New Blood
The Mets will try and complete the pattern this evening by defeating the Orioles and sweeping the series. They were swept by the Yankees, then swept the Rays in Tampa before being swept again at home against Cincinnati. As this roller coaster season progresses, the Mets continue to bounce back when all looks lost. They have done so again by taking the first two from Baltimore by identical scores of 5-0. It’s the Orioles first visit ever to Citi Field. Hopefully they will not want to come back for a while if the Mets can complete the task of giving Buck Showalter a severe case of acid reflux. Actually his own team appears to be doing that.
With the two shutouts in a row, the Mets now have an 8-3 record in preventing the other team from scoring, the best in the Majors. Here’s another interesting stat. In games decided by two or three runs, the Mets record is 13-6. They are 9-8 in one run games and in games decided by four runs, the Mets are 2-7. That’s odd. But games decided by 5 runs, the Mets are 8-2. Odd again, don’t you think? In games decided by six or more runs, the Mets are 5-9. So overall the Mets seem to do quite well in low scoring games. In high scoring games they typically lose except if the difference is 5 runs. Go figure.
Minors in full swing…
The Mets minor league affiliates are now in full swing. On Monday, the Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York-Penn League (short-season A) opened their season with a win at home against the Staten Island Yankees. The four game home and home series continued last evening with another win for the Cyclones at SI. Brandon Nimmo, last season’s first round draft pick is playing center field and batting second for the Cyclones. Also at Brooklyn is Kevin Plawecki, the supplemental pick from this year’s first round, 35th overall. Plawecki is a catcher. The Cyclones play in Staten Island again this evening before returning to Brooklyn to face the Yankees tomorrow night.
Also underway are the Kingsport Mets (rookie league) of the Appalachian League who opened with a loss last evening in Princeton, West Virgina. Gavin Cecchini, this year’s first round pick has already been signed and is playing shortstop for the K-Mets. Branden Kaupe, also a shortstop and drafted in the fourth round is playing second base for Kingsport.
The Mets dropped their Gulf Coast League (rookie) Mets this past winter leading to speculation the Mets were really hurting financially. Mets GM Sandy Alderson insisted the move was simply to consolidate what he felt was a bloated farm system. In fact, the Mets had more farm teams than most other organizations. So far, except for Binghamton of the Eastern League (AA) and the 0-1 K-Mets, the other affiliates are all having winning seasons. The St. Lucie Mets of the Florida State League (advanced A) have already clinched the first half southern division title having run away with the race early on. The Savannah Sang Gnats of the South Atlantic League (A) have a strong second place record as their first half comes to an end as well. Likely, players who have had an outstanding first half in the A ranks will move up to AA Binghamton whose record is a few games under .500. Perhaps Zach Wheeler (an ace in the making?) will be promoted to AAA Buffalo since he appears to have dominated double A hitters.
Speaking of aces, Buffalo’s Matt Harvey had another outstanding outing as he pitched six strong innings last night. He gave up one run on six hits and struck out seven while walking only two.
College World Series
Speaking of draft picks, the Mets have two in the College World Series. The 71st pick overall in the second round, Matt Reynolds plays third base for the University of Arkansas. They are undefeated in the CWS having won against both Kent State and South Carolina in bracket 2. Both these clubs play each other to determine who will play Arkansas in the double elimination final round. The winner will move on to the championship round.
David Boyd, 6th round pick (200 overall) is a first baseman who is currently playing for Florida State, who won their elimination game against UCLA last night. They will play Arizona for the chance to move on to the Championship round starting on Sunday. Neither Reynolds or Boyd have yet to sign with the Mets.
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