Mack Attack: July 27, 2008

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Sunday, July 27, 2008

Pennant: Mets: 48 losses - Phils: 49 – Marlins: 49 - Braves: 54

Wild Card: Milw: 44 losses - St. Louis: 48 - Phils: 49 - Marlins: 49

Carlos Delgado has now hit 20 home runs for the 13th straight season

Angel Pagan goes under the knife for season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder on Tuesday. He should be back in the spring.

The New York Mets have narrowed their trade focus to acquiring a corner outfielder, and one team insider expressed optimism that Cleveland's Casey Blake, Seattle's Raul Ibanez or Pittsburgh's Jason Bay could be obtained next week. The belief is that those teams' demands, currently exorbitant, will relax as Thursday's trading deadline approaches. GM Omar Minaya wouldn't discuss individual players, but acknowledged the organization has started to focus on particular targets. The Pirates' trade of Xavier Nady Friday night might change Pittsburgh's plans about trading Bay. An important factor in the Mets' search for an outfielder is that the team won't know if Ryan Church is clear of concussion-related trouble before the trading deadline. Church was cleared to begin "light conditioning" Friday, which entailed sprints and stationary bicycle work. Church hoped to accompany the team to Florida after tomorrow's game, but he won't be cleared for baseball activities for a couple of days and will need to play in minor-league games before being activated. - Source: New York Daily News

InsideEdge/ESPN ‘report card’ on:

Johan Santana Total Outings: 21 Total Pitches: 2159

Category ………. Grade…………………. MLB Avg. ……………………. Grade

Working Ahead in Count B+ 1st pitch strike % 61 % 58 % B+
1 of first 2 pitches for strike % 89 % 85 % A-
2 of first 3 pitches for strikes % 67 % 60 % A-
% of 0-1 counts that become 0-2 counts 51 % 47 % B
% of 1-1 counts that become 1-2 counts 61 % 53 % A-
Command B Strike % of fastballs 66 % 64 % B
Strike % of offspeed pitches 65 % 61 % B+
Finish Off Hitters B+ 2 strike at bats becoming outs 76 % 72 % B+
Offspeed Effectiveness B Well hit average vs. offspeed strikes * .073 .076 B
% of offspeed pitch chased 35 % 31 % B
Overall Effectiveness B+ Well-hit average (of AB's) * .216 .267 A-
Well-hit average (of strikes) * .081 .102 A-
On-base average against the pitcher * .299 .338 A-
% of batters faced who score * 10 % 12 % B
Dominance B+ % of outs that are K's in 4 pitches or less 15 % 11 % B+
123 innings % of complete innings pitched 40 % 31 % A
Swing and miss % of strikes 16 % 14 % B
Efficiency B+ % of PA's that go to 3 ball counts * 16 % 19 % A+
1st batter of inning out % 77 % 68 % A
3 or less pitch PA's 48 % 47 % B-
4 or less pitch PA's 69 % 65 % B+
Battle Tendency A- % of runners who score * 27 % 36 % A+
% of 2-0, 2-1, & 3 ball counts ending in outs 57 % 54 % B

Overall Grade………………………………………… B+

Zephyrs:

Matt Brown hit a bases loaded bloop single into centerfield in the bottom of ninth inning to break a tie game and deliver Salt Lake a 4-3
win over New Orleans. New Orleans struck first with a solo home run from Andy Green in the first inning. The Z’s added another run in the second inning with a two out RBI double from Abraham Nunez. Salt Lake answered with a two run home run from Adam Pavkovich in the bottom of the second. The game was tied at two when Brian Stokes threw a wild pitch to allow Brandon Wood to score from third base in the sixth. The Z’s answered in the top of the seventh with a Michel Abreu RBI single to score Jesus Feliciano. The game was tied in the bottom of ninth when Ivan Maldonado allowed a hit and back to back walks to load the bases when Brown delivered the game winning hit. Maldonado suffered the defeat and Kevin Jepsen pitched two scoreless innings for the win.

B-Mets:

ScoutingBook updated their Top 200 2009 Prospect List:

Up to #129 - Jon Niese - A wiry left-hander with a deadly curve, Jon Niese is a dark-horse pitching prospect who has a shot at the Mets rotation in 2009. A graduate of the same high school as Chad Billingsley, Niese will start 2008 at AA, but he has the maturity and guile to move up quickly. He has a nice fastball and a heavy sinker, but he needs another year or two to refine his other pitches. If he can do that, he might be a front-of-rotation starter, though he could help out in the bullpen or back-end long before that.

Tobi Stoner tossed five shutout innings, helping the Binghamton Mets to a 2-0 win over the Akron Aeros at Canal Park Saturday. The B-Mets have won four of seven.

Binghamton (56-51) took a 1-0 lead in the first. After retiring the first two hitters, Akron (64-43) starter Frank Herrmann walked Daniel Murphy and Mike Carp, setting the table for Ambiorix Concepcion, who singled to center, scoring Murphy. Herrmann (8-4) was pulled after four innings.

Salvador Paniagua padded Binghamton’s lead with a solo homer to left in the ninth.

Stoner (2-4) retired the first 10 in a row. He finished with two hits and a walk, striking out four. Eude Brito followed with 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, retiring eight of the nine he faced. Eddie Kunz set down the last four in order for his 26th save in 29 chances.

Lucy:

Saturday’s night game was all pitching… SP Eric Niesen (4.41) pitched 6.o innings, giving up 0 ER and striking out 4… Ryan Coultas (1.0 IP, 0ER, 4.34) and Emary Frederick (1.0 IP, 0ER, 4.26) took care of the 7th and 8th, respectfully, and CL German Marte (2.50) closed it out.

Final Score: Lucy 5, Jupiter 2.

Ruben Tejada continues to show huge deficiencies in the field, committing 3 more errors for a total of 26 this season…

No big hitting stars in this game, but CF Ezequiel Carrera did go 2-3 and continues to improve his BA, now up to .276.

Gnats:

Greg Veloz ripped a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth to score Michael Parker with the winning run as the Sand Gnats earned a 4-3 triumph over the Tourists on Saturday night.

Nick Giarraputo began the ninth with a single to right off Craig Baker. Parker entered as a pinch runner and took second when Baker threw past first on a pick-off attempt. Carlos Guzman walked before Joaquin Rodriguez was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Veloz, who is now hitting .400 in July, capped his 3-for-5 night with the game-winning hit, Savannah’s fifth walk-off win of the season.

Juan Lagares gave the Gnats a lead in the first, knocking in Casey Craig with a base hit.

Darren Clark led of the second with a double to right off Asheville starter Cory Riordan. Giarraputo followed with a single to left that rolled beneath the glove of Kevin Clark, allowing Clark to score.

The Tourists (21-14, 67-38) made the most of three hits to score three runs through the fifth to take a 3-2 lead.

Nick Abel (3-1) threw 2.0 scoreless innings for the win, allowing just 1 hit. Starter Mark Cohoon went 4.0 innings in his Sand Gnat debut, allowing 2 runs on just 2 hits.

Veloz and Giarraputo led the charge with three hits apiece while Craig, Clark and Sean McCraw each added two hits. - sandgnats.com

Clones:

K-Port:

K-Port played 2 Saturday night and, in the first, it just wasn’t SP Oscar Meledez’s (2.1 IP, 9 ER, 7.34) night… K-Port lost to Elizabethton, 13-6.

The good news in this game is that Wilmer Flores (.344) hit his 7th home run for the season. 9 more and he has his age. Catcher Dock Doyle (.327) went 3-4.

GCL Mets:

GCL beat up on the Cardinals Saturday, 9-1… SP Jeurys Familia (2.08) pitched 5 scoreless innings, followed by 4 IP, 0 ER by RP Julio Bello (2.08)… the Mets had 10 hits including 2 each by 6-5, 235 lb. 1B Giovanni Ortiz (.474) and SS Luis Nieves (.176).

VSL Mets:

SP Yeiger Sanchez (0-2, 6.39) was suspended for 50 games by Major League Baseball for testing positive for metabolites of the anabolic steroid Nandrolone, a performance-enhancing drug.

Minor League Bios:

Steven Holmes P R R 6-2 205 8-31-85 University of Rhode Island

Holmes played college ball at the University of Rhode Island where he posted the 2nd lowest ERA (1.30 104 IP 15 ER 10-2 0.88 WHIP) in the entire 2006 NCAA. His combined record for the 3 years in college was 22-4. Baseball America had him listed prior to the draft as the 187th best prospect in the country. Holmes was drafted in the 5th round of the 2006 draft (the highest any URI player was ever drafted) by the Mets and was assigned to Brooklyn after he signed; however, he did not appear in a game in 2006. He returned his bonus to the Mets and went back to school (I believe to attend Med school) after a close friend of his committed suicide (he has since come back). His fastball is solid, and in the 88-92 mph range, with a curveball as his out pitch. He has been compared in the past to Brian Bannister.

Ex-Mets:

Carlos Gomez rejoined the Twins on Friday night after being hospitalized with a back injury and receiving an injection for the pain. Gomez, who was taken off in a neck brace and on a stretcher, was cleared by doctors to play as soon as he feels he's ready. It may be a few days, but it seems as though he has a good chance of avoiding the disabled list. Jul. 26 - 12:22 am et - Rotoworld

This Day in Mets History:

1965 - League officials increase the number of foreigners allowed on each Japanese professional team from 2 to 3. The Yomiuri Giants, however, announce their team will have not any foreigners on their roster (this policy lasts ten years until the team signs Davey Johnson.)

1975 - The Mets release Cleon Jones after suspending him for insubordination. The outfielder from Alabama will not play again this year but will join the White Sox next season.

And lastly:

Dwight Gooden proclaimed himself happy, healthy and enjoying every day, telling Newsday in a rare interview Friday that his life right now is "as good as it gets." Speaking after an autograph signing across the street from baseball's Hall of Fame, Gooden said the seven months he spent in jail in 2006 for violating his probation scared him immensely. Now, he said, he appreciates his freedom and wants to never put himself in that position again. "That was the toughest thing I went through in my life," Gooden said. "You're away from your kids. You can only do what you're told to do, whether it's the phone, what you eat, what you wear. "That's not living. That's existing.”