Mack Attack: July 20, 2008

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Sunday, July 20, 2008

Pennant: Phils: 45 losses - Mets: 46 – Marlins: 46 - Braves: 51

Wild Card: Milw: 43 losses - St. Louis: 43 - Mets: 46 - Marlins: 46

MLBRumours on what they think the Mets will do:

Mets: Call it oversight, call it my subtle bias that I think the Mets will win the NL East, but commenter D Wright 5 is dead-on for calling me out on not including the Amazin's in this list. I like his assessment: The Mets are obviously looking to get a corner outfielder by way of trade. How come you didn't add Raul Ibanez as a possible candidate to becoming a Met? Not one word about the rumors swirling around the David DeJesus might also become another possibility for the Mets? Not a word about Brian Fuentes being another option.

Next Generation Pitching:

SP: Jon Niese/B-Mets 5-7 3.22 1.32 104 K 117.1 IP

SP: Bobby Parnell/B-Mets 9-4 3.94 1.41 76 K 105.0 IP

Proj RP: Sal Aguilar/B-Mets 10-2 2.97 1.25 70 K 106.0 IP

CL/RP: Eddie Kunz/B-Mets 1-4 3.09 1.40 37 K 43.2 IP 25 saves

Next Generation Positional:

1B: Mike Carp/B-Mets .297/.377/.437/.814 - 11 HR/57 RBIs

2B: Dan Murphy/B-Mets .309/.372/.485/.857 - 1 error on 2B

OF: Fernando Martinez/B-Mets .292/.333/.421/.754 - 51 K/233 AB

InsideEdge/ESPN ‘report card’ on:

Luis Castillo Bats: B Total at Bats: 245

Category - % - MLB Avg. - Grade

Overall Effectiveness ---------------------- C
Well Hit Avg. of At-Bats .135 .234 ----- F
Slugging % .335 .441 ------------------------ F
On Base Average .371 .338 -------------- B+
Quality At-Bat % (WH outs + 7p. outs + H + BB + HBP + SAC / PA) 48 % 44 % B+
Location Performance D+ Well Hit Avg. of Swings: Location INSIDE .066 .078 C+
Well Hit Avg. of Swings: Location MIDDLE (vertical) .130 .179 D+
Well Hit Avg. of Swings: Location OUTSIDE .056 .114 D+
Well Hit Avg. of Swings: Location UP .043 .111 D
Well Hit Avg. of Swings: Location MIDDLE (horizontal) .096 .156. D+
Well Hit Avg. of Swings: Location DOWN .092 .102 C+
Fastball Performance B- Batting Avg. on Fastballs .282 .294 C+
Well-Hit Avg. of Fastball Strikes .051 .096 C-
% of Fastball Swings Put in Play 58 % 45 % A+
Offspeed Performance B- Batting Avg. on Offspeed Pitches .225 .240 C+
Well-Hit Avg. of Offspeed Strikes .028 .078 D+
% of Offspeed Swings Put in Play 56 % 41 % A+
Plate Discipline ------------------------------------- A+
Chase % Early in Count (Before 2 Strikes)* 6 % 19 % A+
Chase % with 2 Strikes* 16 % 38 % A+
Chase % of Non-Competitive Pitches (not near strike zone)* 9 % 20 % A+
Clutch Tendency ------------------------------------- B
Quality AB % in Close/Late Games 44 % 43 % B-
Quality AB % with Runners in Scoring Position 52 % 46 % A-
2 Strike Tendency ------------------------------------- A
Strikeout % of PA's that reach 2 Strikes* 13 % 35 % A+
On Base Average with 2 Strikes .329 .271 A-
2 Strike Miss % of Swings* 6 % 20 % A+
Overall Grade ----------------------------------- C+

 

Evaluation of a Past Omar Trade:

 

11/20/06 – Acquired:

LHP Jason Vargas

Pitched 2x for Mets (0-1, 12.19) – on DL

LHP Adam Bostick

Still hasn’t made MLB – off/on DL for 2 years

Traded:

RHP Henry Owens

2-0, 196 for Marlins in 2007 – on DL 2008

RHP Matt Lindstrom

3-4, 3.09 in 71 appearances for Marlins in 2007
1-1, 44.5 in 34 appearances for Marlines in 2007

-conclusion: 2nd throwaway of 2 good relief pitchers for nothing…

Zephyrs:

To put an exclamation point on a remarkable week for Brandon Knight, he tied a Zephyrs club record by striking out 12 Albuquerque Isotopes on Saturday, leading the Zephyrs to a 5-1 win.

Just days after being named to the 2008 U.S. Olympic baseball team, Knight recorded 12 strikeouts in six innings, becoming the fourth Zephyr pitcher to strike out a dozen. It was the first time a Zephyr had reached double digits in strikeouts since Tim Redding had 12 against Portland on August 7, 2002.

Knight, who will be joining Team USA next week in preparation for the Summer Games in Beijing, used 110 pitches and held Albuquerque to three hits. He walked three in upping his record to 5-1 and lowering his ERA to 1.60 in 11 appearances since joining the Z's on May 29.

The Zephyrs used an onslaught of power in the first inning to stake Knight to a relatively comfortable lead. Anderson Machado led off the bottom of the first with a home run, and one out later, Chris Aguila and Valentino Pascucci went deep back-to-back, giving New Orleans a 3-0 cushion.

It was the second time this season the Zephyrs hit consecutive home runs, as Aguila and Fernando Tatis did it on May 4 at Portland.

Michel Abreu provided two insurance runs in the third, when he laced a two-run single into right-center field, one of his two hits on the night.

Willie Collazo struck out two while surrendering one run in an inning of work, and Nate Field struck out two in a perfect ninth inning, running the Zephyrs' season-high strikeout total to 16.

The Zephyrs and Isotopes play the third game of the series on Sunday at 2 p.m., with RHP Ruddy Lugo facing RHP Bobby Keppel.

B-Mets:

Lucy:

Lucy played another doubleheader trying to make up for all the lost rainouts… they won the first game, 9-1, against Lakeland, with a 13-hit attack. CF Ezequiel Carrera (.277) led the way, going 4-4, including his 4th homer of the season… RF Victor Mendez went 3-4, knocking in 2 runs… SP Mike Antonini (1.84, 7 Ks, 0 BB) continues his splendid pitching with a 7 inning complete game…

There may have been a zero under the St. Lucie Mets' hits column at Joker Marchant Stadium on Saturday night, but it was a struggle from start to finish for Rick Porcello.

Porcello combined with two relievers on a seven-inning no-hitter as the Lakeland Flying Tigers defeated the Mets, 4-1, to earn a split of their doubleheader.

The 19-year-old right-hander, who wasn't born the last time the Flying Tigers pitched a seven-inning no-hitter, walked two, struck out one and gave up a run in his 19th professional start.

"Throughout the game, my legs were getting out a little quick," he said. "It was a battle to keep the ball down. For giving up no hits, I felt like I was battling throughout the game."

The battle began immediately as Porcello started the game by walking Ezequiel Carrera, who moved up on a groundout and stole third. After Lucas Duda also walked, Victor Mendez lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Gnats:

Clones:

K-Port:

GCL Mets:

The GCL Mets finally got a game in, and won, 4-1, against the Dodgers… the big blow was a 2-RBI single by 2B Jordany Valdespin (.299)…

VSL Mets:

The VSL Mets lost, 6-4, to the Tigers… Ramero Piralta pitched well (5.2 IP, 1 ER, 2.64), while C Breiner Soto (.226) went 2-4…

Minor League Bios:

Jose Hernandez P R R 6-0 198 1-22-89 Santo Domingo, D.R.

Hernandez pitched the 2007 season for the DSL Mets, going 1-3, 5.97 in 13 games, 7 starts. He also had 31 Ks in 31.2 IP.

Jose returned to the VSL Mets for the 2008 season.

This Day in Mets History:

2006 - In a 26 inning New York-Penn League game which takes 6 hours, 40 minutes to complete at KeySpan Park in Coney Island, the Oneonta Tigers outlast the hometown Brooklyn Cyclones, 6-1. Mark Wright a reserve flychaser is the losing pitcher in the third longest game by innings in professional baseball history.

And lastly:

The final concert at Shea Stadium nearly ended as the first show there began in 1965, with Paul McCartney singing “I Saw Her Standing There” and a deafening roar from a stunned, capacity crowd. The final song also went to McCartney, with “Let It Be.” The concert drew an all-star cast of guests together, for “The Last Play at Shea” for more than three sweltering hours Friday night, with Joel capping the evening by singing “Piano Man” backed by 63,000 fans. Joel ended the concert era at Shea Stadium with a nod to the past and a celebration of his present, as the uncertain future looms like the newly built walls of Citi Field behind his stage set. “This stadium opened up to play baseball in the year 1964 and that was the first year I joined up in a band,” he said. “They’re gonna tear this house down but I want to thank you for letting me keep doing this job. It’s the best job.” And Joel did it well, shining brighter than usual with his expanded backing band and guests including The Who’s Roger Daltrey, Garth Brooks, Tony Bennett and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, who seemed to bring out the best of him.