Meet the B-Mets

I'm not a professional scout in any way, but I got to watch the B-Mets up close and personal from behind their dugout and can still give my opinions. Jose Coronado provided my wife's favorite part of the game with the bubble on the hat of Jean Luc Blaquierre. However the biggest hits of the game belonged to Valdespin, Brahiam Maldonado and Salomon Manriquez. I will quickly say that Maldonado is far too home run happy in his approach, (The 5'11" OF has an upper-cut swing and is not the fastest man in the field) and Manriquez is a solid defender who looked good at the plate. I wasn't paying tons of attention to them. Who WAS I paying attention to? #22, Brandon Moore, SP: Moore's fastball topped out at 90 MPH and sat close to 88 for most of the game. His slider was his go-to pitch and accounted for all but one of his K's. He threw the slider between 76 and 85 MPH and would have it sneaking into or diving out of the zone. He was hit pretty well a few times but kept the hitters using the biggest part of the ball-park. In the later part of the game he had a BIG at-bat vs. Latimore where he managed to get him to strike out on a good slow change up. Moore had good control for MOST of the night but is VERY uncomfortable when he is behind and WILL walk people rather than give up on the breaking pitches. #7, Jordany Valdespin, SS: Valdespin had a two-out RBI single that was nearly more, if not for some good throws by Altoona. Jordany at the plate displayed great strength in his upper body but is not as calm and confident as I'd want a lead off hitter to be. His feet and legs have a lot of idle movement. In the field he looks smooth and confident but his arm is not Jose Reyes'. #5, Josh Satin, 3B: Josh Satin has a very good eye and an advanced approach at the plate. He has a big step in his swing but it doesn't seem to be a negative. On the bases he is not a guy I'd expect to run. He actually looked pretty fast but he just seemed tentative taking a lead from first. In the field he nearly made a fine bare-handed play from 3rd but got a slightly late jump on the ball against a faster runner.

#4, Reese Havens, 2B: Reese Havens swing is practically perfect. It's even and smooth and strong. He looked in control of each at-bat and seemed capable of always hitting the ball for line-drives. He had a nice play with a tough bouncing ball that split he and Dykstra and nearly made a spectacular diving stop earlier in the game.

#10, Ricky Brooks, RP: Brooks is not a household name by any means but he was pretty dominant yesterday. Coming in for the 8th he struck out three before finishing the game in the 9th with a 4th K. Brooks topped out at 94 MPH with a 77 MPH change and a 84 MPH slider. He looked "in the zone."

My wife and I remarked at the overall camaraderie of the team. They seemed to genuinely like each other and enjoy the game. After the B-Mets took an early 3-run lead my wife quipped, "I think this team is better than the real Mets." In some ways I suppose they were.

As a side note I got a ball from Brad Holt who seemed like a pitching coach as he watched the game from the railing.

Up This Week:

TBD

Minor Troubles

If you want some good news on the Met farm you should look at one of these players: Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Chris Schwinden, Joshua Satin, Jordany Valdespin, Pedro Zapata, Matt Den Dekker, Juan Lagares, Darin Gorski, Cory Vaughn, Robbie Shields, Gregory Peavey, Erik Goeddel or Chase Huchingson. Today's report is not about all the good or even the pretty good or okay. I'm feeling negative vibes and want to focus on some of the negative story lines.

AAA:

Nobody is really left in AAA and the two that are, are playing well (Schwinden and Nieuwenhuis). The real negative is the injuries. One to Zach Lutz and one to Lucas Duda. Both talented hitters with a future on a big league bench, this season has not been kind.

AA:

Binghamton has hit a bump in the road for pretty much ALL of their pitchers. Cohoon has been hittable, Moore has been crush-able, Familia has been human and Carson too. The biggest blip was for Brad Holt who had re-discovered his control this season. The glitch is that he lost it BIG TIME. His most recent outing was a return to good but I no longer see his promotion to AAA being a sure thing for 2011. Hitting-wise, the best hitters are not in AA but Eric Campbell is much better than he's shown this season. Some good news, Havens should be back soon... though with his arrival Satin SHOULD be moving to AAA.

A+:

Caesar Puello and Wilmer Flores have both looked like stars this season. Then there are times when they don't. Both are K-ing too much and walking to little. Puello not running enough and Flores' poor power start both don't set my heart a-twitter. Even Jefry Marte has cooled substantially. Note, he's never been close to this good, so anything more would be gravy. A big blip are the once GAUDY stats for Matt Harvey. Since April 28th he's been VERY human and no longer looks like a fast-track player. That's the way things go.

A:

I look at this team's players and see a team who should be killing the opponents. Darrell Cecilliani, Cory Vaugn, Aderlin Rodriguez, Robbie Shields, Wilfredo Tovar and Javier Rodriguez, this team should hit. Sadly only Cory and Robbie got that memo. Ceciliani was hurt but has not bee sharp since coming back, Aderlin has power but lacks contact, Tovar and Rodriguez just seem lost.

Glass Half Awesome

Being a Met fan and an optimist is a bit difficult. The Mets aren't exactly awesome at doling out the feel good games and consistent wins. It's actually quite easy to be a Met fan and a pessimist. The Mets are in last place, they have really only looked good against Arizona, Reyes is likely leaving, Wright only knows how to strike out and the stands are as empty as a campus library on free taco day. So... here are a few reasons to buck up.

New York Mets

The Mets are 9 and 13 after winning four straight. That means that we were recently 5 and 13 with almost no reason to field a team. They are in last place and, as you might expect, the 4 Ace Phillies are in first. Why should you be happy?

• Have you heard? Jason Bay is back.
• David Wright is lining up to have excellent production.
• Jose Reyes looks like an All-Star again.
• Carlos Beltran is healthy.
• Chris Young is back.
• Dillon Gee looks like a real-deal MLB starter.
• Mike Pelfrey and Jonathan Niese might not be heading for the glue factory.
• Pedro Beato looks like an A+ Rule V pick.
• K-Rod has trade buzz.
• Luis Castillo and Ollie Perez are gone and never coming back.

Buffalo Bisons

Haven't we already been through the ringer with most of these guys? This team was supposed to have a lot of talent on it and they are only 8 and 11. Fernando Martinez is the biggest name on the roster and he's already been hurt this year. Why should you be happy?

• Kirk Nieuwenhuis is hitting a lot (15-game hitting streak)
• Kirk Nieuwenhuis is hitting for power (8 Doubles 3 HRs)
• Fernando Martinez is back (also hit a PH HR)
• Ruben Tejada has become a hitter.
• Jenrry Mejia look like he'll be ready for the MLB rotation later this year.
• Chris Schwinden and Jorge De La Torre look like they could be solid MLB bullpen guys.

Binghamton Mets

Another sub .500 team? Am I supposed to buy that the team will produce stars when they can't beat other AA teams? The top player is some kid I've never even heard of. Why should I be happy?

• Joshua Satin named EL player of the week.
• He's hitting .327 and powering the offense largely alone.
• He and I have similarly massive eyebrows.
• Alright... the real reason. PITCHING!
• Brad Holt (Remember Him?) 0.50 ERA, 18 IP, 14 Ks, 0.78 WHIP.
• Mark Cohoon 0.47 ERA, 19 IP, 20 Ks, 1.00 WHIP.
• Robert Carson 1.69 ERA, 16 IP, 16 Ks, 1.19 WHIP.
• Jordany Valdespin is walking more? (And hitting less)

Port St. Lucie Mets

Wait... this team doesn't fit. They're 17 and 2. The team has 9 players hitting over .280. The team has 4 starters with ERA's under 4.00. Clearly this team will have a few things to be happy about.

• Pedro Zapata is a base stealing CF. He's hitting .400 and has stolen 8 bags in 8 attempts.
• Francisco Pena has the body for power and is at least hitting for average.
• Matt Den Dekker has good gap power and excellent tools.
• Jefry Marte is exceeding every one's expectations and basically re-establishing his value.
• Wilmer Flores started slow, but has heated up. The power will return this is how he typically finds his groove. (He's hitting .297)
• Caesar Puello is also finding his groove and looks to be turning the corner in A+.
• Matt Harvey... He's 4 and 0 in 4 starts. He's got a 0.00 ERA with 27 K's in 22 innings. This is his first year in the minors and he's already demanding to move up in the system. (Not verbally)
• Jeurys Familia... He's had less luck in his starts. He's only 1 and 0 but his 0.35 ERA and 25 Ks are pretty sweet. Sweeter still is his 0.62 WHIP.
• Nicholas Carr is establishing himself as a potential late inning relief man.

So... always remember that if you look hard enough, there are plenty of things to find to make you happy.