Mack Attack: August 7, 2008

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Thursday, August 7, 2008

Pennant/Wild Car Race:

Cubs: 46
Philly: 50
Milw: 51
St. Louis 52
Florida 54
Mets 54

okay... Tatis is a great find.... and Nick Evans isn't embarassing anyone.... and Carlos Delgado has had a wonderful 2 months.... and Beltran is heating up.... and Reyes is stealing bases and making runs happen again... and Wright is well, Wright... and now Murphy gets 3 hits...

Do you think its the pitching???? [/i]

According to manager Jerry Manuel, "it's a possibility" that Luis Castillo (hip) could return from the disabled list this weekend. Castillo went 1-for-3 and played seven innings at second base in a minor league rehab game Tuesday at Single-A, but the Mets are clearly in no rush to bring him back off the shelf. Once he does return, it may be in a part-time role. - Source: New York Daily News

John Maine (shoulder) had a successful bullpen session Tuesday and is scheduled to throw a simulated game Friday. Barring a setback Maine is on track to return from the disabled list with a start next Wednesday versus the Nationals. Source: New York Daily News

Zephyrs:

Remember that player in the Brian Bannister deal? (And before you jump all over Omar Minaya, Bannister is 7-9 this year, with an ERA of 5.33). Ambiroix Burgos made his first appearance while rehabbing his way back from Tommy John surgery. In two innings for the Gulf Coast Mets, Burgos allowed three hits and two earned runs, while striking out four. Burgos, only 24, has appeared in 144 games in his short career, only 17 with the Mets. He earned his only win as a member of the Mets when the team rallied to score five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Chicago Cubs on May 17, 2007. – Ropilitans

Keeping with yesterday’s motif, here’s a little diddy I wrote about Eddie Kunz in August of 2007…enjoy! - When reliever Eddie Kunz is on the mound for the Cyclones, it’s easy to see the beads of sweat drip down his face while the crowd cheers his name and the hitter wonders what pitch he’s going to get. Hell, even a small part of Kunz probably has trouble deciding. Will it be the slider that’ll dance through the strike zone a split second after it leaves his hand, or will it be the changeup that’ll put the poor hitter into the ground like he’s attached to a screwdriver? Or worse yet, will it be the fastball that will sting his hands like a bee if he manages to make contact? While this chess game goes on inside the hitter’s mind, Kunz doesn’t hear the sound of the crowd. All he sees is his target. Since making his professional debut with the ‘Clones on August 4, Kunz has four saves in eight games. with his opponents hitting .222 against him, proving he hits his target more times than he misses - DemBrooklynBums

B-Mets:

Tobi Stoner (5-9, 3.34) seems to now be adjusting to AA-ball. He has won his last 4 outings, giving up only 3 earned runs in 26.0 IP… two things you never want to do if you’re facing Stoner… don’t make fun of his last name and don’t let his teammates give him run support. Tobi has been plagued as far back as Savannah (and later in Lucy) with not getting the proper amount of runs a good pitcher needs to put a victory together. That being said, he earned his promotions to both Lucy and B-Town on sheer determination and talent. I’ve currently have Stoner 34th on the MMPL (does that sound better, Bill?) and there’s a good chance he could start 2009 at AAA. Tobi turns 24 in December.

Shawn Bowman was back playing 3B in the Wednesday day game, and singled his first time up, raising his AA-BA to .385. Should we start taking this guy serious again? I mean, I have him as the 10th Mets prospect, but his name is nowhere on the other prospect sheets. Is everyone just waiting for him to go down for the third time? So far this season, he has hit lights out at both the A+ and AA level. What do the Mets do with this guy? He’s not going to take a job away from David Wright, and Dan Murphy has first digs at second. Trade bait? Probably, but how much is someone worth who has broken his back twice so far in his minor league career? Real positive prospect problems.

Josh Petersen hit a grand slam and drove in five runs, helping the Binghamton Mets build a six-run lead, but Steve Torrealba hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Bowie Baysox a 9-8 victory at Prince George’s Stadium Wednesday. Binghamton took the first two games of the series, finishing their six-game road trip with a 3-3 mark. The B-Mets (62-57) got to Bowie starter Jason Berken in the second, as Caleb Stewart, Ambiorix Concepcion and Shawn Bowman all singled, loading the bases with no outs. Petersen followed with a sacrifice fly to score Stewart before Bowman and Concepcion attempted a double-steal. Bowman was tagged out trying to advance to second, but Concepcion scored from third for a 2-0 Binghamton lead. Bowie (68-51) rallied to tie in the third. Bobby Parnell loaded the bases with one out before walking Matt Wieters, forcing in a run. Ryan Finan then hit a sacrifice fly to tie the score 2-2. Parnell departed after five innings, striking out four. Mike Carp led off Binghamton’s half of the fourth with a walk and advanced to third on Caleb Stewart’s double. Carp scored on a wild pitch and Stewart came in on Ambiorix Concepcion’s groundout to put the B-Mets back on top, 4-2

Lucy:

RP Eric Niesen got off to a rocky start again, giving up 4 runs in the first three innings... Niesen has had some difficulties this year, but I watched this kid in ST and he sure looked like he had the right stuff... I wouldn't be surprised that he isn't left behind next year in Lucy to join up with the dynamic trio (Scott Moviel, Eric Beaulac, and Brant Rustich) that will come out of Savannah.

Gnats:

RP Junior Guerra pitched another brilliant stint Tuesday night, tossing 3.0 scoreless innings and lowering his ERA to a miniscule 0.98. It’s interesting to see Guerra’s ERA journey this year… at Brooklyn, it was 54.00 (a total of 0.1 IP with 2 ER), then on to a 2.25 in K-Port (3 appearances), and finally 7 appearances and 18.1 IP in Savannah (2 ERs total). Guerra has obviously solidified an invite back to the Coastal Empire, but has an outside chance of being fast tracked to Lucy in the spring, especially since he turns 24 in January. Bio: The Mets signed Guerra as a free agent in 2007. He appeared in Liga Paralela that winter, striking out 10 in 7.1 innings. He originally was signed as a catcher by the Braves as an international free agent in 2001. The Braves moved him to the mound in 2006 but released him in 2007. Guerra is a native of Guayana, Venezuela.

Talked briefly with SP Brant Rustich, who said his blister on his hand is now completely healed… judging from his 5 scoreless innings 2 nights ago, I guess he’s right…

The speculation on whether or not the Mets renew their affiliation with AAA-New Orleans, and/or A-Savannah, should be starting soon. Both contracts run out at the end of the year, and it would have been a nice positive sign if GM Omar Minaya took the 2-hour direct LGA/SAV flight once in the past two years… but he didn’t. Hey, the season’s still going, right?

Well, SP Eric Beaulac (0.00) finally gave up a run while pitching for Savannah... but it turned out to be unearned (throwing error - F. Pena), thus, after 5 innings he still had his goose-egg ERA going...

C Francesco Pena had 3 hits tonight raising his BA to .260+. In addition, reports from his manager and coaches say they are very pleased with the progress he has shown in the past two months, defensively... I rode the Pena train for 1 1/2 years, but got off for a breather around a month and a half ago. He still comes in at #27 on the Mack's Mets Prospect List (email McGann to sponsor... ), but has fell from the top 10... no one would be happier than I to see him on a tear before the season ends.

Clones:

This is not one of your great Mets minor league hitting teams, so anytime you can give these pitchers a 7 run spot, there's a change you're going home with the kewpie... we never here any prospect talk about SP Pedro P.Martinez, but he's having an excellent season and pitched fantastically tonight (6.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R 6 K 3.20).

K-Port:

K-Port played a rare day game (away), and beat Princeton, 6-2… SP Robert Carson had another wonderful start (6.0 IP, 4 K, 0.60 ERA)… yes, he did walk 4 batters, but his record in Kingsport so far this year is 1 earned run in 15.0 innings pitched… watch for Carson, currently ranked 18th on the MMPL) to move on next spring to Savannah…

Happy Birthday to Wilmer Flores... he turned 17 today.

The MMPL #48 prospect, C Dock Doyle, is on the shelf with a minor back injury.

GCL Mets:

DSL Mets:

The DSL Mets beat their Cubs counterparts, 5-2... 18-year old SP Ismael Mendez just kept rolling along, with 9 Ks in 5.1 IP (0 ER, 1.19 ERA)...

VSL Mets:

El nighto offo

Minor League Bios:

Tony Maccani C R R 6-3 191 9-24-84 Furman

Macanni, born in Cincinnati, first played his college ball at Akron (2004: .246/.413/.361 in 61 Abs), but transferred to Furman for the 2005 (.264/.399/.362 in 125 Abs) and 2006 (.352/.430/.523 in 193 Abs) season. This earned him a member of the consensus All-Southern Conference 1st team honors.

In 2007, he finished his college career, batting .296, with a team leading 7 home runs and 42 RBIs.

Macanni signed with the Mets, on July 26th, as an undrafted free agent in 2007 and was first assigned to the AAA New Orleans franchise, where he did not have an at bat. He was transferred to Savannah (.048/.200/.048 in 21 at bats) when Sean McCraw was called up to St. Lucie on July 30th.

His ‘claim to fame’ so far as a Mets was catching a simulated game last week for Pedro Martinez, which I’m sure he’ll remember for a very long time.

Ex-Mets:

Mike Hampton earned his first victory in nearly three years and hit an RBI double, leading the Atlanta Braves past the San Francisco Giants 11-4 on Tuesday night. The 35-year-old Hampton had to feel great about this outing: He hadn’t won since Aug. 14, 2005, for the Braves against Arizona — 1,087 days earlier – AP

Reports on Tom Glavine were all good after the veteran lefty pitched four solid innings Monday in an injury-rehab start for Class A Myrtle Beach, his first minor-league appearance in 22 years. Braves manager Bobby Cox said Glavine would more rehab start Saturday for Class AA Mississippi "to build endurance." Provided that goes well, he would activated from the disabled list and rejoin the Braves' rotation next week. -- Atlanta Journal-Constitution

This Day in Mets History:

2005 - In the battle of the Zambranos at Shea Stadium, Victor is victorious as he defeats Carlos and the Cubs, 6-1, In addition to sharing the same last name, the two Venezuelan pitchers, who are not related, also wear the same number (38), entered the game with same number of career wins (41), play for teams which started the series with the same record (54-54), as well being both switch hitters and throwing right-handed.

And lastly:

Former Mets pitcher Heath Bell of the Padres said he might shed a tear in farewell to Shea Stadium. But only one. "It's gotta go," said Bell. "There's personal history for a lot of people, but not a lot of baseball history here. It's just really old and they haven't really kept it up. I've heard stories about (Mets coach) Art Howe coming off a road trip and finding a rat - a live rodent - on his desk. I remember us trying to catch a rat running around in the bullpen." "Catch" isn't the most accurate word. The Mets relievers were hunting it with a bat. -- San Diego Union-Tribune