Mack Attack, May 27, 2008

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Mets News:

Jeez, this is starting to have lasting effects. I'm starting to see breakdowns at all levels...starting pitching, sporatic relief.. untimely hitting.. just bad baseball... this could be a long season.

Again, I guess this home stand is a critical time... lots of games against inferior teams. Tne Mets have to get back to .500 if they want to put a decent run. There are now 3 yeans with better records than in in the divisions and the math is against them...

Frankly, this is a time whan fans have to rally around the team. Forget the depleted minor leave system... Delgado, Castillon Reyes, Wright, Church, Beltran _Evans/Chanez/Alous, Schneider, shoud be enough... Maine, Santana, Pelfrey, perez, and Vargas ain't chopped liver in this division... and Wagner , SS, Feliciano, and Smith should be able to get the job done

The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo writes that Bartolo Colon, a close friend of Julian Tavarez, said Tavarez told him that he would prefer to pitch for the New York Mets. Tavarez was recently DFA'd by the Red Sox and elected free agency rather than accepting an assignment to Triple A Pawtucket.

 

Mets Top 10 Draft Picks:

1994:

#1 RHP Paul Wilson - 40-58, 4.86, 1.45
#1 1B Terrence Long - 3,068 abs 69 HRs .722 OPS
#1s OF Jay Payton - 3,878 abs 116 HRs .754 OPS
#2 LHP Sean Johnston - poof
#2s C Matt LeCroy - 1,388 abs 60 HRs .766 OPS
#3 1B Bryon Gainey - poof
#4 OF Kevin McCarthy - poof
#4 RHP Kenny Pumphrey - poof
#5 RHP Brian Kukilck - poof
#6 OF David Sanderson - poof
#7 SS Brett Nista - poof
#8 RHP Kevin Manley - poof
#9 3B Robert Cox - poof
#10 SS Adam Piatt - poof

 

Mets Minors – Organizational Leaders:

per Adam Rubin:

Average: Mike Carp, Binghamton, .344; Jordan Abruzzo, Savannah, .324; Daniel Murphy, Binghamton, .323; Jesus Feliciano, New Orleans, .320; Lucas Duda, St. Lucie, .289; D.J. Wabick, St. Lucie, .287; Fernando Martinez, Binghamton, .280; Caleb Stewart, Binghamton, .268; Francisco Peña, Savannah, .266; Chris Aguila, New Orleans, .263.

Homers: Valentino Pascucci, New Orleans, 10; Chris Aguila, New Orleans, 9; Mike Carp, Binghamton, 6; Leivi Ventura, St. Lucie, 6.
RBI: Lucas Duda, St. Lucie, 35; Daniel Murphy, Binghamton, 30; Jose Jimenez, Savannah, 30; Mike Carp, Binghamton, 28.

Steals: Greg Veloz, Savannah, 15; Ezequiel Carrera, St. Lucie, 10; Emmanuel Garcia, Binghamton, 9; Argenis Reyes, New Orleans, 8; Ambiorix Concepcion, Binghamton, 8.

ERA: Tony Armas, New Orleans, 2.34; Willie Collazo, New Orleans, 2.76; Michael Antonini, Savannah, 2.83; Angel Calero, Savannah, 3.17; Elvin Ramirez, Savannah, 3.26; Salvador Aguilar, Binghamton, 3.40; Dylan Owen, St. Lucie, 3.52; Ruddy Lugo, New Orleans, 3.60; Maikel Cleto, Savannah, 3.81; Jonathon Niese, Binghamton, 3.88.

Saves: Eddie Kunz, Binghamton, 10; Carlos Muñiz, New Orleans, 5; Jose Bierd, Savannah, 5; Nate Field, New Orleans, 4; Ryan Coultas, St. Lucie, 3.
Strikeouts: Angel Calero, Savannah, 51; Tony Armas, New Orleans, 50; Brian Stokes, New Orleans, 48; Michael Antonini, Savannah, 44; Dylan Owen, St. Lucie, 44.

 

Zephyrs

New Orleans lefthander Adam Bostick (2-2, 6.04 ERA), who is experiencing persistent discomfort with his left knee, is expected in New York to be examined and may require surgery.

Nelson Figueroa has been re-inserted in the Zephyrs’ rotation.

Jose Valentin is expected to move in the day few days from St. Lucie to New Orleans.

The Zephyrs won Monday afternoon, 8-2, against Albuquerque. Only 6 hits, but they made them count, including a 3-run double by Valentino Pascucci (.303), and a 2-run homer by Anderson Machado. RP Tim McNab (1.86) continues to shine with another scoreless inning.

 

B-Mets:

Daniel Murphy hit three homers, drove in five runs and scored four times, but the Binghamton Mets fell to the Reading Phillies 8-7 at NYSEG Stadium Monday. The loss is Binghamton’s second in a row. After Reading (21-27) took a 2-0 lead on infield RBI singles by Greg Golson and Neil Sellers in the first, Binghamton (24-25) rallied to tie in the bottom of the frame. Kip Bouknight issued a two-out walk to Murphy before Caleb Stewart hit a two-run homer that made it 2-2. Joey Hammond doubled in a run off Jonathon Niese in the third before scoring on an error to put the Phillies ahead 4-2. However, Jose Coronado led off the bottom of the third with a single before Murphy homered off the video-scoreboard in right-center to once again knot the score. Bouknight singled in a run in the fifth to put Reading back on top 5-4 before Murphy gave Binghamton their first lead of the game in the seventh. After Coronado drew a two-out walk off reliever Fabio Castro, Murphy launched his second long ball of the game for a 6-5 B-Mets advantage. Reading re-took the lead with two outs in the ninth. B-Mets closer Eddie Kunz (1-2) issued a bases-loaded walk to Mike Eylward, forcing in the tying run, before Michael Spidale hit a go-ahead, two-run double that put Reading ahead 8-6. Jason Anderson came on for Reading in the bottom of the ninth and, after retiring the first two hitters, served up Murphy’s third homer of the day, a solo shot to right, that cut Reading’s lead to one. However, Anderson held on for his first save in as many chances.

 

Gnats:

The Sand Gnats may have scored seven runs in Sunday’s game, but all they needed was Casey Craig’s two-run homer in the top of the first. That’s because Michael Antonini and Nick Waechter combined on a 7-0 blanking of the Drive, recording 11 strikeouts. Jose Alvarez turned in one of his better performances of the season, but with a lack of run support, the southpaw endured his seventh loss of the season. After allowing a pair of hits in the first – including Craig’s homer – Alvarez settled down, allowing just one more hit while recording six of his eight strikeouts over the final five innings. But on the other side, there was a road block in the form of Antonini (2-7) and Waechter. Antonini allowed just four singles in 7.0 innings, walking one and striking out seven. Waechter pitched a perfect eighth and ninth innings, adding four more strikeouts. The Sand Gnats added a total of five insurance runs, scoring in the seventh and ninth innings off Ryne Miller and Felix Ventura. In the seventh, Greg Veloz laced a two-run double. Two innings later a pair of Drive errors led to three unearned runs off Ventura. The top of the lineup proved to be the spark plug for the Sand Gnats, as Veloz, Richard Pena and Craig combined to go 7-for-14 with six RBI.

 

VSL:

The VSL Mets were shut out by the VSL Astros 7-0.

Minor Mets Bios:

Jeffrey Voyles IF R R 5-10 175 11-29-83 Texas-San Antonio

Voyles played 4 full years at Texas-San Antonio, where he went .294/.382/.413 in his senior year. His nickname is ‘J.R.’.

The Mets drafted him in the 34th round of the 2006 draft, signed him, and shipped him off to the GCL Mets (where he played… you guessed it… 2B). His stats in 160 at bats: .250/.342/.288. He also had 21 at bats for Hagerstown.
‘J.R.’ played the 2007 season for Brooklyn, batting .254/.342/.385 in 169 at bats.

David (D J) Wabick OF/1B L R 6-2 210 5-30-84

Wabick was originally drafted out of high school in 2002, in the 38th round, by the Chicago White Sox, but chose to go to college instead. “DJ” first played college ball in Illinois and then transferred down south to a junior college in Florida. Eventually, he transferred once more to The College of Charleston, where he hit .415 with 9 homers, 27 doubles, 66 RBIs, and 26 walks in 63 games.

The Mets drafted Wabick in the 25th round of the 2005 draft. He played 10 games in 2005 with Brooklyn and 45 with Kingsport, where he hit .303.. Wabick had an exceptional year in 2006 for Kingsport, hitting .327/.415/.455, and finished 4th in the league in hitting and on-base percentage. He ended the year in Brooklyn.

2007 was a fantastic year for D.J., batting .306/.348/.442 in 428 at bats. That includes 32 doubles, 8 HRs, and 64 RBIs.

Wabick grew up in Palos Park, Illinois, which is on the South Side of Chicago.
April 2008 Totals: .270/.337/.360

A May 2008 scouting report by Andy Braunstein:

D.J. WABICK - 1B/OF - Versatility is his best suit. He is showing a lot at the plate. My feeling he is in just one of those grooves players get into where they hit everything in sight for a couple of weeks or a month and then their lack of bat speed, 5.5-6, and his hitting vulnearablities re-emerge and his batting avg slips to .250 or below. What he does have working for him is a fine batting eye that gives him the ability to work the count until he gets a pitch he could do something and then swing with all his might. He is a results guy and if he hits .275 will definitely advance, and does the same in AAA, he could be a power bat off a ML bench who could play all OF and the corner infield positions.

Ex-Mets:

Jason Bay had 2 hits and drove in the game winning for the second straight day as the Pirated edged the Cubs, 6-5.

Guillermo Mota took a loss against the Nationals after allowing the game's winning run to score on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning

This Day In Mets History:

1951 - A large ad appears in the Minnesota Sunday Times asking the local fans for their continued support of the Millers despite the promotion of the team's phenom to the major leagues. Giant owner Horace Stoneham explains Willie Mays' performance, .477 batting average and hitting safely in 33 of 35 games, has warranted the young outfielder's move to the Polo Grounds in New York.

1981 - After Lenny Randle drops to his hands and knees in an attempt to 'encourage' Amos Otis' slow roller to go foul, umpire Larry McCoy accuses the Mariner third baseman of blowing the ball foul. Randle's explanation that he was merely yelling at the ball not to stay fair is initially convincing until Royals' manager Jim Frey complains.