Mack Attack: August 4, 2008

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Monday, August 4, 2008

Pennant: Phillies: 50 losses - Marlins: 53 – Mets: 53

Wild Card: Milw: 50 losses - St. Louis: 51 - Marlins: 53 - Mets: 53

Daniel Murphy should have been the hero in his major-league debut. Not only did he single off Roy Oswalt in his first major-league at-bat and score the game’s opening run during a 1-for-4 night, he made a leaping catch at the left-field wall and doubled off Hunter Pence at second base to preserve a 4-1 lead in the seventh. Murphy said he actually jumped too early on the play, but remained airborne long enough for the catch. Murphy looked startled at the amount of media at his locker after the game when he looked up. He actually did a double take. – AdamRubin

Ryan Church just watched as his teammates had batting practice Saturday. Brian Schneider and Carlos Delgado faked crying to tease a frustrated Church. It seemed like he wanted to be out there, but medical staff doesn’t want him doing too much strenuous activity too soon. Church had taken batting practice Friday. He’ll probably still play minor-league games at some point during the coming week before returning. – AdamRubin

Mets manager Jerry Manuel announced yesterday that he was going with an all-rookie platoon in left field. Nick Evans and Daniel Murphy will split time in left while Fernando Tatis will become the everyday right fielder. This is a real stop-gap situation until Ryan Church gets back from his post concussion syndrome problems that have plagued him for much of this season. Church may be back with the Mets within the next two weeks depending on his progress. Manuel’s done as good a job as he can with the pieces he’s been given in the outfield. Endy Chavez has some skills but he’s not an everyday player. So the Mets have to go with players that are naturally infielders in the outfield corners for now. We’ll see defensive shortfalls like the game winning hit that Tatis couldn’t make a play on in Houston last night. Unfortunately, we’ll have to live with that for now. – TheMetsReport

But the biggest offensive disappointment in town, as much of an underproducer as any big name or big ticket or big player either New York team has, is Carlos Beltran. There is still time for Beltran, too. But he needs to pick it up as much as anybody. He is lucky the town has spent so much of the summer obsessing about Jose Reyes. Because for all the screaming about Reyes, about finger-waving and thrown gloves and "Dancing with the Stars" moves, his numbers are up almost all the way across the board and there is nothing to discuss, at this point, anyway, about which shortstop in town has been the most productive. David Wright? He is leading the city in RBI and was hitting .290 going into last night's game against the Astros, with 20 home runs. And it is the other Carlos, 36-year-old Carlos Delgado, a player who had them shouting on the radio that he should be released earlier in the season, who has been the big stick behind Wright, leading the Mets in home runs, leading the Mets in dramatic swings. – MikeLupica

No, the major mound disappointments have been Pedro Martinez and El Duque Hernandez. Pedro has tried his best to come back from rotator cuff surgery, but he hasn't been the old Pedro and injuries have eaten away at his durability and effectiveness. Marcel figured Hernandez would be good for 148 innings and a 4.41 ERA, but he hasn't pitched at all. There's a good chance he won't take the Shea mound again, let alone any major-league mound. So, what are the keys to the Mets' success the remainder of the year: Pelfrey throws strikes, the good Oliver continues to show up, Pedro find his health and pitches well, John Maine avoids serious shoulder injury. Yeah, that's all. But possible, definitely possible. The bullpen? Man, your guess is as good as mine. The Mets have their arms lined up, but the arms haven't been quite up to snuff lately. Duaner Sanchez hit a dead arm period—let's hope that's all it was. And Manuel hasn't shown any creativity in his bullpen use; he continues to use Billy Wagner (by far his best reliever) in conventional save situations. Honestly, I wouldn't look for too much from the Mets' bullpen; it will be solid but not dominating.- HardballTimes

Mark Teixeira wants a 10 year deal and that might limit his options to one city: New York. Only Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez have 10 year deals. The Yankees and Mets may be the only players willing to go that high. Teixeira's turned down a lot of money before, and indicated he wants to play for a place he likes and a team that contends every year. - MLBTradeRumors

Zephyrs:

Valentino Pascucci didn't get off to the start he hoped for this season. But he's more than happy with the way he's finishing it. Pascucci whacked three home runs and pinch-hitter John Rodriguez delivered a walk-off single in the 10th inning as the New Orleans Zephyrs rallied for an 8-7 win over the Tucson Sidewinders at Zephyr Field. After the Sidewinders scored five times in the second inning, Pascucci got the Zephyrs on the board with a two-run shot in the fifth. He smacked a solo shot in the sixth and got his team within 6-5 in the eighth by crushing a two-run blast, his 25th. It was Pascucci's third career three-homer game. The previous two came in 2004 while playing for Triple-A Edmonton of the Pacific Coast League. - MiLB.com

B-Mets:

Shawn Bowman made his first ever appearance at 1B today.

Team Leaders:

3B Shawn Bowman - .333/.350/.500/850 - yeah, I now he only has 18 at bats at this level, but I couldn’t help listing him

LF Josh Peterson - .321/.383/.447/.829 – nobody ever writes nuthin’ about this guy…

RP Eddie Kunz – 1-4, 2.79, 27 saves – 0.00 ERA in last 10 games

Lucy:

Team Leaders:

C Josh Thole - .304/.385/.430./815 – and only 4 errors all season

SP Dillon Gee - 7-6, 3.26 – 5-1, 2.14 in last 10 games

Gnats:

Team Leaders:

C Sean McCraw - .300/.403/.390/.793 – only 2 errors behind the plate

SP Eric Beaulac - 1-0, 0.00 - off to a great A-level start

RP Junior Guerra – 1-0, 1.17 – 0.46 WHIP in first 6 games

Clones:

Team Leaders:

SP Bradley Holt - 3-2, 2.15 in 8 starts for a team with no bats

P Christopher Schwinden – 1-1, 1.27 in 8 appearances – 0.99 WHIP

RP Roy Merritt – 1-0, 1.52, 1.14 in 14 appearances

K-Port:

Team Leaders:

C Dock Doyle - .325/.398/.385/.783 – lot of catchers doing well…

SS Wilmer Flores - .316/.351/.525/.877 – batting only .250 in last 10 games

RP Michael Powers – 1-0, 1.26, 0.98 in 10 appearances – 5 saves

GCL Mets:

Team Leaders:

3B Jefry Marte - .336/.405/.564/.968 – batting .343 in last 10 games

SP Jeurys Familia - 1-1, 2.04, 1.05 in 8 starts – turns 20 in October

SP Robert Carson – 1-0, 1.57, 0.74 in 5 starts – 25Ks/23.0 IP

DSL Mets:

Team Leaders:

SP Gonzalez German - 4-0, 1.09, 0.74 in 11 starts – 55Ks/58.0 IP

SP Ismael Mendez – 3-1, 1.31, 1.00 in 9 starts – 18 years old

RP Willy Pena – 4-0, 1.76 in 11 outings

VSL Mets:

Team Leaders:

SP Angel Cuan – 1-8, 3.13, 1.14 in 14 starts – no support from team

SP Jhonathan Torrez – 5-2, 3.39, 1.19 – 18 years old

RP Jhoan Burgos – 1-1, 0.42, 0.80 – 9 outings, 3 saves, 22Ks/21.1 IP

Minor League Bios:

Jason LaVorgna P R R 5-9 190 3-4-86 Eastern Connecticut State U.

From a local newspaper on draft day:

North Haven’s Jason Lavorgna, a junior RHP at Eastern Connecticut State, was halfway through pregame batting practice in Newport, R.I., when he got the call that the Mets had selected him in the 35th round.
"It pretty much lifted me off my feet," said Lavorgna, whose Danbury Westerners team of the New England Collegiate Baseball League played a game last night.

A lifelong Yankees fan, Lavorgna said he became the biggest Mets fan in the world around 4 p.m. Friday. The UMass transfer was 4-1 with a 1.14 ERA in 25 games in helping ECSU to the Division III World Series this spring. He plans to forgo his final season at ECSU to sign with the Mets today.

Less than a week after an excited Jason LaVorgna told the Norwich Bulletin he was, "Ready to get shipped," the Eastern Connecticut State University pitcher signed a contract with the New York Mets.

LaVorgna was selected 1,078th overall in the 35th round of the Major League Baseball Draft last Friday.

"I'm happy for him," ECSU coach Bill Holowaty said. "He wanted to sign and he wanted to have a chance to play professional baseball and you don't get that opportunity in his situation often."

LaVorgna, who started making the transition from outfielder to pitcher last season with the Warriors, doesn't have a lot of miles on his arm and Holowaty thinks that has worked to his advantage.

"He's a sleeper," Holowaty said. "He wanted it and he worked very hard for it ... He's a darn good risk."

The Mets drafted LaVorgna in the 35th round of the 2007 draft. He was signed and sent to Kingsport for the 2007 season. He managed to pitch in 14 relief appearances and posted stats of 0-4, 8.72,2.03 20 Ks 21.1 IP.
In 2008, LaVorgna made six appearances with the K-Mets this season and was 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA. He was then promoted to Savannah (July 2007).

Ex-Mets:

The Braves released RP Royce Ring.

This Day in Mets History:

1982 - After driving in the winning run in a Met 7-4 victory over the Cubs, Joel Youngblood is traded and later in the day flies to Philadelphia and singles for the Expos becoming the first player to have a hit for two different teams in the same day in different cities.

1985 - At the Yankee Stadium, White Sox Tom Seaver becomes the 17th player in major league history to win 300 games as he six-hits the Bronx Bombers, 4-1. All of the Yankees' hits are singles.

1992 - At an auction, actor Charlie Sheen pays $93,500 for the ‘Mookie Ball’ which went through Bill Buckner’s legs capping the miraculous Met comeback in the sixth game of the Fall Classic in 1986. Arthur Richman, the team’s traveling secretary, who was given the ball that night by right field umpire, Ed Montague, gives the all the proceeds to charity