In recognition of Francisco Martinez’s powerful week last week, Baseball America slotted him in at #6 in Friday’s Hot Sheet.  Here are the money lines in the comment: “He's the youngest player in Double-A—heck, if he were in high Class A, he would still be the second-youngest player at that level. Teenagers in Double-A shouldn't be hitting for power, a skill that normally blossoms later in a player's career….but his ability to drive the ball against much older competition is encouraging as he starts to take advantage of his prodigious tools in game situations.”

 

Stars of the Weekend:

AAA: Fernando Tatis/Brian Stokes…Valentino Pascucci/Jose Santiago…Tim McNab/Jesus Feliciano

AA: Jon Niese/Fernando Martinez … Jose Sanchez & Eude Brito & Eddie Kunz

A+: Nick Carr/Jamar Hill … Ruben Tejada & DJ Wabick

A: *Angel Calero*/Casey Craig…Joaquin Rodriguez/Michael Antonini

 

New Orleans (AAA – Pacific Coast League)

Friday: @ New Orleans Zephyrs 3, Fresno Grizzlies 1

Saturday: @ New Orleans Zephyrs 6, Sacramento River Cats 0

Sunday: Sacramento River Cats (21-16) 6, @ New Orleans Zephyrs (20-17, -0.5) 5 (10 innings)

 

            Friday, Fernando Tatis drilled a three run homer, his eleventh of the year, in providing Brian Stokes all of the support he’d need.  Stokes gave up just one run on four hits in 8.1 innings, fanning nine to lower his ERA to 5.68.  Willie Collazo struck out one of the two hitters he faced for his second save. 

            Saturday, Adam Bostick left the game after three shutout innings for “precautionary reasons” say the Zephyrs.  Ivan Maldonado vultured the win with three scoreless innings of his own, which were followed by three similar frames from Jose Santiago, who fanned four.  New Orleans grabbed a lead in the second inning when DH Valentino Pascucci doubled and came home on Fernando Tatis’s 12th homer of the year.  Pascucci, (.311/.385/.756 in 45 AB) was 2-3 with a walk, double and solo HR.  Chris Aguila, Argenis Reyes and Jesus Feliciano each added a pair of knocks. 

            Sunday, in the top of the tenth, Carlos Muniz picked a bad time to allow his first run of the year on a solo jack by ‘Cats  outfielder Danny Putnam.  Argenis Reyes had singled home Victor Mendez with the tying run in the bottom of the ninth, as the Zs came from behind.  Feliciano (.358/.388/.415) was 3-4 with a walk and two runs scored.  Pascucci drove home four runs, three on a first inning bomb.  For the second day in a row, a New Orleans starter lasted three innings; this time the culprit was Joselo Diaz.  Tim McNab was excellent, however.  The righty tossed four scoreless with three strikeouts. 

 

Binghamton (AA - Eastern League)

Friday: Postponed by rain

Saturday: @ Connecticut Defenders 1, Binghamton Mets 0

Sunday: Binghamton Mets (15-21, -8.5) 2 @ Connecticut Defenders (18-17) 1

 

            Saturday, Jon Niese threw very well, but the one run he allowed on two hits was one run too many.  Niese (2-4, 3.15) walked one and fanned six.  The top left-handed pitching prospect in the system, Niese has struck out 35, walked 16 and has a groundball to fb ratio of 1.53 through 40 innings.  The EL is hitting just .220 against him.  Fernando Martinez (.278/.313/.411) had half of the B-Mets going 3-4 from the top of the order.  Martinez is hitting better (.351/.375/.595 in May vs. .254/.293/.351 in April) but has yet to show the plate discipline that will make him a more complete hitter and lead to more power production.  He’s drawn one walk in his last ten games, and for the year has seven, compared to 39 strikeouts in 151 AB over 35 games. 

            Sunday, the B-Mets scored two runs in the fourth, and Jose Sanchez made it stand up. Martinez singled to begin the frame, Dan Murphy doubled him home and then scored on a Nick Evans RBI single and that was it for the B-Mets bats on Mother’s day.  Sanchez (3-2, 4.43) gave up just one run on two hits through six, earning the win.  Eude Brito held down the seventh and eighth, while Eddie Kunz walked one and struck out one in the ninth for his sixth save. 

            Kunz’s splits are illuminating, delineating clear areas for improvement.  Good stuff from the big righty: he hasn’t allowed a run in four May appearances, has been scored on in just three of his 13 appearances overall, hasn’t allowed a HR and has an obscenely impressive ground out to air out ratio of 3.75.  Remember, gb/fb ratio is a better predictor of future HR rates (the lower the better for a pitcher) than home run rates themselves.  The less impressive from Kunz: 10 walks against 11 strikeouts in 15.2 IP.  The good: righties are hitting a pathetic .125/.237/.156 against him in 32 AB.  The less impressive: lefties are hitting .375/.500/.417 against him in 24 AB. 

 

 

St. Lucie (A+ - Florida State League)

Friday: Fort Myers Miracle 7, St. Lucie Mets 3

Saturday: Fort Myers Miracle 11, St. Lucie Mets 3

Sunday: Fort Myers Miracle (23-13) 7, St. Lucie Mets (8-28, -14.0) 5

 

            Friday, the Mets squandered a nice start from Nick Carr when the Miracle tied the game with a run in the eighth before scoring four in the ninth for a 7-3 win.  Carr, a hardthrowing righty, lasted six innings, tying a season high, giving up two runs, one earned on three hits.  He struck out four and walked three.  Carr’s results are starting to look better, but he’s still walking too many hitters.  RF Jamar Hill (2-4) was the only Met with more than one hit while C Josh Thole drove home three with a double. 

            Saturday was a blowout from the time the Miracle scored six runs in the first two innings against Eric Niesen (0-4, 6.28). LF DJ Wabick (.290/.348/.387, age 23) and SS Ruben Tejada (.218/.291/.275, age 18) were each 2-4 with a run scored. 

            Sunday kinda looked like Friday.  The Mets had a lead late, only to watch the Miracle chip away, scoring in the seventh and eighth, before hanging a crooked number on the board in the ninth for the comeback win.  This time the culprit was newly signed Casey Hoorelbecke and three Mets errors.  Hoorelbecke spent all of last year with the Dodgers triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas 51s where he was 4-4 with a 5.55 ERA in 63 games out of the ‘pen. Tobi Stoner (1-2, 2.66) threw well again, holding the Miracle to one run on five hits in six innings, whiffing five and walking one.  At the plate, 1B Lucas Duda (.313/.381/.451) was 2-5 with a double and two runs scored. 2B Luis Rivera was 2-4 and scored once.  C Josh Thole was 1-2, with two walks, a double and three RBI. 

            St. Lucie, swept over the weekend, has lost seven of eight games since winning three in a row. 

 

Savannah (A – South Atlantic League)

Friday: Savannah Sand Gnats 9, @ Hickory Crawdads 4 (11 innings)

Saturday: Savannah Sand Gnats (15-21, -10.5) 9, @ Hickory Crawdads (16-21) 0

Sunday:  Off

 

            Friday, 23 year old RF Casey Craig had a huge night going 4-6 with 2 bombs and 4 RBI including the go-ahead three run jack in the top of the 11th.  Craig has hit .531/.605/.844 in 32 AB over eight torrid games for the Gnats.  In better news, LHP Angel Calero tossed another good one.  Calero shut out the ‘Dads through seven innings before tiring in an eighth in which he allowed two runs. Through seven, he’d allowed just one hit, walking two and fanning five.  He left the game after consecutive one out singles in the seventh; both runners scored.  Brant Rustich made his first appearance of 2008 in the ninth, and gave up two runs on three hits while recording just two outs.  Rustich had fought injuries during his college career, but healthy last year had a very impressive professional debut.  Over the fall and winter the Mets discussed making Rustich a starter to give him more reps to facilitate the development of his command and secondary pitches.  I liked the idea. 

            Saturday, the Gnats scored five runs in the top of the first in cruising to their second straight win.  1B Joaquin Rodriguez, age 23, paced the Gnat attacke wit ha 3-4 evening, with two RBI.  DH Jose Jimenez and 3B Jake Eigsti added two hits each, with one of Jimenez’s leaving the yard.  Michael Antonini (3-1, 2.76) shut out Hickory through six innings, striking out three and walking one. 

 

 

Toby Hyde has written Toby’s Mets Minor League Report since 2004.  Please pass this along to friends, family, co-workers, and Mets fans of all types.  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.