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Mets Bullpen Implodes to Give Nats Victory

Wednesday, June 5th, 2013

The Nationals have been having trouble hitting any teams bullpens this year.  They have gone to a tired and blue formulae of no offense plus poor fielding equals another loss.  Their impotence against opponents bullpens makes comebacks challenging.  They finally found a bullpen they could hit.  The Mets and Bobby Parnell.

The Nationals came back from a 2-1 deficit, woke up a lethargic offense and scored two for a 3-2 win.  Ryan Zimmerman started the inning off with a double off the scoreboard.  Rick Ankiel recovered the ball quickly and it appeared his throw beat Zimmerman to the bag.  After the tag was made the umpire looked at the glove and then made the safe sign.  A wild pitch by Bobby Parnell advanced Zimmerman to third where he scored when Adam LaRoche slapped a single to the right side of the drawn in infield.  Ian Desmond roped a double into the left centerfield gap, advancing LaRoche to third.  Terry Collins made the questionable move to walk the .151 hitting Roger Bernadina intentionally.  Bernadina had already struck out twice in the game.  With the bases loaded and no outs Steve Lombardozzi fouled off a number of two strike pitches before lifting a fly to shallow left field.  The ball was caught by Mike Baxter going back on the ball and his desperation throw to home was too late to get Adam LaRoche who slid into home with the winning run.

Jordan Zimmerman pitched well enough to get the victory.  A lack of offense and shoddy fielding allowed two unearned runs to score in the fifth.  Jordany Valdespin started the rally with one out by hitting a slow roller to first.  If Jordan had caught up with the ball to flip to LaRoche they may have gotten Valdespin.  When the ball was allowed to roll to LaRoche it was too late to get Valdespin, though a dropped throw by Zimmermann prevented a call from being made by the umpire.  Rick Ankiel hit a slow grounder to Adam LaRoche, whose throw to Ian Desmond at second pulled him off the bag.  Omar Quintanilla bounced the first pitch past the diving LaRoche just inside the first base bag for a 2-out, 2-run triple.

The only run the Nationals scored until the ninth was on an Ian Desmond blast in the second inning.  Ian latter came up in the sixth with the bases loaded and two out and grounded to third.  He made up for that with the double in the ninth.

Jeremy Hefner limited the Nationals to just four hits in six innings of work.  Jordan Zimmermann went eight innings but it was Tyler Clippard, who retired the side in the ninth that got the win with his one inning of work.

Game Notes: The Nationals shook things up before today’s game with a number of moves.  They took Jayson Werth off the disabled list, called up Anthony Rendon to improve the offense and called up Ian Kroll to help the bullpen.  The three corresponding moves was to put Danny Espinosa on the disabled list.  When he is healed he will be sent to the minors to rediscover his hitting.  Championship teams are not made of .150 hitting second baseman.  Henry Rodriguez and Zach Duke were both designated for assignment.  Henry can throw three digits, but when he walks a hitter it turns into a double because he has no concept of holding runners on base.  Zach just could not get anyone out consistently…Jordan Zimmermann was humming the ball at 95-97 pretty consistently.

Posted in Nationals, Mets | No Comments »

Mets Bullpen Implodes to Give Nats Victory

Wednesday, June 5th, 2013

The Nationals have been having trouble hitting any teams bullpens this year.  They have gone to a tired and blue formulae of no offense plus poor fielding equals another loss.  Their impotence against opponents bullpens makes comebacks challenging.  They finally found a bullpen they could hit.  The Mets and Bobby Parnell.

The Nationals came back from a 2-1 deficit, woke up a lethargic offense and scored two for a 3-2 win.  Ryan Zimmerman started the inning off with a double off the scoreboard.  Rick Ankiel recovered the ball quickly and it appeared his throw beat Zimmerman to the bag.  After the tag was made the umpire looked at the glove and then made the safe sign.  A wild pitch by Bobby Parnell advanced Zimmerman to third where he scored when Adam LaRoche slapped a single to the right side of the drawn in infield.  Ian Desmond roped a double into the left centerfield gap, advancing LaRoche to third.  Terry Collins made the questionable move to walk the .151 hitting Roger Bernadina intentionally.  Bernadina had already struck out twice in the game.  With the bases loaded and no outs Steve Lombardozzi fouled off a number of two strike pitches before lifting a fly to shallow left field.  The ball was caught by Mike Baxter going back on the ball and his desperation throw to home was too late to get Adam LaRoche who slid into home with the winning run.

Jordan Zimmerman pitched well enough to get the victory.  A lack of offense and shoddy fielding allowed two unearned runs to score in the fifth.  Jordany Valdespin started the rally with one out by hitting a slow roller to first.  If Jordan had caught up with the ball to flip to LaRoche they may have gotten Valdespin.  When the ball was allowed to roll to LaRoche it was too late to get Valdespin, though a dropped throw by Zimmermann prevented a call from being made by the umpire.  Rick Ankiel hit a slow grounder to Adam LaRoche, whose throw to Ian Desmond at second pulled him off the bag.  Omar Quintanilla bounced the first pitch past the diving LaRoche just inside the first base bag for a 2-out, 2-run triple.

The only run the Nationals scored until the ninth was on an Ian Desmond blast in the second inning.  Ian latter came up in the sixth with the bases loaded and two out and grounded to third.  He made up for that with the double in the ninth.

Jeremy Hefner limited the Nationals to just four hits in six innings of work.  Jordan Zimmermann went eight innings but it was Tyler Clippard, who retired the side in the ninth that got the win with his one inning of work.

Game Notes: The Nationals shook things up before today’s game with a number of moves.  They took Jayson Werth off the disabled list, called up Anthony Rendon to improve the offense and called up Ian Kroll to help the bullpen.  The three corresponding moves was to put Danny Espinosa on the disabled list.  When he is healed he will be sent to the minors to rediscover his hitting.  Championship teams are not made of .150 hitting second baseman.  Henry Rodriguez and Zach Duke were both designated for assignment.  Henry can throw three digits, but when he walks a hitter it turns into a double because he has no concept of holding runners on base.  Zach just could not get anyone out consistently…Jordan Zimmermann was humming the ball at 95-97 pretty consistently.

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Top Performers for Pacific Coast League Prospects

Tuesday, May 14th, 2013

Below are some of the top performers from the Pacific Coast League who are prospects.  For many of these players their performance has led to a major league callup.

Mariners

Mike Zunino C (.229, 6, 31) - Mike is considered one of the best catching prospects in the game.  With Jesus Montero getting an opportunity to catch full time for the Mariners there is no rush to promote Mike.  He has been driving in runs, but has been having trouble making contact with 38 whiffs in just 28 games.  He is far superior on defense than Jesus and has all the offensive tools.

Alex Liddi 3B/OF (.261, 7, 30) - His power is intriguing but his inability to make contact is maddening.  He leads the Pacific Coast League with 61 K’s in just 38 games.  He has a 13/61 walk to K ratio.  His inability to make contact shows his lack of recognition of pitch types.  He appears to be a mistake pitcher, which will not allow him to survive in the major leagues.

Nick Franklin SS (.339, 4, 16) - The Mariners are having trouble finding offense from their major league shortstop.  Nick could provide a solution to that, though the Mariners would take a hit defensively.  Some believe his best position is second base.  He has a nice 24/16 walk to whiff ratio which bodes well for his offensive production in the major leagues.

James Paxton LHP (2-3, 3.93) - His ERA is a bit high but he has struck out 44 in 36 innings pitched.  James is a step away from pitching for the Mariners.

Giants

Kensuke Tanaka 2B (.348, 0, 13) - He signed as a free agent out of Japan and at 32 years of age is not really a prospect.  If the Giants are looking for immediate help he is available.  He has a 15/15 walk to whiff ratio and stolen 11 bases in 15 attempts.

Brett Pill 1B (.341, 9, 47) - Brett is a Brandon Belt slump away from getting a major league opportunity.  His nine homeruns are tied for the league lead and his 47 RBIs leads the next closest player by 14 RBIs.  He just needs to up that average to be considered the Triple Crown.

Gary Brown CF (.213, 1, 14) - Gary was once the top prospect of the Giants with his assault of High A pitching.  He has not had that success as he rises up the ladder.  He’s only stolen four bases in 8 attempts and he has a 9/40 walk to whiff ratio, not the kind of numbers you want to see from your leadoff hitter.

Dodgers

Scott Van Slyke OF (.397, 9, 30) - The son of Andy was also putting up Triple Crown numbers.  He led the league in hitting and was tied for first in homeruns.  He was still short of Pill for the RBI lead.  He has a .503 OBA.  Those numbers were so impressive the Dodgers could not ignore him anymore and called him up.

Dee Gordon SS (.314, 0, 12) - Some questioned his ability to hit.  Others were concerned with his inconsistency on defense.  No one questions his speed.  He leads the Pacific Coast League in stolen bases with 14 in 16 attempts.  The Dodgers needed help so he has also been called up.

Athletics

Michael Choice OF (.294, 8, 31) - With Josh Reddick missing time because of a hand injury Michael is showing the power that makes it tempting to call him up.  He has been making better contact with only 31 strikeouts in 38 games.  He also has walked 23 times putting his OBA at .404.

Sonny Gray RHP (4-1, 2.19) - His 5′11″ height gives many pause for his ability to have success in the major leagues.  He is making some noise with his good start in the Pacific Coast League.  He already has one complete game to his resume and should be an innings eater.

Diamondbacks

Chris Owings SS (.339, 2, 25) - His numbers are confirming he will be an offensive shortstop.  His 32 runs scored are tied for second in the league.  He has also stolen 7 bases in 9 attempts.  The one cause for concern is his 5/32 walk to whiff ratio, which could drive down the average once he reaches the major leagues.

Cardinals

Jamie Romak OF (.276, 6, 20) - Jamie is a 2012 first round pick out of Florida State and is making pitchers in the Pacific Coast League fear him as much as his college brethren.  With both Matt Holiday and Carlos Beltran getting older his opportunity could come next year.

Kolten Wong 2B (.311, 1, 13) - He looked like the Cardinals second baseman of the future until Matt Carpenter switched positions and shows the ability to play second.  Kolten would be the better defensive player but is less of a stick than Carpenter.  He is a perfect 5 for 5 in stolen bases.

John Gast LHP (3-1, 1.16) - A Jake Westbrook injury led to a call-up to the Cardinals.  He was leading the Pacific Coast League in ERA.  The Cardinals have a number of hard throwers in their system, but Gast is not one of them.

Michael Wacha (4-0, 1.99) - He opened some eyes in spring training.  Like Jamie he is a 2012 number one pick, selected as the 19th pick, four selections ahead of Ramsey.  Michael has only given up 27 hits in 40 innings but he does have a troubling 13/24 walk to whiff ratio, meaning his mid-90s fastball is not getting a lot of swings and misses.

Astros

Jonathan Villar SS (.308, 3, 21) - Marwin Gonzalez is currently occupying the position.  Villar could be the future.  He has 13 stolen bases in 17 attempts.

Jimmy Paredes OF (.366, 3, 15) - Those numbers got him a callup to the Astros.  His defense is something left to be desired, but he will get an opportunity to show he deserves an opportunity in the major leagues.  A 14/19 walk to whiff ratio is promising.

Jared Cosart RHP (4-0, 2.08) - Jared is benefiting from the tag team pitching rotation the Astros have established this year for all their minor league systems.  In the past he has had command problems, but those have not yet surfaced in the Pacific Coast League.  He has struck out 43 hitters in 39 innings.

Mets

Wilmer Flores SS (.272, 3, 22) - For a number of years he was the Mets top minor league prospect.  The Mets continue to play him at short even though he lacks the defensive chops to play the position.  His best hope may be the outfield, though his bat is not as strong as originally projected.

Zack Wheeler RHP (2-1, 3.74) - The way he is pitching Zack is major league ready with 47 whiffs in 43 innings.  Though the Mets deny this, they do not want to promote him too early to get his arbitration clock clicking.

Rockies

Nolan Arenado 3B (.364, 3, 21) - The third baseman of the future is the third baseman of the present.  He drove in those 21 runs in only 18 games and stroked 11 doubles.

Drew Pomeranz RHP (5-0, 3.18) - The Rockies are winning and at some point they are going to need pitching.  Drew should be the first one for consideration based on his early start.  He has struck out 44 in 40 innings of work.

Posted in Cardinals, Athletics, Mariners, Giants, Rockies, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Astros, Mets 2503 | No Comments »

Superstar Not to be - Brian Cole

Thursday, April 18th, 2013

There are players who have the potential to be superstars but events in life prevent that from happening.  Many felt Brian Cole could have been a superstar.  He was not listed as a highly rated prospect because he only stood 5′8″ tall.  C.C. Sabathia said Brian Cole was the player who showed him he needed to learn a changeup.  Heath Bell and Brad Hawpe both called him the greatest player they ever saw.  Many others did too, one scout comparing him to Ricky Henderson.  The Mets plan was to have him as one of their outfielders with David Wright at third base and Jose Reyes at short.  What happened to him can be found here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1207193/index.htm

It’s a good article making you understand that nothing about life is guaranteed.  Some of the other highlights from the article:

As a high school player in Mississippi he was the first player in the state to hit four homeruns in one game.  In his senior year he hit 10 homeruns in six games.  His 22 homeruns is a 5A record that still stands.

The Tigers drafted him in the 36th round and offered him a $5,000 bonus.  He chose to play at a junior college where he hit .524 with 27 homeruns, stole 49 bases, drove in 82 runs, scored 95 in just 60 games.  He was named by Baseball America as the junior college player of the year.  The Mets drafted Cole the following year in the 18th round and paid him a $100,000 bonus to get him to sign.

Mark Hamilton said he was drafted by the Indians because a scout there saw him strike out Brian Cole.  That same scout did not see the 450 foot homerun he hit to the opposite field off a slider that was a foot outside.  Mark Hamilton also called Brian Cole the best player he ever saw.

His first year in the South Atlantic League Brian Cole stole 50 bases, drove in 71 runs from the leadoff spot, slugged 18 homeruns and scored 97 runs in 125 games.  That led to a promotion to the Florida State League, known to be a pitcher’s league.  In three months and 91 games Brian hit .312 with 15 homeruns, 61 RBIs, 54 steals and 73 runs scored.  This led to a promotion to AA where he struggled for the first time hitting .136 in his first 59 at bats.  In his last 30 games there he would hit .349.  Little did he know this would be his last season in baseball.

He went to the Arizona Fall League in the Fall.  Another young player by the name of Albert Pujols was invited to play as well.  He knew he was playing with the best of the best after he watched Brian Cole play.  Brian set an Arizona Fall League record with a 16 game hitting streak.

In the 2001 spring camp everyone debated who was the fastest Met.  The Mets had drafted Jason Tyner number one.  He didn’t have much of a bat, but he was drafted because of his blazing speed.  Cole slipped at the start of the race, but before the 60 yard race was done Cole was backpedaling the last 10 yards two body lengths ahead of Tyner.  On ESPN Mike Piazza told Peter Gammons “Let me give you a name to remember - Brian Coles.”

Spring training ended and Brian Cole got in his truck to drive back home to Mississippi.  He never made it out of Florida.  A car entered his lane, he drove up on the median and his truck rolled three and a quarter times before coming to rest.  Brian Cole died in the hospital.  He was 22 years old.

If any good news can be found in this story, the family sued Ford for being responsible for building an inferior truck with a history of rolling.  The jury awarded the family $131 million.  They estimated this would have been the salary he would have made had he had the opportunity to play major league baseball.  His comparisons were Kirby Puckett, Torii Hunter and Albert Pujols.

In death some people’s accomplishments are blown up like fish stories.  No one really knows whether Brian Cole could have dominated major league baseball.  He was never rated by Baseball America as a number one prospect as other top prospects Bryce Harper or Mike Trout.  In 2001 Baseball America rated him as the 64th best prospect in their top 100 list.  It is hard to argue with some of the players who speak about him in awe.  He was the largest fish that someone caught who escaped back in the water with no witnesses to the catch.

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Mets Down Astros in Windy Exhibition

Thursday, March 21st, 2013

It was cold, wet and windy in Kissimmee with the Mets beating the Astos 7-5.  Cold is relative when compared to the East Coasts freezing temperatures with high 50 degree temperatures in Florida, but with a heavy, biting wind blowing out to right field and at the backs of fans sitting in the seats, it felt colder than the high 50s.  Matt Den Decker used that wind to blast a ball over the head of J.D. Martinez in right field to drive in two and give the Mets the victory the 7-5 win.

The game did not start off too well for the Mets and Dillion Gee.  The Astros scored five runs off Dillion in the first two innings, with Carlos Pena slugging a 2-run homer to the opposite field in the first.  In the second the Astros collected four hits and a walk to put a three spot on the board and build a 5-0 lead.

Dillion settled down after that, pitching two scoreless innings and striking out the side in the fourth after the home plate umpire appeared to expand his strike zone to get the game in under threatening dark clouds.

The Mets whittled at the lead, Collin Cowgill striking the first blow with his 2-run homer to left in the third inning.  Ironic the only two homers hit were to left when the wind was blowing out to right.  The Mets added another run in the fifth on an RBI triple from Brian Bixler that one hopped the wall in center.  Bixler and Brandon Hicks are getting a lot of playing time with the injury to David Wright.

A crucial Tyler Greene error in the seventh allowed the Mets to score four and take the lead in the game.

Game Notes: With the cold wind, and the sprinkles from the night sky, myworld only stayed seven innings for this game…Jordany Valedspin led the game off with a bunt single.  Jose Altuve led off the bottom of the first with a bunt single that hit the bag…There were a number of line drive double play outs that were the result of poor baserunning or failed hit and run attempts.  Mike Baxter lined to second in the second inning where Jose Altuve caught the ball just above the ground.  Lucas Duda had strayed too far from second and was doubled off to end a potential Met rally.  In the third Trevor Crowe hit into a line drive double play to short on a attempted hit and run.  In the sixth Landon Powell flew out to right field and Ike Davis assumed the ball would drop.  The wind held the ball up and Davis was easily doubled off second…The home plate umpire had an awful game.  He called two eyeball strikes on Jose Altuve and called a strike three on Jake Elmore, but didn’t appear to make the call until Jake was halfway down to first thinking it was ball four.  He also seemed to expand his strike zone in the fourth to get the game in, resulting in a very inconsistent strike zone…It was fun watching Matt Den Decker streak like a lightening bolt to third on his triple.  That kid can fly.  At 25 years of age, if he can learn to make consistent contact he will be the Mets centerfielder by mid-year.  Unfortunately, Matt has had lots of trouble making contract, striking out at least 150 times in his last two years.  Myworld has already seen him play major league defense against the Tigers.

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Mets Rout Tigers 11-0

Tuesday, March 12th, 2013

Myworld made our first appearance in Lakeland.  It wasn’t much of a game, even though Justin Verlander started for the Tigers.  Jordany Valdespin took his third pitch and punched it over the right field wall to lead off the game.  The Mets went on to win 11-0.

Verlander also gave up a homerun to Brandon Hicks in the second inning.  Previous to that he had forked up a double to John Buck and then balked him home.  After the inning ended he argued with the home plate umpire he didn’t balk.  He hit 91-92 with his fastball with a couple pitches hitting 94-95 so he still has a way to go before he is major league ready.

Jonathan Niese was the more effective pitcher, tossing four plus innings of shutout ball.  He was fortunate to have Prince Fielder attempt to steal against him after he walked him in the second.  Prince was thrown out by about 10 feet.

The Mets rocked Phil Coke for three runs in the seventh.  Phil may not have gotten anyone out if Anthony Recker was not thrown out at third trying to advance on a single and Travis D’Arnaud tagged a line drive that happened to be hit right at their shortstop.  The Tigers also rolled out their other closer possibility Bruce Rondon.  He hit 100 plus miles per hour on at least four pitches, giving up two hits.  He got Wilmer Flores to ground into a broken bat double play and also ended the inning by getting Omar Quintanilla to swing and miss at a 101 mile per hour fastball.

Game Notes: Brandon Hicks scored three runs in the game, homering, walking and getting on base via an error…Brennan Boesch had a horrible game in the outfield, dropping a ball for an error and chasing a high fly ball towards the line and having it drop in front of him.  The fans gave him a Bronx cheer after he caught a routine fly ball…John Buck hit two doubles, scoring twice.  Travis D’Arnaud DH’ed and went 0 for 5…Jordany Valdespin hit a homerun to lead off the first.  Justin Verlander plunked him in the groin in his third at bat when Jordany squared around to bunt.  Leyland removed Verlander and as he walked off the field he ignored the squirming Valdespin…Matt Den Decker showed impressive range in centerfield, chasing down two long balls, one as he crashed against the fence.  He also struck out twice.  If Matt can hit he will be their future starting centerfielder for the Mets with his range…Johnnie Peralta was in the starting lineup but after a meal of clam chowder he had food poisoning to knock him out of the lineup…Austin Jackson showed a weak arm in his one throw home.  It was also offline…Trevor Bell came in to pitch and showed little.  Brian Bixler took one of his 88 mile per hour fastballs into the grassy berm in left field.  Not once did he hit 90…Bruce Rondon took the longest walk from the bullpen to the mound.  Hopefully he speeds up his appearance once the season starts…The place to eat after a Tigers exhibition game is Harry’s in downtown Lakeland on Main Street and kentucky.  Good New Orleans type food…The grounds crew at Lakeland does a much better job of YMCA than the Yankee grounds crew in Tampa…There were four model type girls sitting in the front near the Tigers dugout.  My first thought was the blond was Kate Upton, but after catching her trying to flirt with some of the Met players and shaking her two assets at one of the players made me doubt that.  Anthony Recker seemed to be her favorite player.  Jim Leyland seemed to get a kick out of talking to them.  They spent most of their time looking at their cellphones for emails and texting than watching the game.  Of course, myworld spent too much time watching them than watching the game.  Shame on me.

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Mets and Astros Battle to a 7-7 Tie

Monday, February 25th, 2013

The Astros got a game tying RBI single from George Springer that bounced over the head of second baseman Phillip Evans.  With the bases loaded and one out they could drive in the go ahead run, Brandon Barnes and Brandon Laird grounding out to third for the second and third out to leave it at a 7-7 tie.

The Mets scored first when Jamie Hoffman smoked a ball over the left centerfield fence in the top of the second to take a 1-0 lead.  Fernando Martinez responded with a homerun in the bottom of the second, a line drive shot over the right field fence.  Fernando started his career with the Mets.

In the top of the third Jordany Valdespin went deep against Jose Veras yanking a 2-run homer into right center field to take a 3-1 lead.  After walking Collin Cowgill, Veras bore down and struck out the remaining three hitters.

Recently acquired Brad Peacock came out to pitch in the fourth for the Astros.  He had trouble throwing strikes, walking Jamie Hoffman and Omar Quintanilla.  Josh Satin roped a double into the right field corner to score two and Cowgill drove in the third run in the inning with a single, Marwin Gonzalez almost making a spectacular play at short to rob him of a hit in the hole.

Down 6-1 the Astros battled back.  Jason Castro lined a homerun into right field off Jeremy Hefner, almost in the same spot as Martinez to get the Mets to within three.  Jeurys Familia came on in the fifth and had trouble with his command.  A walk and a single put runners at second and third with two outs.  Brett Wallace drove in two runs with a clutch single.  After pinchrunner Delino Deshields stole second and advanced to third when the ball was thrown into centerfield, he scored on a wild pitch to tie the game.

The Mets were able to take the lead off Sergio Escalona, getting three straight hits to bring in the go ahead run.  Wilfredo Tovar drove in the go ahead run with a line drive single over the second baseman.

For the Mets Collin Cowgirl had two hits, a single and double in two at bats with one walk and two stolen bases.  He was recently acquired from the Diamondbacks.  Josh Satin stroked two doubles and was hit by a pitch, but also ground into a double play in the eighth with runners on first and third.  Lucas Duda struggled with four whiffs in four at bats and now has six strikeouts in seven at bats for the spring.  He seemed to really have trouble laying off the breaking pitch diving in the dirt, and swinging and missing at pitches above his chest.

For the Astros George Springer walked twice and bounced an RBI single over the second base man’s head to drive in the game tying run.  He has a long swing and has a lot of movement in the top half of his bat as he waits for the pitch.

Nate Frieman made a nice stretch at first base on a ball he had to scoop out of the dirt.  He also singled and beat out a ground ball that appeared to be booted by the second baseman Phillip Evans, but they changed the initial error ruling to a hit.

Game Notes: Marwin Gonzalez started the game almost giving Matt Harvey a facial, ripping a line drive up the middle.  Harvey worked two innings and gave up one run, a homerun to Martinez…Jimmy Paredes made a bad turn on a line drive to right field resulting in a Josh Satin double…Chia-jen Lo looked good in his ninth inning appearance.  He had a nice breaking curveball and good velocity on his fastball.  Myworld sees him making the bullpen for the Astros…It seems everyone now has a race.  For the Astros it is the polar bear race.  Not too sure what that has to do with Houston or baseball, but the three colored bears did not really look like they were racing.  They were high fiving the fans as they raced from the left field area to the first base dugout area…The Astros also broke out their mascot Orbit.  This is the first time myworld remembers seeing a mascot in Kissimmee.  He is a green creature with baseballs for ears…Only 3,048 showed up for the Astros spring home opener, many of them Mets fans.

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2013 Hot Stove - Mets

Sunday, January 6th, 2013

Overall Assessment: It is as if the poles have been reversed.  The Mets borrow money, pinching their nickels and dimes as they scour the bargain basement to sign cheap free agents while every talented free agent seems to be out of the Yankees price range.  Meanwhile, on the West Coast the two Los Angeles teams have no problem throwing money at free agents.  As the population shifts south and west so does the money.  Myworld thought the Mets would be the second worst team in the National League last year, based on what we saw at spring training.  The fact they didn’t achieve that goal has to feel like an accomplishment.  They didn’t even finish with the worst record in their division.  This will be a young team in a rebuilding mode so Met fans should not expect miracles for 2013 like the Oriole and Athletic fans experienced last year.  There are some interesting pieces to begin the rebuilding project.

Hot Stove Season: The Mets made it clear they were rebuilding when they traded Cy Young award winner R.A. Dickey and starting catcher Josh Thole for prospects Travis D’Arnaud (catcher), starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard, outfielder Wulmer Beccera and veteran catcher John Buck.  Travis should take over the starting catching job early in 2013 while Noah will be in the starting rotation by 2014, joining Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler.  The Mets saw a crowded third base situation for their third base prospect Jefry Marte, so they traded him to the Oakland Athletics for Collin Cowgill, who has a good chance to crack one of the starting spots in the outfield.  They have made no other significant moves.

Strength: Third base.  That is where David Wright is stationed.  He signed a nice extension with the Mets to stay with them for a few more years.  The Mets also have Wilmer Flores in the minors, who may now have to look for an outfield or second base glove if he wants to play in the major leagues with the Mets.

Weakness: Last year myworld wondered what the Athletics were going to do with their outfield.  They signed Coco Crisp and Yoennis Cespedes and Josh Reddick came out of nowhere to answer that question.  Lucas Duda hopes to be the Josh Reddick of 2013 and hopefully they have yet to sign their other two outfielders, or Collin Cowgirl becomes a Josh Reddick surprise.  Otherwise, it could be a mix of Cowgill and Mike Baxter in right and Kirk Nieuwenhuis in center.  Michael Bourne is still on the market, but he probably wants to play for a playoff contender and won’t sign for the nickels and dimes the Mets are putting together.  Promising prospect Cesar Puello looks to be a year away and infielder Jordany Valdespin is listed as an outfielder on the 40-man roster.  Second base will be manned by the good hit/no defense Dan Murphy and the starting rotation lacks an ace, unless Johan Santana can resurrect his career.  The bullpen was not too good last year and they have not improved on it much for 2013.  They’ve got some youth in Bobby Parnell who should get better with experience and Jeury Familia who should make an impact in 2013 if he can stay healthy.

Top Position Prospect: With the acquisition of Travis d’Arnaud he now blows away the competetion.  His defense needs some polishing but his offense appears to be ready.  Travis will show Met fans used to seeing the Josh Thole dink to the opposite field and round first sort of game to what a power hitting catcher should look like, in case Met fans have forgotten all about Mike Piazza.  Prior to that the best position prospect competetion was between forever a prospect Wilmer Flores and Cesar Puelo.  One lacks a position and the other lacks patience.

Top Pitching Prospect: The Mets traded Carlos Beltran to the Giants for Zack Wheeler.  He is considered more polished than Matt Harvey, but not as experienced.  He should be joining Matt Harvey to bring his mid-90s heat to the Mets starting rotation by mid-2013.  A good spring may see him begin the season in the rotation.

Watch out for: Wilmer Flores.  The Mets finally moved him from shortstop, where his range would have been abysmal in the major leagues to third base.  Third base does not seem to be a viable option in the short term so watch for him at second base or the outfield.

Rookie of the Year Prospect: Travis D’Arnaud is coming off an injury so he would need an excellent spring to make the team for opening day.  Expect him to pummell the minors as he did last year and get called up by May, enough time to garner some rookie of the year attention.

Projected on Paper Finish: They will finish ahead of another rebuilding team the Marlins, but they will rise no higher than fourth place.

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NL East Post Season All Stars

Wednesday, September 26th, 2012

Myworld has completed the American League teams.  Now we try to get through the National League teams before the regular season ends.  The first National League Division we review is the NL East.

Atlanta Braves

The years of John Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine are done and it will be hard to repreat that troika.  The Braves have tapered down their salary structure and focused their resources on the minor league system.  It is starting to pay dividends with a number of young pitchers percolating through their system.  Whether they will ever achieve the success of the above three will be difficult.

Ernesto Meija 1B AAA - He was voted rookie of the year but he is already 26 years old.  He’s been playing since 2003 but this is his first year in AAA.  He hit .296 with 24 homeruns and 92 RBIs.  That has yet to translate into a major league opportunity.

Todd Cunningham OF AA - Todd was drafted in the second round in 2010.  Still noted more for his defense than offense.  He did hit over .300 for the first time this year, hitting .309, but there is not a lot of power in the bat (.403 slugging with three homeruns).

Sean Gilmartin SP AA - Sean was a 2011 first round pick.  He finished 5-8, 3.54 ERA, not stellar numbers for an All star.  He was voted to have the best control in the Southern League.

Braeden Schlehuber C Hi A - Other than his first year in 2008 he had a tough time getting his average over .250.  A nice breakout year for him where he hit .270 with eight homeruns.

Nick Ahmed Utl Hi A - Voted the best defensive shortstop and fastest baserunner in the Carolina League.  He hit .269 in the Carolina League in his second year of minor league ball.  He stole 40 bases in 50 attempts.

Gus Schlosser SP Hi A - Voted top pitcher of the Carolina League as a result of his 13-7, 3.38.  Shows good command by walking less than two batters per nine innings pitched.

Miami Marlins

Fans wonder if the management has a clue of any long term plan.  They spend a lot on salary and based on disappointing years, and a disappointing season by the Marlins, they trade many of these players for prospects.  Are they contenders or rebuilders?  Nobody knows for sure.  The owner has yet to find a manager he likes.

Marcell Ozuna OF Hi A - He has got more power than Pablo hitting over twenty homeruns for the third season in a row.  He hit 24 this year equaling last year’s .266 average.  He was voted the best power prospect and the best outfield arm in the Florida State League.

Christian Yelich OF Hi A - Christian was the Marlins first round pick in 2010 and is the outfield mate of Ozuna.  He hit .330 with 12 homeruns.  He was voted the most exciting player of the Florida State League.  He has the range to play centerfield.

Danny Black utl Hi A - He doesn’t show a lot of power, but he did hit .314, resulting in a promotion to AA for an eight game trial.  With the Marlins he played shortstop.

Austin Barnes C Low A - He showed a bit more power in is second year, mashing 12 homeruns while hitting .318.  Austin also had a pretty impressive 59/61 walk to whiff ratio.

Brent Keys OF Low A - After hitting .340 in the New York Penn League last year he struggled with his promotion to Low A (.208).  He made amends for that struggle hitting .335 this year.  He also had more walks (34) than whiffs (30).

Kolby Copeland OF rookie - The supplemental 2012 third round pick hit .286 in his professional debut.

New York Mets

The Mets have gotten cheap with their salary as their ownership group got caught up in the Bernie Madoff scandal.  It appears the purse strings will not be freed up even after some of that pressure has been removed.  They like saving millions of dollars in salary.  Their boredom keeps them off the back pages of the New York press.  With only one player selected as a post season All Star they still have a good contigent of foreign players ready to crack the roster.

Adam Kolarek RP Hi A - He had 18 saves and a 2.37 ERA in the Florida State League.  When he was promoted to the Eastern League that ERA rose to 5.68.

Philadelphia Phillies

Tyler Cloud RHP AAA - Tyler had an impressive 15-1 season at two levels.  At Lehigh Valley he was 12-1, 2.35 resulting in a promotion to the major leagues.  In five major league starts he is 2-1, 3.86.  He is not a hard thrower but has superb command, voted the pitcher with the best control in the International League.

Tommy Joseph C AA - Acquired from the Giants in the Hunter Pence trade.  He will be competing with Sebastian Valle for the catching job of the future after Carlos Ruiz hangs it up.  He hit 11 homeruns for two AA Eastern League teams, hitting .257.  He is considered the better defensive player at this point.

Darin Ruf 1B AA - Darin was the MVP of the Eastern League slugging 38 homeruns and 32 doubles with a .317 average.  He drove in 104 runs between the two levels.  The Phillies called him up to the major leagues where they have stuck him out in left field.

Cesar Hernandez 2B AA - He hit .304 with Reading with 26 doubles and 11 triples.  It led to a promotion to AAA where he only hit .248.

Cameron Rupp C Hi A - The third round 2010 pick has thrown his hat into the catchers ring.  He hit .269 with 10 homeruns for Clearwater.

Adam Morgan SP Hi A - A third round 2011 pick, Adam was voted the best changeup in the Florida State League.  His record was not good (4-10) but his ERA was solid (3.29).  He also struck out more than a hitter an inning with a 27/133 walk to whiff ratio.  His low 90s fastball is pretty good for a lefty.

Austin Wright SP Hi A - The lefties won/loss record was better (11-5) and ERA about the same (3.45).  He struck out more than one batter an inning last year but thise year he fell short.  His 60/133 walk to whiff ratio is not as good as Morgan but he also has a low 90s fastball.

Andrew Pullin OF rookie - The fifth round 2012 pick had a good debut with his .321, 2, 13 season with an OBA of .403.

Washington Nationals

They had the best farm team in baseball until they traded a bevy of prospects for Gio Gonzalez.  Those prospects are contributing to the Athletics wild card run (Derek Norris and Tom Millone) but the Nationals would not be on top of the NL East without the contribution of Gio Gonzalez.

Carlos Rivero 3B AAA - While rated the best defensive third baseman in the International League, he is a middle infielder playing a corner infield position.  He will never usurp Ryan Zimmerman.  Carlos has shown more power with double digit homeruns his last two years.  In 2012 he hit .303 with 10 homeruns.

Corey Brown OF AAA - Another Athletic acquistion, one of the players acquired for Josh Willingham.  He slugged 25 homeruns at AAA with a .285 average.  He has been bounced back and forth from the AAA to the major league roster, hitting .208 with his first homerun in the major leagues.  Strikeouts are a problem with 139 in 126 games.

Matt Skole 3B Low A - The Nationals player of the year, slugged 27 homeruns at Hagerstown.  He combined for 104 RBIs, 92 of them at Hagerstown.  An impressive 94/116 walk to whiff ratio and 10 for 10 success rate in stolen bases.  That got him voted for the best strike zone discipline in the South Atlantic League.

Matt Foat 2B rookie - He hit .333 with a 14/18 walk to whiff ratio giving him a .404 OBA.  That is higher than his .401 slugging percentage.

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Niese Shuts Out Nats

Sunday, August 19th, 2012

Third Eye Blind was playing a post game concert resulting in a sold out game.  The National bats had trouble seeing the ball against Jon Niese, going down feebly to the Mets 2-0.

Niese went seven plus innings, giving up only five hits.  The closest the Nationals got to a rally was in the first inning when Danny Espinosa and Ryan Zimmerman hit back to back singles.  Michael Morse sent one deep to right field to allow Espinosa to advance to third, but Adam LaRoche ended the threat by grounding to second.  They didn’t advance a runner past second the rest of the game.

Edwin Jackson was even better than Niese for the first six innings.  The only hit he gave up through the first six innings was a triple to Mike Baxter in the first.  Jayson Werth dove for the ball but just missed making the catch and the ball rolled to the wall.  A faster outfielder may have been able to make the catch, but fortunately for the Nats the Mets ended up stranding Baxter on third.

In the seventh Jackson issued a leadoff walk to David Wright.  Forced to go into a stretch for the second time he gave up a first pitch homerun to Ike Davis that landed just to the left field side of the bullpen.  That was the extent of the Mets offense.  An error by Ian Desmond in the third and a single by Ike Davis in the ninth were their only other baserunners for the game.  Nat pitchers combined to strike out 15 Mets.

Game Notes: Andres Torres struck out all three times he hit.  Mike Baxter also struck out three times after he hit his triple in the first inning…Jordany Valdespin misjudged two fly balls hit to him in left field.  One Adam Laroche was generously credited with a double, even though it glanced off the glove of Valdespin.  Jordany caught the second ball, but made an adventure out of it.  He appears to be a very poor outfielder, or just had a bad game…Michael Morse struck out three times for the Nationals…Lots of debate on the shutting down of Stephen Strasburg.  The problem with baseball is everyone is into short term gratification.  When Jim Bowden tells a national radio audience that Mike Rizzo is not making the correct move in this case, I look at what Jim did with the Nationals and compare it to the team that Rizzo has built and I think I will put my trust in Rizzo.  The Nationals are thinking long term in shutting Strasburg down.  They have enough pitching to survive without him.

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