Mack Attack: July 22, 2008

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Pennant: Mets: 46 losses - Phils: 45 – Marlins: 46 - Braves: 52

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

Mets manager Jerry Manuel has made it no secret he'd like to see general manager Omar Minaya pick up a big bat for the outfield. Matt Holliday, Jason Bay and even Xavier Nady are probably out of the Mets' reach, so he might have to "settle" for Seattle's Raul Ibanez or Cleveland's Casey Blake. -- Newsday

In his 52-game managerial stint this season (3/31-6/16) the SNY postgame with Willie Randolph averaged a 1.0 rating. Through the first 19 games (6/17-7/17), Jerry Manuel's postgame rating average was 1.5, up 50% from Randolph's ratings average. -- NY Daily News

InsideEdge/ESPN ‘report card’ on:

Aaron Heilman Throws: R Total Outings: 45 Total Pitches: 866

Category………..Grade Key Stat selected outing(s)……. MLB Avg………. Grade

Working Ahead in Count B- 1st pitch strike % 61 % 58 % B+
1 of first 2 pitches for strike % 84 % 85 % C+
2 of first 3 pitches for strikes % 61 % 60 % B-
% of 0-1 counts that become 0-2 counts 42 % 47 % C-
% of 1-1 counts that become 1-2 counts 58 % 53 % B+
Command C+ Strike % of fastballs 62 % 64 % C
Strike % of offspeed pitches 61 % 61 % B-
Finish Off Hitters C 2 strike at bats becoming outs 70 % 72 % C
Offspeed Effectiveness B+ Well hit average vs. offspeed strikes * .053 .076 A-
% of offspeed pitch chased 35 % 31 % B
Overall Effectiveness B+ Well-hit average (of AB's) * .164 .267 A+
Well-hit average (of strikes) * .056 .102 A+
On-base average against the pitcher * .350 .338 B-
% of batters faced who score * 14 % 12 % B-
Dominance A- % of outs that are K's in 4 pitches or less 14 % 11 % B+
123 innings % of complete innings pitched 37 % 31 % B+
Swing and miss % of strikes 23 % 14 % A+
Efficiency D % of PA's that go to 3 ball counts * 25 % 19 % F
1st batter of inning out % 64 % 68 % C-
3 or less pitch PA's 39 % 47 % D
4 or less pitch PA's 58 % 65 % D
Battle Tendency B- % of runners who score * 37 % 36 % B-
% of 2-0, 2-1, & 3 ball counts ending in outs 58 % 54 % B

Overall Grade B-

Zephyrs:

Brandon Knight, who will represent the Mets organization in the Olympics, tossed six scoreless innings, striking out 12, for Triple-A New Orleans on Saturday to improve to 5-1 with a 1.60 ERA. Knight – who was presented his Team USA jersey by manager Marty Scott, formerly of USA Baseball, in a pregame ceremony – matched a Zephyrs record for strikeouts, last achieved by Tim Redding on Aug. 7, 2002. Knight will make one more start, Thursday at Colorado Springs, before joining the Olympic team. – Adam Rubin

The New Orleans Zephyrs had not won a game all season when trailing after eight innings. That came to an end on Monday afternoon.

Valentino Pascucci delivered a two-run single in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extras, and Chris Aguila hit a walk-off, pinch-hit double in the 10th to give the Zephyrs a 3-2 win over the Albuquerque Isotopes.

The Zephyrs had been 0-42 this season when trailing after eight innings.

New Orleans trailed 2-0 and had mustered only two hits when entering the bottom of the ninth. Facing Isotopes closer Marcus Gwyn, Jesus Feliciano and Abraham Nunez led off with consecutive singles, and John Rodriguez laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up. Pascucci then delivered a line drive to center to score both runners and tie the score.

Mother Nature played a role in the game-winning run, when Albuquerque second baseman Chase Lambin lost a Gustavo Molina pop up in the sun leading off the inning. With two outs, Chris Aguila pinch-hit and sent a 2-2 pitch into the left field corner, scoring pinch-runner Anderson Machado.

Ivan Maldonado (2-3) picked up the win, after giving up one run on three hits in two innings. he struck out four and walked one.

Brian Stokes got a no decision after eight strong innings, allowing four hits and one run with eight strikeouts. – zephyrbaseball.com

B-Mets:

Luis Castillo may be signed through 2011, but Daniel Murphy was astute when he asked to switch positions to second base. Murphy, the Mets’ 13th-round pick two years ago out of Jacksonville University, who is blocked at third base by David Wright, asked Binghamton manager Mako Oliveras to move to the other side of the infield last month and team brass approved. After taking grounders at second base while on the disabled list with a shoulder issue, Murphy rejoined the Double-A B-Mets on July 1 and starting manning the position in games two days later. Through 15 games he had committed three errors, but Murphy has drawn positive reviews. “We gave him a crash course at second base and he’s been playing there like he’s been there forever,” Oliveras said. “I’m very pleased, very happy with the way he’s played. He’s got the makeup to make the change from third base to second base. I’ll tell you, I played both of them, and in the whole infield I think second base is the most difficult position to play – especially on a double play, you don’t see when the runner is coming. He has done an outstanding job - AdamRubin

Lucy:

Michael Antonini limited Lakeland to one hit, a first-inning solo homer by Ryan Strieby, in a 9-1, seven-inning win. Antonini improved to 4-0 with a 1.84 ERA since a promotion from Savannah - AdamRubin

Clones:

"Brad Holt, who, despite a 95 m.p.h. fastball, slipped to the 33rd pick in the draft over questions about his off-speed pitches, has been nothing short of brilliant in his first professional season. And in the best news of all for New York, he isn’t doing it by just overpowering hitters with his fastball. His slider and changeup should allow a healthy Holt to move quickly through the system, drawing comparisons to current Met starter Mike Pelfrey along the way. The difference is, it took Pelfrey the better part of three years to develop his slider and changeup—for Holt’s changeup, it took two starts." – observer.com

Cyclones shortstop Reese Havens is expected to be out for at least 10 games with what Alfonzo said was a pulled groin. Third baseman Zach Lutz is also back on the shelf, nursing a variety of injuries, including a strained quad, sore lower back and right ankle. No timetable was given to when the Cyclones leading-hitter will be back in the lineup. – BrooklynBums

K-Port:

If you were looking through the rookie league roundups and hadn't seen Wilmer Flores' name in a box score for a few days, don't fret. The 16-year-old phenom, who is having a marvelous season at Kingsport of the Appalachian League, hasn't played since last Tuesday because of a slightly strained oblique muscle.

He took infield practice Sunday and is symptom free so he might be back in the lineup as soon as today [Monday, July 21]. Flores, who won't turn 17 until Aug. 6, is hitting .346 with five homers and 22 RBIs through 107 at-bats. He's already earned one Appy league offensive player of the week award and despite missing a week remains in the top 10 in the league in RBIs and batting average.

The Mets have been very impressed with how the young Venezuelan has handled himself in Tennessee despite speaking only limited English. The club has him living on his own in an apartment complex with several other players and staff members, who have been keeping an eye on him. Flores has displayed a great deal of maturity and, according to everyone I spoke with, is focused on playing and not goofing off away from the field.

In other news, one source told me that the Mets have no plans to bring up Fernando Martinez or promote him to New Orleans in the near future. He returned from a hamstring strain late last month that kept him out of action for about four weeks. Martinez was hitting .296 with four homers and 21 RBIs in 250 at-bats heading into play Monday.

The source told me that the club just plans on "Martinez continuing to get his feet on the ground at Binghamton for the time being". So all those talk-show groupies who want to bring the kid up to play the outfield at Shea this season will have to be happy with Fernando Tatis unless Omar Minaya can swing a trade. - Kevin Czerwinski

Minor League Bios:

Eddie Kunz RHP R R 6-5 250 4-8-86 Oregon State

Kunz was the setup man in 2006 for the Oregon State Beavers, and replaced Kevin Gunderson in 2007 as the closer. In 2007, he pitched in 23 games (2-0 2.45 9 saves) with 32 Ks in 33 IP.

Kunz was picked in the supplemental portion of the 1st round (42nd overall) of the 2007 draft by the New York Mets.

Baseball America had him projected as the 89th top draft prospect in the nation. He has a plus fastball that tops out at 94, plus he throws a slider and an effective changeup to lefties. He keeps his fastball down in the zone, and it has some above-average sink to it. His slider sits in the 80-82 mph range. It's a true slider, with a short, late break and hard bite. He has average command and throws from a three-quarters arm slot out of the bullpen. He lacks a true weapon against good left-handed batters but his sinker will induce a lot of ground balls and chew up bats in pro ball. Because of his struggles against lefties, he projects more as a set-up man in pro ball, rather than a dominating closer.

2007 Scouting Report: Kunz was lost in the shuffle on a dominant pitching staff for the College World Series champion Beavers a year ago, but asserted himself with a breakout summer in the Cape Cod League and has played prominent role as OSU’s closer this season. He could overpower hitters in the past with essentially one pitch, a 95-96 mph fastball from a three-quarters angle with outstanding sink. He would jam hitters with it and produce a steady stream of ground-ball outs. But he has made significant strides with a second and third pitch this year: an 80-82 mph slider with a short, late break and a hard bite, and a changeup with diving action. That has enabled him to strike out more hitters this year—he was averaging a strikeout an inning, while going 2-0, 2.84 with 10 saves. But he remains primarily a ground-ball machine. Scouts questioned his toughness in the past, but he has shown poise this year with a game on the line.

In 2007, Kunz pitched for Brooklyn, going 0-1, 6.75, 1.33 in 12 relief appearances, 5 saves.

In September 2007, Kunz was assigned to play in the Arizona Winter League (which is always a sign that the organization wants to invest more time and money in you). It is also quite an honor for a player just drafted in the same year.

In November 2007, Scouts.com named Kunz as the 11th top Mets prospect, followed by BA naming him #5.

In December 2007, Jonathan Mayo/MLB.com had this to say about Kunz:

A short reliever who helped Oregon State win two national titles, Kunz could be on the fast track after a brief pro debut. After tossing 12 innings in Brooklyn, the supplemental first-round pick pitched in the Arizona Fall League. College relievers often move quickly, so don't be surprised to see Kunz in the Mets bullpen sooner rather than later.

In late January 2007, Baseball America listed Kunz as the #5 Mets prospect in their system.

In February 2008, Baseball Prospectus gave Eddie a 3-star rating and ranked him the 3rd overall Mets prospect.

Also in February 2008, Rotoworld ranked Kunz as the #6 Mets prospect, saying:

The Mets used their first pick in the 2007 draft on a pure reliever. Kunz had a 2.91 ERA and a 37/18 K/BB ratio in 46 1/3 innings in his final season at Oregon State. With his low arm angle and sinking 94-mph fastball, he should prove to be very tough on right-handers. However, left-handers may do enough damage against him to prevent him from becoming a closer. The hope is that he'll move quickly, but he obviously has to cut back on the walks before he'll be ready for the majors.

In March 2008, BA wrote the ten prospects to watch out for in 2008:
Eddie Kunz, RHP - The Mets didn't have a pick in last year's draft until the supplemental first round (No. 42 overall) and they used it to take Kunz, the big right-handed closer out of Oregon State. He struggled a bit in his pro debut and in the Arizona Fall League, but considering he had helped OSU win its second straight national title, he gets a bit of a mulligan. At 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, Kunz has tremendous presence and likes to be on the mound in pressure situations. His fastball, which sits in the mid-90s, works as a power sinker and has plenty of movement. He also throws a slider and can throw a changeup. The Mets drafted him in the hopes he'd move quickly and that's still the plan, with the right-hander likely to begin the year with Double-A Binghamton.

In June 2008, BA did a post-draft adjustment of their top 10 Mets prospects and Kunz was ranked #6, with the comments: “7. Eddie Kunz, rhp - New York's top 2007 pick has held his own in Double-A in his first full season.”