The Mack Attack: August 12, 2008

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Brandon Knight blanked Team Canada for five innings, allowing two hits while striking out 10, in an Olympic tune-up in Durham, N.C. He’s scheduled to be in the rotation for Team USA – NYDN

With the Mets looking to return their affiliation to the International League in 2009, the buzz is that New Orleans could become a Marlins affiliate. - NYDN

B-Mets:

Righthander Tobi Stoner matched a B-Mets record with seven walks Sunday against New Hampshire, tying the total Marcos Carvajal issued last year. Stoner’s previous outing went far better. With 30 family members and friends cheering him in Bowie – about 3½ hours from his Oakland, Md., home – Stoner tossed seven scoreless innings. - NYDN

Gnats:

Scott Moviel was prepared to follow the path of fellow Ohioan-turned-Yankees-first-round-pick Andrew Brackman: pitch for N.C. State, and compete for the Wolfpack basketball team – or at least try to as a walk-on. Then the Mets selected Moviel in the second round (77th overall) in the 2007 draft. Moviel, 20, decided to pass up college for the minors. He’s having a solid season at low-A Savannah, having improved to 9-8 with a 4.58 ERA with five scoreless innings Friday in Game 2 of a doubleheader against Columbus during which his fastball regularly hit 91 mph and topped out at 93 mph. Moviel also throws a curveball, circle change and two-seam fastball. – NYDN

Sand Gnats second baseman Greg Veloz was called up to High-A St. Lucie, the New York Mets announced yesterday. Veloz becomes the eighth Sand Gnat from the Opening Day roster to be called up to High-A this season. Playing virtually everyday, Veloz was hitting .286 with six home runs and 52 RBI. The San Juan de la Maguana, D.R. native was leading the team in RBIs, hits, runs scored, doubles, triples and stolen bases. His six home runs were tied for second most on the team as well. He really turned it up in the second half, hitting .324 since the All-Star break with four home runs and 26 RBI. In the month of July, Veloz had the third-best batting average in the entire league (.368). In the field, he committed just 18 errors in 111 games. B.J. Hubbert has been reactivated and will take Veloz’s spot on the active roster. – sandgnats.com

Clones:

Jenrry Mejia, whose fastball tops out at 96-97 mph, has been opening eyes with the Cyclones. Before allowing three runs in five innings Sunday against Batavia, Mejia had limited opponents to four earned runs in 21 innings over a four-start stretch, good for a 1.71 ERA. Mejia is believed to be just the third 18-year-old to play for the Cyclones, joining Scott Kazmir and Shawn Bowman – NYDN

After injuring his elbow and groin this season, Mets first round pick Reese Havens has waited almost two months to play shortstop for the Brooklyn Cyclones. On Sunday, he proved good things come to those who wait. Going two for four with two RBI, Havens played a pivotal role in a crucial 6-5 Brooklyn extra-inning win and answered any questions about his ability on the field. “He looked really good today,” said Cyclones manager Edgar Alfonzo. “He was ready to play and so was the team. I had faith in them.” - DemBrooklynBums

VSL Mets:

Players that should come stateside next spring:

LF Adrian Peralta - led a weak hitting team in BA (.282) and 2nd in home runs (6).
SP Angel Cuan - pitched fantastically without any support all year: 1-8, 3.13, 1.14. Led the league is strikeouts (74 in 72.0 IP)
SP Jhonathan Torrez - another great job this year: 5-2, 3.39, 1.19
SP Orlando Tovar – 0-1, 1.54, 1.07 – an incredible 52 Ks in 41.0 IP.

Minor League Bios:

German Marte P R R 6-1 180 4-29-85 Dominican Republic
Marte was born in the Dominican Republic and was signed as an un-drafted international free agent by the New York Mets in 2002. He posted a 1.56 ERA for the 2003 DSL team, with 70 Ks in 75 IP. His first year out of DSL ball was 2004 where he pitched sporadically for Kingsport (9 games, 1-0 5.13) and GCL (2 games 1-0 2.40). 2005 gave him 21 appearances with K-Port, 3 starts, 4 saves, a 3-2 record and a 2.91 ERA. That earned him 9 relief appearances in 2006 at Brooklyn (2-0, 0.00, 1.44, followed by 32 at H-Town (3-0 4 saves 2.58 1.16) Not counting his DSL year, Marte’s 3 season minor league career has resulted in a combined 3-0/2.58/1.16 record. John Sickles’ pre-season rating of Marte was a C and he ranked him as the 16th Mets prospect. Marte pitched 2006 winter ball for Gigantes in the Dominican League.
Marte pitched 2007 in St. Lucie, going 5-3, 3.50, 1.14 in 35 relief appearances.He also had 64 Ks in 61.2 IP.

This Day in Mets History:

1966 - In a game which featured a total of 11 home runs, Reds' Art Shamsky hits three round-trippers in a 14-11, 13-inning loss to the Pirates at Crosley Field. Shamsky's, who came in as a defensive replacement, eighth inning home run put the Reds ahead and his 10th and 11th inning shots tied the game.
2000 - At Shea Stadium, the Giants get two unusual runs in the fourth inning as Mets outfielder Benny Agbayani catches what he thinks is the third out and gives the ball to a kid in the stands. The mental lapse of not knowing there was only one out in the frame allows both runners on base to score, but the Mets will prevail beating San Francisco, 3-2.