Fresno Grizzlies @ Las Vegas 51s
April 18, 2015
Teams
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1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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7
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8
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9
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R
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H
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E
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Fresno
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0
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0
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0
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2
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0
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0
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0
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2
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0
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4
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4
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0
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Las
Vegas
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3
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1
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2
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0
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0
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0
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10
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1
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X
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17
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19
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0
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The Highlights:
Pitchers
Noah Syndergaard
(4.70 ERA) – 3.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 5 BB, 5 SO, HR, 82 Pitches (50 Strikes), 3 GO: 1
FO
Scott Rice – 1.1 IP,
2 SO, 1 GO: 1 FO, 1 IR – 0 S
Hansel Robles (0.00
ERA) – 2 IP, 4 SO, 1 GO
Jack Leathersich
(3.60 ERA) – 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 3 SO, 1 HR, 1 GO: 2 FO
Batters
Dilson Herrera – 3-5, 3 R, 2 2B (2), BB
Kyle Johnson – 2-5, 2 RBI (2), SF, 2 SB (4), 2 SO
Matt Reynolds – 4-5, 3 R, 2 2B (5), 2 RBI (11), BB, 2 SB (3)
Alex Castellanos – 1-4, 3 R, 2B (4), RBI (11), 2 BB, SO
Kevin Plawecki – 2-5, R, 2 2B (2), 5 RBI (6)
Cory Vaughn – 2-4, 2 R, 3B (1), RBI (4), BB, SO
Travis Taijeron – 3-5, 2 R, 2 HR (3), 5 RBI (8)
Nelfi Zapata – 1-5, R, SO, GIDP
Wilfredo Tovar – 1-4, 2 R, 2B (2), SO
Recap:
In
a game that had multiple big stories, the 51s walloped the Fresno Grizzles 17-4
to crawl back to a .500 record for the season. It’s the 2nd straight
night that the 51s reached double digits in runs, and they bested their
season-high in hits from last night (18). Every 51s player got at least one
hit, with multiple 3+ hit games, 2 2B games, 2 SB games and 5 RBI games. It was
a trouncing, and it also featured two pitching performances of relevance to all
Mets fans. The obvious performance of interest was that of Noah Syndergaard,
who was a little wild, but had his fastball sitting 96-99 MPH all night (see
below). Another prospect Mets fans should start getting interested in is Hansel
Robles, who had another big multi-inning performance for the 51s, striking out
4 over two perfect innings, while topping out at 98 MPH with his fastball.
Syndergaard’s
first start was short (60-pitch limit) and Thor was
not very sharp over his 4 IP, but more concerning was his 93-94 MPH (95
early) fastball velocity. While he did not have the same command tonight
(strike percentage dropped from 68.5% in his 1st start to 61%
Saturday night), Thor alleviated any concerns about his arm by displaying an
impressive fastball – he average 97.5+ MPH on the pitches I was able to record
from the Las Vegas scoreboard and Russ Langer. He followed his typical start
pattern of establishing the fastball early, and then working in his secondary
pitches more the second time through the lineup. His best inning by far was his
13-pitch 3rd inning, because he mixed up his pitches wonderfully,
throwing only 6 fastballs. From what I could tell between the tough Vegas
camera angle and Russ Langers calls, Thor was not missing by much. He was close
to making it through 4 IP without allowing a run, but he gave up a no-doubter
on a 98 MPH fastball with one out in the 4th. The homerun clearly had
an effect on him, as he walked the next batter on five batters, which warranted
a mound visit. He’d bounce back to strike out the final batter he faced in the
game, but had to be removed due to his elevated pitch count – remember, he’s
still being stretched out after missing some time at the end of spring
training. Looking forward, two starts should be enough to shake off the rust for Thor, so I'm expecting a big start from Thor next time out.
The
51s offense took care of this game over the first 3 innings, but then put it
way out of reach with a 10-run 7th inning, which matched their
season high for runs in a game. They did basically everything right
offensively, and had the ball bounce their way in almost every situation. It’s
a toss-up between Matt Reynolds (2 2B, 2 SB, on base 5 times) and Travis Taijeron
(3 hits, 2 homers, 5 RBI’s) for the offensive star of the game, as either could
make a case based their ridiculous stats accumulated. Dilson Herrea led off
with a double in the 1st, and after Kyle Johnson was retired, Matt
Reynolds and Alex Castellanos hit doubles of their own. In the 2nd,
Wilfredo Tovar led off with a double, Kyle Johnson had two stolen bases,
including one on a double steal with trailer Matt Reynolds. The 3rd
inning began with a triple from Cory Vaughn followed by an absolute blast to LF
from Travis Taijeron. The 51s were retired in order during the 4th,
5th and 6th innings, which is kind of hard to believe.
Things got silly in the 7th:
Reynolds led off with a double, Plawecki doubled two batters, Taijeron homered
again two batters after that, and the Grizz made a pitching change after Zapata
reached on a single, with no outs yet recorded in the frame. After the new
pitcher hit Tovar, Dilson loaded the bases with a single. Johnson would follow
with the first out of the inning, but it came on a sac fly to bring home
Zapata, so the 51s still had a 1.00 average after one time through the lineup
in the 7th. Then: Reynolds re-loaded the bases with his second hit
of the inning, Castellanos walked for the second time in the inning, and
Plawecki picked up his 2nd double of the inning, clearing the bases
in the process. The final two batters of the 7th would be retired
without issue, but it was a brutal inning to be a Fresno fan. Amazingly, the
51s had 3 more hits left in their bats, and they would come consecutively with
two outs in the 8th after Dilson’s 2nd double of the game
– he started the first rally that way, so it’s fitting he start the last rally
that way.
Relieving Thor in the 4th
fell to Scott Rice, who had been struggling with control in his first few
appearances, but has looked better his last two times out. Hansel Robles would
follow and he was straight dealing. He just blows his mid-90’s heater by
everyone, and he’s got a hard slider he can mix in to keep batters honest. He’s
yet to allow a run in 7.2 IP, with 10 K: 1 BB (33.3 K%: 3.3 BB%) and only 6
hits allowed. He’s also lasted more than an inning in 4 of his 5 appearances in
2015, and doesn’t necessarily need to be removed for lefties, which are both
great assets in the pen. Robles really broke out after being moved to the pen with
Binghamton in 2014, so this isn’t totally unexpected for him. I know the pen is
already full and has two more arms coming, but if he continues at this torrid
pace, he might eventually force the Mets to call him up. At the very least, he
offers another strong relief option ready at the minor should anyone in the
Mets current pen start stumbling or get injured.
Rafael Montero will make his first
AAA appearance and first start of 2015, as he stretches out to prepare for a
start with the Mets later this month. His start appears to push Steven Matz
back a day, unless Montero is on a short leash and they plan to just piggyback
those two. The 51s look to win the rubber game of this series starting at 3:05
PM EST.
Thor Pitch Coverage
1st inning
1)
Nolan Fontana walked (BB)
i.
97 MPH Fastball – ball 1-0, low
ii.
– ball 2-0
iii.
– ball 3-0
iv.
– called strike 3-1
v.
– ball 4
2)
Alex Presley flied out to Johnson (F/9)
i.
97 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-1
ii.
98 MPH Fastball – foul 0-2
iii.
3)
Jon Singleton walked (BB)
i.
98 MPH Fastball – ball 1-0, low and in
ii.
88 MPH Changeup – foul 1-1
iii.
86 MPH Changeup – ball 2-1, bounced
iv.
98 MPH Fastball – ball 3-1, low and in
v.
97 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 3-2
*Fontana caught stealing 2B
vi.
99 MPH Fastball – foul 3-2
vii.
99 MPH Fastball – ball 4, inside
4)
Preston Tucker grounds into a force out (G/65) –
big shift on
i.
98 MPH Fastball – ball 1-0, inside
ii.
98 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 1-1
iii.
97 MPH Fastball – called strike 1-2
iv.
83 MPH Curveball – foul 1-2
v.
Fastball
2nd inning
1)
Matt Dominguez struck out looking (K/Lo)
i.
98 MPH Fastball – ball 1-0, low
ii.
96 MPH Fastball – called strike 1-1
iii.
96 MPH Fastball – foul 1-2
iv.
79 MPH Curveball – called strike 3
2)
Domingo Santa grounded out to Tovar (G/53)
i.
97 MPH Fastball – ball 1-0, high
ii.
89 MPH Changeup – called strike 1-1
iii.
96 MPH Fastball – called strike 1-2
iv.
97 MPH Fastball – ball 2-2
v.
98 MPH Fastball – foul 2-2
vi.
81 MPH Curveball
3)
Andrew Aplin walked (BB)
i.
98 MPH Fastball – ball 1-0
ii.
Fastball – ball 2-0, low
iii.
99 MPH Fastball – called strike 2-1
iv.
Fastball – ball 3-1, outside
v.
Fastball – ball 4, inside
4)
Max Stassi singled on a soft liner into RF
(S/L9)
i.
97 MPH Fastball – foul 0-1
ii.
5)
Joe Sclafani struck out swinging (K/Sw)
i.
97 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-1
ii.
81 MPH Curveball – swinging strike 0-2
iii.
79 MPH Curveball – swinging strike 3
3rd inning
1)
Fontana lined out to LF (L/7)
i.
96 MPH Fastball – called strike 0-1
ii.
97 MPH Fastball
2)
Presley struck out looking (K/Lo)
i.
Changeup – called strike 0-1
ii.
Changeup – swinging strike 0-2
iii.
98 MPH Fastball – foul 0-2
iv.
Curveball – foul 0-2
v.
98 MPH Fastball – called strike 3
3)
Singleton struck out swinging (K/Sw)
i.
Curveball – ball 1-0, low
ii.
Changeup – ball 2-0, low
iii.
Changeup – called strike 2-1
iv.
98 MPH Fastball – called strike 2-2
v.
Curveball – foul 2-2
vi.
98 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 3
4th inning
1)
Tucker walked (BB)
i.
97 MPH Fastball – ball 1-0, outside
ii.
97 MPH Fastball – foul 1-1
iii.
98 MPH Fastball – ball 2-1, up and away
iv.
87 MPH Changeup – foul 2-2
v.
81 MPH Curveball – ball 3-2
vi.
99 MPH Fastball – foul 3-2
vii.
99 MPH Fastball – ball 4
2)
Dominguez grounded out back to the mound (G/143)
– ball deflected off of Thor’s glove
i.
97 MPH Fastball – ball 1-0, inside
ii.
87 MPH Changeup – ball 2-0, inside
iii.
98 MPH Fastball – ball 3-0, low
iv.
97 MPH Fastball – called strike 3-1
v.
97 MPH Fastball
3)
Santana homered to right center field (HR/89D)
i.
97 MPH Fastball – ball 1-0, high
ii.
98 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 1-1
iii.
82 MPH Curveball – called strike 1-2
iv.
83 MPH Curveball – foul 1-2
v.
98 MPH Fastball – foul 1-2
vi.
80 MPH Curveball – ball 2-2, high
vii.
98 MPH Fastball
4)
Aplin walked (BB)
i.
97 MPH Fastball – swinging strike 0-1
ii.
83 MPH Curveball – ball 1-1, low
iii.
87 MPH Changeup – ball 2-1, low
iv.
97 MPH Fastball – foul 2-2
v.
89 Changeup – ball 3-2, bounced
vi.
98 MPH Fastball – ball 4, high
5)
Stassis struck out looking (K/Lo)
i.
97 MPH Fastball – foul – 0-1
ii.
88 MPH Changeup – ball in dirt 1-1
iii.
98 MPH Fastball – foul 1-2
iv.
82 MPH Curveball – called strike 3
NASA: We'll find alien life in 10 to 20 years http://t.co/mhytNvxXet pic.twitter.com/MpTAwUMT2K
— In Saturn's Rings (@InSaturnsRings) April 18, 2015
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