done that as well.” Coming from U-Conn after the draft, Turgeon knew he had to learn and adapt to get his game to the next level and wasted no time doing so. Dedicating himself to learning the art of pitching under the Confucius of pitching himself, Brooklyn pitching coach Hector Berrios, Turgeon feels he has transformed himself into a different player under his guidance. “Hector has worked with me everyday,” Turgeon, who was originally drafted by the Red Sox in the 49th round in 2005, said. “This is my first season in professional ball and my first as just a pitcher and without him, I don’t want to think about where I’d be. Everything you see me doing on the mound, I’m working on in the bullpen. It’s been a year of changing things up, while working with the things that got me here. It’s been hard, but it’s been fun too.” Now with the tools to succeed at the Single-A level, Turgeon doesn’t even want to think about what his game was like just a few months ago in U-Conn. 1-0 with a 6.67 ERA in 28.1 innings with the Huskies this season, before being drafted in the 25th round of the amateur draft by the Mets, Turgeon has grown by leaps and bounds as a player in a very short time. “In college I threw a curve ball freshman and sophomore year, but they shut it down,” he said. “My junior year, I was throwing a slider, but it wouldn’t slide. It was like a straight 84-mph fastball. Now I’m throwing the curve ball and the slider and I still have my changeup. My go to pitch is still my fastball and I’m still learning, but I know I still have to develop more.” – DemBrooklynBums

Minor League Bio:

Michael Parker 2B R R 5-10 180 2-28-85 George Washington University

A local article prior to the draft:

George Washington senior shortstop Michael Parker (Newton, MA/Newton South) has been named to the Louisville Slugger All-American third-team, it was announced on Wednesday by Collegiate Baseball. The teams were chosen based on performances up to the regional playoffs and picked by the staff of the Collegiate Baseball newspaper. Parker, a member of the 2007 Atlantic 10 All-Conference first-team, batted .373 with 60 RBI, 22 doubles and 10 home runs. Overall, he ranked in the league's top-five in eight separate offensive categories. In his last season at GW, he finished first on the team in slugging percentage (.604), on-base percentage (.434) and hits (84) and was second in home runs. Parker was selected as conference Player of the Week on April 23, for a four-game stretch in which he recorded at least one hit, one RBI and one run scored in all four games, and had two four-hit performances. The team's 2007 MVP finished his four-year career ranked seventh all-time at GW with 47 doubles and 10th with 43 stolen bases. George Washington was 23-31-1 overall in 2007 and 14-13 in the A-10, finishing just one spot out of the conference tournament, despite ending the year with a season-best six-game winning streak. It was their 14th straight season with at least 20 wins.

The Mets drafted Parker in the 4th round of the 2007 draft. He played the 2007 season for Kingsport, where he went .298/.367/.433 in 141 at bats, and ended it wit Brooklyn (no games played). In 2008, he has played poorly for A-Savannah, batting .192 in 182 at bats.

This Day in Mets History:

1984 - By striking out nine Padres, Met phenom 19-year old Dwight Gooden becomes the 11th rookie to strike out 200 batters in a season.

1989 - On a 96 mph fastball, A's Rickey Henderson swing and misses to become Nolan Ryan's career 5000th strikeout

2007 - Stealing three bases in a 7-5 loss to the Padres at Shea Stadium, Mets shortstop Jose Reyes sets a team record with his 67th stolen base of the season. Roger Cedeño had established the previous mark of 66 in 1999.

And lastly:

Davey Johnson was done with baseball when the Dodgers fired him as their manager eight years ago. "To be honest, I was really burned out," Johnson remembered. "I can [only] take so much. I needed to recharge my batteries." Until Johnson got a call from sports agent Alan Nero with an intriguing opportunity. And now that phone call has him on the brink of playing for an Olympic gold medal. That would seem to indicate Johnson has his fire back. Just don't assume he's using his job to audition for another, though. "I'm not doing this to become a major league manager," he said. "I'm doing it because I love baseball and I love working with very talented young players and putting them together in a winning cause. I have really no aspirations to go back to the big leagues. "It's a really big honor for me, and I really enjoy wearing the uniform with the USA across it. It's a big responsibility, a big honor and a big challenge. And I love all three of those things." -- LA Times