Mack Attack: July 18, 2008

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Friday, July 18, 2008

Pennant: Phils: 44 losses - Mets: 44 – Marlins: 45 - Braves: 50 – Nats: 60

Wild Card: Milw: 43 losses - St. Louis: 43 - Mets: 44 - Marlins: 45

InsideEdge/ESPN ‘report card’ on:

Carlos Delgado - Bats: L - Total at Bats: 347

Category - % - MLB Avg. - Grade

Overall Effectiveness B-
Well Hit Avg. of At-Bats .259 .234 B
Slugging % .455 .441 B-
On Base Average .331 .338 C+
Quality At-Bat % (WH outs + 7p. outs + H + BB + HBP + SAC / PA) 44 % 44 % B-
Location Performance C+ Well Hit Avg. of Swings: Location INSIDE .077 .078 C+
Well Hit Avg. of Swings: Location MIDDLE (vertical) .174 .179 C+
Well Hit Avg. of Swings: Location OUTSIDE .136 .114 B
Well Hit Avg. of Swings: Location UP .117 .111 B-
Well Hit Avg. of Swings: Location MIDDLE (horizontal) .147 .156. C+
Well Hit Avg. of Swings: Location DOWN .108 .102 B-
Fastball Performance C+ Batting Avg. on Fastballs .297 .294 B-
Well-Hit Avg. of Fastball Strikes .126 .096 B
% of Fastball Swings Put in Play 42 % 45 % C
Offspeed Performance D Batting Avg. on Offspeed Pitches .164 .240 D
Well-Hit Avg. of Offspeed Strikes .058 .078 C
% of Offspeed Swings Put in Play 28 % 41 % F
Plate Discipline C
Chase % Early in Count (Before 2 Strikes)* 20 % 19 % B-
Chase % with 2 Strikes* 44 % 38 % C-
Chase % of Non-Competitive Pitches (not near strike zone)* 23 % 20 % C+
Clutch Tendency B
Quality AB % in Close/Late Games 49 % 43 % A-
Quality AB % with Runners in Scoring Position 47 % 46 % B-
2 Strike Tendency D
Strikeout % of PA's that reach 2 Strikes* 43 % 35 % D
On Base Average with 2 Strikes .231 .271 C-
2 Strike Miss % of Swings* 28 % 20 % D

Overall Grade C+

Rotoscoop.com’s ranking of fantasy SS:

1. Hanley Ramirez
2. Jose Reyes
3. Jimmy Rollins
4. Carlos Guillen
5. Derek Jeter

BaseballThinkFactory’s ranking of players at All-Star Break:

1B - 15th Carlos Delgado: “for as poorly as Carlos Delgado started, he’s “only” four runs below average on offense”

2B - 18th Luis Castillo

2B - 19th Damon Easley: “The Mets are being sabotaged by their second basemen. Easley has had a hot month, or that would be much worse

3B - 3rd David Wright

SS - 2nd Jose Reyes: “Jose Reyes has played pretty poorly defensively this year, making careless errors.”

C - 12th Brian Schneider

LF - no one ranked - “The Pirates may end up trading Jason Bay. The Mets should get on that if they aren’t going to sign Bonds.”

CF - 1st Carlos Beltran

RF - 4th Ryan Church: “If Ryan Church can get back healthy, he could be a difference maker for the Mets.”

Zephyrs:

New Orleans Zephyrs starting pitcher Brandon Knight is one of 24 players that will represent the Team USA baseball team in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Aug. 8-24. Knight has appeared in 10 games for the Zephyrs this season, making four starts. He is 4-1 with a 1.89 ERA overall. The 33-year-old pitcher joined the Zephyrs on May 29th from the independent Somerset Patriots, of the Atlantic League. Knight was originally drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 14th round of the June 1995 First-Year Player Draft.

B-Mets:

Added RHP Orlando Hernandez on a Major League rehab assignment from NY Mets.

The Binghamton Mets pulled within a run after trailing by six early, but the Connecticut Defenders held on for a 9-5 win at NYSEG Stadium Thursday. The B-Mets have lost three in a row and 10 of 13.

Connecticut (50-48) got back-to-back, two-out RBI doubles by Pablo Sandoval and Adam Witter in the first, the only inning worked by starter Orlando Hernandez (0-1). Jose Sanchez came on in the second, allowing Kyle Haines to score on a wild pitch.

The Defenders would score three more in the third. Sandoval led off the frame with a homer before Olmo Rosario plated another with a sacrifice fly and Kyle Haines hit a run-scoring single for a 6-0 Connecticut lead. Sanchez settled down thereafter, retiring the last nine he faced.

The B-Mets (51-47) started chipping away at Connecticut’s lead in the fourth, when Ambiorix Concepcion led off with a triple and scored on Emmanuel Garcia’s single to center.

Binghamton scored thrice more against Connecticut starter Garrett Broshuis (10-6) in the fifth. Jose Coronado and Caleb Stewart singled, putting runners at the corners for Mike Carp, whose sacrifice fly brought in Coronado. Up next was Concepcion, who hammered a two-run homer to left, pulling Binghamton within 6-4.

Daniel Murphy led off the B-Mets half of the seventh with an infield hit and stole second before moving to third on a groundout and scoring on a throwing error, cutting Connecticut’s lead to 6-5.

Connecticut put the game away against Eddie Camacho in the ninth, as Eddy Martinez-Esteve picked up an RBI single before Simon Klink’s base hit plated two more.

Gnats:

RHP Elvin Ramirez has been placed on the Savannah disabled list with a lower back strain, the New York Mets announced today. With a roster spot open, reliever Jason LaVorgna has been called up from Rookie-level Kingsport. LaVorgna will be active for tonight’s game in Greensboro. LaVorgna, 22, made six appearances with the K-Mets this season and was 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA. The North Haven, Conn. Native was drafted in the 35th round of the 2007 draft by the Mets out of Eastern Connecticut State University. Last season he was assigned to Kingsport where he went 0-4 with an 8.72 ERA in 14 outings. With Eastern Connecticut State as a senior, LaVorgna was 4-1 with a team-leading 1.14 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 31.2 innings. He earned first-team All-New England and All-Little East Conference honors during the ’08 season. Prior to his two years with the Warriors, LaVorgna was pitched at UMass.

K-Port:

Yogi Berra once noted, "It's never over until it's over." The wisdom certainly proved true when Kingsport Mets rallied for 10 runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to overtake the Johnson City Cardinals, 12-9, on Wednesday. Rogelio Del Campo delivered the winning blow, a three-run walk-off homer to right field, to cap the improbable rally against Johnson City reliever Matthew Frevert. "This was the best comeback I've ever seen in 21 years in baseball," Kingsport's manager Pedro Lopez. "It was pretty special. I was especially happy for my players because they'd had a pretty tough week." Going into the game, the Mets had lost six of their last seven. But the memory of Lopez's first game as Kingsport manager on June 21 gave him hope. His team had trailed the Cardinals, 6-0, but rallied for six runs in the final two innings to tie the game before losing in the bottom of the ninth, 7-6. The Mets were behind entering the bottom of the ninth, 9-2. They sent 12 men to the plate and banged out 10 hits. Charles Doyle delivered a three-RBI double that cut the Mets' deficit to 9-8. Stefan Welch then delivered his second hit of the inning, a single to left that plated Doyle to tie the game. Pedro Zapata followed with his second hit of the frame, setting the stage for Del Campo's homer -- his first of the year. Welch and Del Campo each went 3-for-6. Kingsport (13-14) didn't get on the board until the eighth. The bases were loaded with two out on a throwing error by shortstop Nico Vasquez, a hit batsman and Rafael Fernandez's single. Then Daniel Stegall cracked a two-RBI single to left. – MiLB.com