Mack Attack: June 11, 2008

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Re: General Minor League news: The Mets did the right things yesterday, 3 of the 9 starting pitchers that have pitched well above the anemic hitting on their respective teams, were promoted to the next level. Tobi Stoner, who simple can’t catch a 2-year support break packed his backs and went off to the B-Mets to replace the IR’d Jake Ruckle in the rotation. And, Mike Antonini and Angel Colero, who have posted remarkable ERAs/WHIPs on a team that refuses to hit consistently have both been promoted to Lucy. Hats off to all three and keep your eye on Stoner. He just might replace Jon Niese as the Mets top pitching prospect someday.

 

Draft News:

Three more picks signed:

John Servidio OF R R 6-1 194 8-22-85 Barry Univ. (Fla.)

Servidio was drafted by the Mets in the 26th round of the 2008 draft. 2008 stats at Barry: .366/.431/.688 (using a wooden bat) 14 HR 69 RBIs 30K/19 BB. As a relief pitcher: 0-0, 1.93 ERA in 4 appearances

JUNIOR (2007): Suffered an injury early in the season, but returned to start 39 games for the Bucs ... Recored a .346 batting average with nine doubles, three triples, one home run and 24 RBI ... Posted a .464 slugging percenage and a .408 on-base percentage ... Scored 34 runs, averaging just under a run scored per game.

PREVIOUS COLLEGE: Played two seasons for coach Johnny Wiggs at Polk CC ... First-team All-Conference as a freshman hitting .349 with four homers and RBI ... Second-team All-Suncoast as a sophomore ... Hit .317 with four homers and 34 RBI.

Michael Hebert RHP R R 6-3 180 8-11-90 Saugus H.S. (CA.)

The Mets drafted Hebert in the 7th round of the 2008 draft.

Timothy Smith RHP R R 6-0 205 6-25-86 Catawba College (NC)

Smith was drafted in the 42nd round of the 2008 draft by the Mets. 2008 Catawba stats: 3.55 83.2 IP/78 K 80H 26BB .249 BAA

 

There was an interesting Q&A on Baseball America yesterday:

Q: We all know the Mets have one of the thinnest farm systems in the game. If you had to redo their Top 10 Prospects list after the draft, how would it look? I'd imagine first-rounders Ike Davis and Reese Havens would easily rank near the top.

A: The Mets' conservatism in the draft and their willingness to include prospects in trades for veterans has depleted their farm system. Coming into the season, we rated their minor league talent the 28th-best in the game, ahead of only the Astros and White Sox. Armed with two extra picks as compensation for the loss of free agent Tom Glavine, New York was in position to add some talent via the 2008 draft. Assuming they sign all of their top choices, I see four of their recent draftees cracking a midseason

Top 10 list:

1. Fernando Martinez, of - Still young and talented, but his lack of production may mean he's overhyped.

2. Ike Davis, 1b - Hulking lefthanded slugger can handle the outfield and pitch, too.

3. Reese Havens, ss - More likely a third baseman or possibly a catcher, stands out with approach and pop.

4. Jon Niese, lhp Quietly having success in Double-A at age 21, he owns three solid pitches.

5. Dan Murphy, 3b - Having a breakout year with a .325 average and eight homers in Double-A.

6. Mike Carp, 1b - Back on track in Double-A after slumping in 2007, he's hitting .351 with nine homers.

7. Eddie Kunz, rhp - New York's top 2007 pick has held his own in Double-A in his first full season.

8. Brad Holt, rhp - 2008 supplemental first-rounder can touch 96 mph, needs a reliable second pitch.

9. Javier Rodriguez, of - 2008 second-rounder is a lean athlete with speed and projectable power.

10. Nick Evans, 1b - Another Double-A masher (.295, nine homers), he destroys lefthanded pitching.

 

Zephyrs

The Omaha Royals one-hit the host New Orleans Zephyrs on Tuesday, winning by a score of 13-0. New Orleans was done in by a familiar face, as former Zephyrs pitcher Brandon Duckworth (3-5) threw a no hitter in seven innings before leaving the game. Duckworth played for the Zephyrs while in the Houston Astros organization in 2004, going 5-5 with a 5.53 ERA in 13 starts. Duckworth would have had a perfect game, but walked a batter and hit a batter. The Zephyrs avoided being no-hit for the game when first baseman Michel Abreu got a hit in the eighth inning after Duckworth left the game.

B-Mets

The B-Mets (34-28) have won five in a row (one short of their season-best) and nine of their last 10 games to move into third place in the Eastern League Northern Division, two games behind Portland and seven back of Trenton. The B-Mets are 6-1 in June, with the lone loss coming in a rain-shortened game at Harrisburg. In their five-game winning streak, the B-Mets have outscored opponents, 33-11. Who's hot: During the team's last 10 games, Mike Carp is batting .447 (17-for-38) with three home runs and 10 RBI. Who's not: Caleb Stewart is 4 for his last 30. - PressNet

 

Gnats:

Carlos Guzman clubbed a pair of home runs and Nick Carr tossed 7.0 superb innings as the Sand Gnats picked up a 4-1 win over the Catfish at Historic Grayson Stadium on Tuesday night. Guzman, who had gone 57 at-bats since he homered in his first Sand Gnats at-bat on May 18, hit home runs in consecutive trips to the plate to hand Savannah a 2-0 lead. Guzman hit the first homer out to left in the third off Columbus starter Jason Ragan. In the fifth, he parked his second four-bagger of the night just inside the foul pole in left field. All three round-trippers for the switch-hitting outfielder have been opposite field homers from the left side of the plate. He added a double in the seventh for his third hit. The power display from Guzman overshadowed a wonderful debut from Savannah starter Nick Carr. Carr (1-0) joined Savannah from High-A St. Lucie on Monday and earned his first win of 2008, allowing 1 run on just 4 hits in 7 innings. He walked 1 and struck out 4. Columbus trailed 2-0 in the eighth when Quinn Stewart doubled and Reid Fronk drew a walk to end Carr’s night. Jose Bierd entered and limited the damage, permitting a sacrifice bunt and RBI groundout before striking out Steven Vogt to end the threat and preserve a 2-1 lead. Bierd worked a perfect ninth to earn his team-best seventh save. Savannah scored twice in the eighth when Greg Veloz scored after a double steal led to an error as Chase Fontaine tried to tag out Casey Craig and dropped the ball. Craig scored when Francisco Pena smacked a triple to center.

 

DSL Mets:

Stats leaders for the young season so far have been SS Ramon Eusebio (.500/.571/.556), C Amauris Valdez (.348/.348/.609), LF Julio Concepcion (.346/.433/.615), and P Samuel Tavares (Tavares lives!) (1-0, 0.00, 0.68 in 4 games).

VSL Mets:

The torrid start for the VSL Mets has been halted and the team has been playing .500 ball for the past week (hey, the Mets do that well too…). Team Ven lost 8-0 to the Pirates, maining due to 5 erros in the field.

6 V-Met errors led to 5 unearned runs.

Minor League Bios

Ambiorix Burgos P R R 6-3 235 4-19-84 Dominican Republic

Burgos was signed as an un-drafted 16 year old free agent in 2000 by the Kansas City Royals.

He left DSL ball in 2003. He was turned into a reliever in 2005. RotoJunkie had him listed as the #10 KC prospect. Burgos also missed 19 games in ’05 with a rotator cuff injury.

This comes from a Royals scouting report on Burgos: If he stays healthy, and if he continues to refine his command, Burgos should be/could be an excellent pitcher. You can say that about a lot of guys, of course. There is never any guarantee with any pitcher, particularly high-risk/high-reward types like Burgos. Some Royals fans believe that Burgos is being wasted in relief, but given his command problems I doubt he would have been as effective in the rotation last year as he was in the bullpen. Of course, the fact the Royals needed to call up a guy like Burgos to patch the bullpen last year shows what kind of a season 2005 was in Kansas City. On December 5, 2006, Burgos was traded by the Royals to the New York Mets for starting pitcher Brian Bannister. 2007 went downhill for Burgos. He started well with the Mets (1-0, 3.42 in 17 appearances) impressed no one at New Orleans (0-0, 6.75 in 8 outings), and then went on the IR. He had to have reconstructive elbow surgery, which all but eliminates him from the team’s plans next season.

Ex-Mets:

Lastings Milledge walked twice, doubled, and scored 2 runs for Washington.

the Braves purchased Brian Lawrence's contract and assigned him to Triple A.