Billy Wagner scared me Wednesday night, but he also made a nice win all that much sweeter for the tension.  I’m not even sure that John Franco would have attempted that daredevil feat.  I guess dominance is no fun compared to getting the ghost of Andruw Jones with the bases loaded. 

            In a night of rehabbing in St. Lucie, Pedro wasn’t great, but says he felt good, while Deolis Guerra, as promised, returned after missing two weeks with shoulder tendonitis and wasn’t very good either.

            Scott Van Pelt made gentle fun of Linda Cohn during Sports Center’s Top 10 for watching Mets’ games “with interest.” 

            Wednesday, the Mets announced that they signed two of the big prizes of the international free agent class, 16 year old Cesar David Puello Santana, a Dominican outfielder and Wilmer Alejandro Flores a 16 Venezuelan outfielder.   

            “We are very happy to bring both of these talented young men to the New York Mets organization," said Mets director of international operations Ismael Cruz. "Puello is a great athlete with excellent makeup. He has good power, a good arm and the ability to run."

            "Flores is the biggest international signing this year, and we are very excited at the opportunity to have him in our organization. Many teams were bidding higher for him, and he chose to come to the Mets ahead of the others for the opportunity to play in our organization."

            Five Cyclones, Dylan Owen, Jake Eigsti, Jason Jacobs, Matt Bouchard and Brandon Kawal will represent the National League in the New York-Penn League’s All-star game.  Congratulations to all.

           

 

Stars of the Day:

AAA: Anderson Hernandez

AA: *Bobby Parnell*/Jamar Hill

A+: Joe Hietpas/Daniel Murphy

A: DJ Wabick

SSA: Nicholas Waechter/Lucas Duda…Dylan Owen/Jacob Eigsti

R-App: Philips Orta

R-GCL: Richard Lucas & Ezequiel Carrera/Rogers Figueroa

 

AAA – New Orleans (Pacific Coast League)

@ Fresno Grizzlies 7, Zephyrs 0

 

            Another one of these for Jason Vargas: 5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR.  Joe Smith wasn’t so hot either, allowing two runs on three hits in the sixth inning.

            On the plus side, Anderson Hernandez (.284/.327/.376) continues to rake.  He was 2-3 with a double and just as importantly, a walk. 

            Chad Hermansen, a 29 year old outfielder, last seen with the Marlins PCL affiliate in Albuquerque, made his first start in centerfield for the Zs. 

            After a travel day Thursday, the Zephyrs return to the central time zone this week, which will makes it a little easier for me.

 

AA – Binghamton (Eastern League)

@ Mets (50-64) 6, Trenton Thunder (66-49) 0

 

            Bobby Parnell is getting the hang of this double-A thing: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K.  In his two August starts he has a 0.69 ERA in 13 innings with 14 strikeouts and just two walks. 

            This summer I’ve starting keeping a running list of my Top Mets Prospects that I update whenever I feel like, but usually about once a week.  It’s like a running rough draft that allows me to keep the whole system in perspective and organize my thoughts.  I have Parnell in the top three, and he’s making a very serious run at #1. 

            Brett Harper didn’t homer, but did go 2-4.  Jamar Hill did go yard in a 2-4 night and is now hitting .364/.417/584 in 33 double-A games. 

 

A+ -- St. Lucie (Florida State League)

Lakeland Tigers (18-25/47-66) 9, @ Mets (21-23/52-62) 6

 

            Pedro Martinez was very aggressive in his rehab start.  He struck out five, and didn’t walk a batter - that’s the good.  However, he gave up five runs on six hits, two of which were home runs, both on sinkers that didn’t sink, in three innings.  It appears to me that he was more worried about throwing strikes and getting his feel back than working around the periphery of the zone as he would to big league hitters.  The numbers here are much less important than how Pedro feels, and he feels good he says.  Knuckle-balling former catcher Joe Hietpas offered up three scoreless innings between Pedro and Deolis Guerra, who made his first appearance in over two weeks following a bout of shoulder tendonitis.  Guerra was not sharp, allowing four runs, two earned on two hits and four walks in an inning and a third. 

            At the plate, Daniel Murphy (.290/.336/.444) was 3-4 with a double and a bomb. 

 

 

A – Savannah (South Atlantic League)

@ West Virginia Power (20-26/68-46) 8, Sand Gnats (14-30/34-80) 1

 

            Jeremy Mizell lost his seventh game in a row.  DJ Wabick, 2-4 with an RBI lifted his post All-Star break tally to .343/.358/.500.

 

SSA – Brooklyn (New York-Penn League)

Cyclones 2, Mahoning Valley Scrappers 0 (7 innings)

Cyclones (33-15) 2 @ Mahoning Valley Scrappers (25-23) 0 (7 innings)

 

            Brooklyn pitching allowed just six hits in 14 shutout innings to sweep the twinbill.

            In game one, Nicholas Waechter gave the ‘Clones 5.2 scoreless innings while Eddie Kunz collected his first professional save.  Jacob Eigsti, who was 0-2 with a sacrifice, had his 32 game on-base streak snapped.         Lucas Duda (.284/.389/.433 – 21 yo) was 2-3 with a home run, his third.

            In game two, Dylan Owen, Dan McDonald and Steven Clyne combined on the four hitter.  Owen’s five shutout innings with a walk and three strikeouts helped him improve to 6-1, 2.05.  Eigsti (.303/.368/.419 – 23) was 2-4 with an RBI.  It’s nice that he’s having such success, but remember too that he’s repeating the New York Penn League. 

           

 

SSA – Kingsport (Appalachian League)

@ Danville Braves (33-12) 3, Mets (26-19) 2

 

            Philips Orta out of Western Nebraska Community College, struck out eight in 4.1 one-run innings.  Tyler Vaughn was 1-4 with a home run and Jose Jimenez drove home a run with a double and that was about it for the Mets offense.

 

R – St. Lucie (Gulf Coast League)

@ GCL Mets (14-25)  13, GCL Marlins (20-20) 4

 

            Richard Lucas (.272/.325/371), the Mets 4th round pick, a third baseman from HS in Florida, drilled two home runs in a 3-5 performance.  Meanwhile, at the top of the order, Ezequiel Carrera (.321/.398/.417) was also 3-5, doubled and drove home four. Gabriel Zavala’s 3-4  gave the Mets three three-hit performances and his second straight three-hit game. 

            Rogers Figueroa lasted five innings, allowing just one unearned run for his first win of the year.

 

Toby Hyde has written Toby’s Mets Minor League Report since 2004.  Please pass this along to friends, family, co-workers, enemies and most importantly Mets fans.  To subscribe to the email newsletter, sign up here: http://groups.google.com/group/mets-minors?hl=en.  Archives are available at http://metsminors.metsblog.com.