Mack Attack: June 24, 2008

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Tuesday, June 24, 2008

The Real Race:

Marlins: 35 losses
Phils: 35
Mets: 38
Braves: 40
Nats: 48

A few thoughts…

1. Adam Dunn is being shopped… couldn’t he play 1B/RF (he played 1B in 2002 and 2005)? Yeah, I know, he strikes out more than Dave Kingman, but he is the only major league player to hit 40 or more home runs in each of the last 3 seasons.. would it kill the Mets to assume the lion share of his contract until the end of the year, throw in a marginal prospect, and let him hit 20 home runs between now and Oct 1st? You can throw him back in the ocean in the off-season… I mean, this has to be better than Marlon Anderson.

2. Richie Sexson will be dumped by Seattle… having a horrible year in Seattle, but who isn’t? Okay having a 2nd horrible year in Seattle, but he’s only 33? Okay, hasn’t hit worth a shit since 2006… forget I brought him up…

Jerry Manuel on fans booing Aaron Heilman:

“He seems to have done very well. He has responded very well. Again, it’s difficult. It’s painful. But it’s also growth. It’s growth for him. It’s very, very – I’m going to say this, and I hope y’all don’t take this wrong. I know you’re going to run out of here with something crazy on this. It’s very, very fertile ground for growth at Shea Stadium. It’s fertile ground for a team’s growth and development. Sometimes fertile ground has fertilizer. Fertilizer is a good thing. It’s a good thing. You get the greatest results, you get the most beautiful plants, when you put it in that type of fertile soil. That’s what we have the opportunity to do. Don’t y’all take that wrong because I know what you’re going to do with it.”

Mets manager Jerry Manuel said he was approaching the rest of the season as if he would not regain Moises Alou, who is on the disabled list for the second time with a strained left calf. He even broached the possibility of a retirement if Alou's rehabilitation is protracted. Alou turns 42 on July 3. "I've known him for a long time and know how frustrating it's been for him," Manuel said. "There's got to be some thoughts of ‘I've had enough.' -- NY Times

The Mets, Yankees and Red Sox all have varying degrees of interest in Brian Fuentes. If the Rockies make him available at the deadline, he could net them a premium young starting pitcher - a top Double-A or Triple-A prospect. The Mets offered reliever Aaron Heilman during the winter meetings. In talking to GM Dan O'Dowd, he's looking more for quality than quantity in deals. Manuel Corpas is not next in line to close if Fuentes is dealt. At this point, Taylor Buchholz deserves a look. He's been one of the NL's best setup men this season. -- Denver Post

Zephyrs:

Shane Costa's RBI double with one out in the 10th inning gave the Omaha Royals their sixth consecutive win at Zephyr Field, 3-2 on Monday.
Zephyrs reliever Carlos Muniz led off the 10th inning by walking David Matranga, who moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Costa then doubled into the left-center field gap, his second double of the night, to score the go-ahead run.

The Z's got a leadoff single from Argenis Reyes in their half of the 10th, but Reyes was thrown out attempting to steal second, and Omaha's Neal Musser retired Chris Aguila and Valentino Pascucci to end the game.

Musser (2-4) got the win after pitching the final four frames for Omaha. He allowed two hits and worked around four walks. Muniz (2-4) took the loss, allowing the one run on two hits in two innings.

Anderson Hernandez and Pascucci hit solo home runs and Raul Gonzalez had two hits for the Z's, who fell for the sixth consecutive time at home, all to the Royals.

B-Mets:

Roster changes: RHP Robert Paulk released by NY Mets.
LHP Edgar Alfonzo added from High-A St. Lucie.

Nick Evans hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the fifth, helping the Binghamton Mets to a 5-2 win over the Altoona Curve at NYSEG Stadium Monday. The victory is Binghamton’s fourth in their last five games.

The B-Mets (41-32) committed three errors in the second before Luis Cruz’s RBI single off Salvador Aguilar put Altoona (33-41) ahead 1-0. However, Caleb Stewart knotted the score for Binghamton when he led off the second with a longball off Josh Hill.

Altoona re-took the lead on Jonel Pacheco’s RBI single in the top of the fifth.

Josh Petersen began the bottom of the fifth with a single before Aguilar bunted him to second. Hill (4-8) then walked Jose Coronado before Evans cranked one over the left-centerfield wall for a 4-2 B-Mets lead. Mike Carp hit the very next pitch over the rightfield fence for a solo shot.

Aguilar (8-1) struck out six over 6 2/3 innings for the win. Relievers Joe Hietpas and Eddie Kunz combined to retire seven of the last eight, with Kunz getting the final three outs for his 18th save in 21 chances.

Lucy:

Roster changes: P Edgar Alfonzo to Binghamton
Add P – Edgar Ramirez to roster from Savannah

Gnats:

Nick Carr carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning but the Catfish rallied for a pair in the eighth and a run in the tenth to earn a 3-2 triumph at Historic Grayson Stadium on Monday night. It is the Gnats first extra innings loss of the season.

With the bases empty and two outs in the tenth, Omar Luna doubled to left off Nick Abel (1-1). Maiko Loyola scorched a ground ball off the glove of first baseman Joaquin Rodriguez into right field to score Luna with the eventual winning run.

The comeback seemed farfetched in the eighth when Carr held a no-hitter with one out. After hitting Cody Cipriano with a pitch, Henry Wrigley ripped a 3-2 offering from Carr past a diving Nick Giarraputo at third and into left field to end the no-hit attempt.

Carr exited to a standing ovation as Steven Cheney entered to preserve the 2-0 lead. But a bloop single from Michael McCormick scored Cirpriano and moved Wrigley to third. Omar Luna then laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Wrigley and tie the game at two.

Savannah scored its runs in the second and seventh innings. In the second, Richard Pena hit a sacrifice fly to score Joaquin Rodriguez from third to make it 1-0. In the seventh, it was Sean McCraw driving in Giarraputo. Juan Lagares continued his hot hitting since coming back to the Coastal Empire, he was 2-for-4.

It is the second time this season that a Gnats starting pitcher has carried a no-hit bid through 7.1 innings. Angel Calero accomplished the same feat in Hickory on May 9.

Clones:

Adam Rubin on:

Zach Lutz had been billed as the player to watch with Brooklyn in 2007, but in the first game of his first full professional season, the third baseman suffered a season-ending injury. Fielding a backhand play down the line in the first inning of his Cyclones debut last year, Lutz’s foot “rolled over.” He gutted out two at-bats, but then spent the next six months on crutches with a fractured navicular bone at the top of his foot.

“I went up to bat and I tried to swing my two at-bats,” said Lutz, the Mets’ fifth-round pick in ‘07 out of Alvernia College in Pennsylvania. “I couldn’t even barely get down the first-base line.”

Lutz, the first freshman first-team All-American in Division III history, and the D-III national player of the year his final collegiate season, finally returned to action as the Cyclones opened their season last Tuesday. The 6-1, 220-pound Lutz had a stellar first week, hitting .353 with five RBI and four walks in Brooklyn’s first five games

While the Cyclones continued their strong pitching, they were unable to hold off the Hudson Valley Renegades on Monday, losing 3-2. Monday's loss drops Brooklyn to a 4-3 record and tie for first place in the McNamara Division.

The Cyclones were limited to four hits in the game. 3B Brandon Richey delivered a triple down the right field line, and was able to score on an RBI groundout to shortstop by SS Matt Bouchard. C Ralph Henriquez continued his hot hitting with a double to right field. Bouchard and DH Mike Parker started off the bottom of the sixth with base hits, which led to an RBI fielder's choice by CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis.

RHP Tim Stronach worked 4.2 innings for the Cyclones, allowing three runs on eight hits with a strikeout. LHP Matias Carrillo kept Brooklyn in the game with four innings of strong relief, allowing four hits and no runs with three strikeouts. RHP Wendy Rosa came on in the top of the ninth and was able to strand a runner on third with two outs, getting a fly ball to right field on the very first pitch, which led to a great diving catch by RF John Servidio.

Minor League Bios:

Stephen Clyne P R R 6-2 205 9-22-84 Clemson University

Over 2 seasons at Clemson, Clyne had a 3-1 record with a 3.06 ERA in 35 relief appearances. He’s allowed only one home run in his entire college career. 56 Ks/16 BBs (3.5 K/BB ratio).

His head coach at Clemson, Jack Leggett said: "Stephen (Clyne) is a senior righthanded pitcher who's been around for a while. He has a strong arm and a good slider. He just needs to develop that consistency so we know what we can count on from him. He has improved a great deal from last year, and I think he can make a significant contribution to the success of this team if he continues to work hard."

From a pre-draft scouting report: Clyne began experiencing arm trouble when he was still in high school, and in an effort to avoid surgery, elected to redshirt his freshman season in 2003. His arm never got back to normal, and he had Tommy John surgery, costing him all of 2004. It wasn't until last fall that he began to show the stuff that made him a coveted recruit. As a fifth-year senior, Clyne would create bidding interest among multiple teams if Clemson's season ended after the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, but the Tigers were a lock to go to regional play, so Clyne will hope to make his money in the draft. He's shown the stuff to warrant a third- to fifth-round selection, with two hard pitches and the profile of a setup man or middle reliever in the big leagues. Clyne's fastball sits between 91-94 mph with plus sink at times, and his slider can be filthy, registering anywhere from 80-84 mph on radar guns. He has limited feel for his changeup, and Clyne has a tendency to pitch tentatively, and doesn't always seem to have conviction in his stuff. He's around the zone, with solid-average command.

Clyne was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2007 draft by the Mets. He was signed and placed on the 2007 Brooklyn Cyclones squad. Clyne had an outstanding freshman pro season, going 1-1, 2.05, 1.52, 8 saves, in 20 appearances with Brooklyn.

In late January 2007, Baseball America ranked Clyne as the 13th overall Mets prospect, adding:

"Mets see Clyne as a setup man..."

In February 2008, Baseball Prospectus awarded him a 2-star prospect rating and ranked Clyne the 11th overall Mets prospect. Also in February 2008, Rotoworld ranked Clyne as the #11 Mets prospect.

This Day in Mets History:

2004 - In a slugfest at the Skydome, Julio Lugo goes 5-for-5 to set a club record for hits in a game. The Toronto shortstop's effort isn't enough to to stop the Devil Rays as they pound out 24 hits en route to 19-13 rout of the Blue Jays.

2005 = Thanks to Bernie Williams dropping a ball in center field, the Mets become the first National League to hit three sacrifice flies in one inning. Backstop Ramon Castro's sac fly to right ties the game at 1-1 as David Wright advances to third; the Yankee’s centerfielder then drops Jose Reyes deep fly ball allowing Wright to scored; Mike Cameron skies to right plating Doug Mientkiewicz, who had advanced to third on errant pick off throw.

And lastly:

"Statistics are about as interesting as first-base coaches." –Jim Bouton