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

Uh... did you say 'yutes'?

Jenrry Mejia, 22: Today's Minor League report starts with the mention of the injury to Jenrry Mejia. You already know about what happened and that he needs Tommy John surgery. You've even heard moronic speculation that he'll now be magically relegated to the bullpen. I can only tell you that the Mets could ill afford to have their top pitching prospect hit this type of road block. Today's post will instead focus on the pitchers who are HEALTHY in the Met minors.

Chris Schwinden, 25: Schwinden is the only starting pitcher still in AAA who has pitched remotely well. There is little to nothing to fault him on his first 3 starts but his fourth outing was shaky and it may be that AAA is adjusting to Schwinden. Shcwinden is a control pitcher who relies on using the strike zone to make up for a low 90's fastball. His secondary offerings include a slider and a changeup. He's likely not more than a reserve starter or long reliever.

Mark Cohoon, 24: Again, three GREAT starts and then things start to un-ravel. Cohoon will look to rebound after his 5 ER outing on May 1st. Again... Cohoon has nothing to over-power anyone. His fastball sitting in the high 80s. His secondary pitches (curveball and changeup) are both usable pitches and he projects as a useful back of the rotation starter with the added bonus of being a lefty. He's probably going to be going up to AAA as it seems the organization is going to be conservative. He should be in the majors in 2011 if he's needed.

Brandon Moore, 25: I talked about Moore a lot last year. He was VERY good in Savanah, okay in Port St. Lucie and TERRIBLE in AA. Again in AA he's proving to be up to the challenge there. The term "Junk-Baller" might be used for Moore who throws a middle 80s fastball, with a variety of off-speed pitches that include a slurve. He's not a top prospect or someone who people imagine will make a large impact in the majors but he could come in and be a good reliever against fastball hitters.

Bradley Holt, 25: Brad's 2008 was GREAT. His 2009... feh. His 2010 was JUST bad. His 2011... well it's actually pretty nice all things being equal. He's got his velocity back up and he's keeping people off base. His 4th start (notice a trend?) was poor and the opponents hit .462 against him that game. OVERALL... he's held the enemy to a .192 AVG. That is pretty sweet. It was once thought that Holt could be a front of the rotation guy. I think he could still be a #3 or #4 pitcher in the MLB. I tend to wear rose color glasses though.

Robert Carson, 22: Because of his age and build I think Carson might be the best guy currently in AA. He's a lefty and at 6'3" he's right around the area that coaches look for in players. He's another victim of the 4th outing blues. He's another Fastball/Slider/Changeup guy but being a lefty with a low 90's fastball he could develop into something pretty useful at the major league level. At the very least a useful lefty bullpen arm. Because he's only 22 he's likely to not get the call to the majors no matter what in 2011.

Jeurys Familia, 22: Familia lasted until his 5th start before having his bump in the road. Thankfully... he already rebounded nicely. He is striking out a player an inning and that is swell but what I love is his sub 1.00 WHIP. He just doesn't let people on base. His fastball is in the mid 90s and has developed a change and a slurve to compliment the pitch that so impressed scouts back in 2010's Spring Training. Familia hasn't really shown any flaws in A+ so far and a call to AA is only a matter of time.

Matthew Harvey, 22: So far Familia is the highest ceiling pitcher I listed. Familia looks like front-end starter but I don't think I'd call him an Ace. You know who I would call a future Ace? Matt Harvey. He's got a high 90s fastball and a few solid breaking pitches that are the reason he's striking out so many. The biggest issue he had before being drafted was his command and thus far it's been pretty solid. He's walking about 3 men per 9 innings which isn't excessive and he's looked like he's already too good for the hitters at A+.

Gregory Peavey, 23: Greg has been pretty solid in Savanah but he's not dominating the league that is known to be easier on pitchers. His start last night was his best so far. 6 innings, 3 hits, 0 BBs and 6 K's. He's got a fastball that reaches the middle 90s and a hard slider. Peavey is still to far from the majors for me to even venture a prediction of where he'll wind up but he's looking like he'll move up to the FSL either this year or to start next.

Erik Goeddel, 23: Another guy who shows promise that I can't rightly project too well. A hard throwing righty Goeddel has a shot to be a starter or a reliever depending on his development. Right now I can't say which is more likely. To go along with a fastball that I've seen described as a true + pitch, he has a solid curve ball that keeps hitters off balance. The Mets went over slot to get Erik and the expectations for him are reasonably high.