2015 Monday Morning Mets Minors Players of the Week

Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

July 6-12, 2015

            Keeping track of the hottest minor leaguers in the Mets farm system, I will be rotating through the lower level teams covered here.

Hitter of the Week: I didn’t have high expectations for Alex Castellanos coming into the 2015 season, but I have long since become a fan, and have often called for his promotion around these parts.

Starting Pitcher of the Week: Seth Lugo gave the B-Mets two scoreless appearances last week, which gave him the edge over several strong single-start weeks.

Relief Pitcher of the Week: Christian Montgomery struck out 7 of 11 batters he faced with Brooklyn last week, continuing a really strong start for the Cyclones.

Team of the Week: Las Vegas finished their first half on fire, with a 6-win week going into the break.

Previous weeks: 4/9-19, 4/20-26, 4/27-5/3, 5/4-10, 5/11-17, 5/18-24, 5/25-31, 6/1-7, 6/8-14, 6/15-21, 6/22-28, 6/29-7/5

Rainiers Outslug The 51s In The Series Finale

Las Vegas 51s @ Tacoma Rainiers

July 3, 2015

Rainy Lara @ Stephen Landazuri

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Las Vegas	0	1	1	2	3	0	0	0	0		7	9	0
Tacoma	0	0	4	3	3	1	1	0	X		12	16	0

W: Luetge (1-2, 6.10 ERA); L: Black (0-2, 15.88 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Rainy Lara (6.75 ERA) – 4 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 3 SO, 2 HR, 61 Pitches (46 Strikes), 4 GO: 2 FO

Vic Black – 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, BB, 2 SO, HR, 1 FO

John Church (3.86 ERA) – 1 IP, H, R, BB, SO, 2 HBP, 2 GO

Jenrry Mejia (3.00 ERA) – 1 IP, 2 H, R, 3 SO

Chase Huchingson (0.00 ERA) – 1 IP, BB, SO, 1 GO

Batters

Daniel Muno – 1-4, BB, SO

Matt Reynolds – 2-4, 2B (23), 3 RBI (48), BB, SO

Alex Castellanos – 2-4, R, 2B (29), HR (14), RBI (49), HBP, SO

Brandon Allen – 2-4, R, BB

Anthony Recker – 1-5, R, HR (6), 2 RBI (15), 3 SO

Travis Taijeron – 1-2, R, 2B (10), RBI (41), BB, HBP

Recap

            The 51s wasted a good night from their offense in the Tacoma finale, as nobody could shut this Rainiers offense down until Chase Huchingson came on for the 8^th. Starter Rainy Lara allowed just a single over the first 2 innings, but was then tagged for 7 runs on 9 hits (including 2 doubles, a triple, and 2 homeruns), as the Rainiers started pulling away. Las Vegas was able to tie things up momentarily in the 4^th, when Matt Reynolds doubled home 2 runs on a play that ended with Daniel Muno colliding into the catcher at home, and then again in the 5^th on a pair of homeruns, but Lara and Vic Black gave the lead right back both times. After clicking early, the 51s offense suddenly started to struggle against the Tacoma bullpen when they fell behind for a 3^rd straight inning, and the last 10 Las Vegas batters would be retired in a row.

51s Offense Explodes Behind Gorski in Tacoma

Las Vegas 51s @ Tacoma Rainiers

July 2, 2015

Darin Gorski @ Jordan Pries

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Las Vegas	5	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	3		12	13	0
Tacoma	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0		2	8	0

W: Gorski (6-6, 5.11 ERA); L: Pries (3-2, 5.65 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Darin Gorski – 7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, BB, 3 SO, 92 Pitches (57 Strikes), 7 GO: 4 FO

Zack Thornton (4.17 ERA) – 1 IP, H, 2 GO

Jenrry Mejia (0.00 ERA) – 1 IP, SO, 2 FO

Batters

Dilson Herrera – 1-6, R, RBI (14), 3 SO

Matt Reynolds – 1-5, R, 2 SO

Kirk Nieuwenhuis – 2-3, 2 R, HR (7), 4 RBI (20), BB, SF, SO

Alex Castellanos – 3-4, 3 R, 2B (28), HR (13), 2 RBI (48), BB, SB (5), SO

Brandon Allen – 2-4, 2 R, HR (8), 2 RBI (39), BB, SO

Brooks Conrad – 1-4, BB

Dan Rohlfing – 1-5, R, 2B (6), 2 RBI (16), 3 SO

Wilfredo Tovar – 2-5, R, 2B (9), RBI (29)

Recap

            Las Vegas jumped ahead early and never looked back Thursday night in Tacoma, as the offense exploded in support of a great start from Darin Gorski. After Dilson Herrera lined out sharply for the first out of the game, the next 5 Las Vegas batters would reach and score on 2 homeruns (see below), providing more run support than Gorski would need on this night. Despite a low K total, Gorski was able to be successful in this start by inducing a lot of weak contact. Zack Thornton was the first to replace Gorski in the 8^th, and he worked around a leadoff single for a scoreless inning. Jenrry Mejia worked a perfect 9^th, picking up a strikeout along the way, and is scheduled to pitch again Friday – he can be activated Tuesday.

            Gorski was very effective early, inducing 3 pop outs, 3 groundouts, and 2 strikeouts over the first 3 innings, and taking a 3-hitter into the 6^th. The Rainiers jumped on him for 2 runs on 2 doubles and a single in the 6^th, but then Gorski bounced back for a quick 7^th.

            This series continues Friday night at 10:05 PM, with Rainy Lara scheduled to pitch for Las Vegas

Gee Struggles For 51s in Tacoma

Las Vegas 51s @ Tacoma Rainiers

June 30, 2015

Dillon Gee @ Hisashi Iwakuma

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Las Vegas	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	0		4	9	1
Tacoma	2	0	1	2	3	0	0	0	X		8	15	1

W: Iwakuma (1-0, 0.93 ERA); L: Gee (1-1, 13.50 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Dillon Gee – 4.1 IP, 13 H, 8 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 103 Pitches (67 Strikes), 5 GO: 3 FO

John Church (3.73 ERA) – 1.2 IP, 3 H, SO, 1 GO, 1 IR – 0 S

Scott Rice (2.86 ERA) – 2 IP, 2 BB, SO, 3 GO: 2 FO

Batters

Daniel Muno – 1-5, R, 2B (9), SO

Matt Reynolds – 1-4, R, 2B (22), BB, SO

Brooks Conrad – 2-5, R, RBI (35), 2 SO

Alex Castellanos – 2-5, 2B (26), 2 RBI (46), 2 SO

T.J. Rivera – 1-4, 2B (12)

Dan Rohlfing – 2-4, R, 2B (5)

Recap

            Dillon Gee had another ugly performance in the PCL, leaving the 51s in a hole too big to hit their way out of as they lost the opener in Tacoma. We all know Gee is a capable major league pitcher, but even though the competition is weaker, the PCL is a very different environment to pitch in than Citi Field. That’s not to excuse Gee for this outing, because he did not pitch well and was smacked around the park for 12 singles and a double, but to point out that some struggles were expected. After allowing 3 straight singles to start the 1^st, Gee induced 3 straight groundballs to his infielders, but they’d only record two outs, pushing Gee’s pitch count up early. After a clean 2^nd inning, the first 3 Rainiers batters would again reach in the 3^rd, on a double and two singles. Gee limited the damage to 1 run in the 3^rd, but then allowed multiple runs in both the 4^th and 5^th innings. On offense, the 51s would waste a double in the 1^st, 2^nd, and 5^th innings, stranding the runner at 2B each time. John Church finished off the 5^th for Gee by inducing a double play grounder to Tovar, and then combined with Scott Rice to hold Tacoma scoreless over the final 3.2 IP. Las Vegas would cut the deficit to 4 in the 7^th, but then only muster a single over the final 2 innings.

            Check out details and highlights of the offense below. This series continues Wednesday night at 10:05 PM, with Matthew Bowman scheduled to pitch for Las Vegas.

Black Blows Good Effort from Pill in the 8th

Las Vegas 51s @ Salt Lake Bees

June 24, 2015

Tyler Pill @ Cory Rasmus

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Las Vegas	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0		4	7	0
Salt Lake	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	3	X		5	7	0

W: Morin (1-0, 0.00 ERA); L: Black (0-1, 18.90 ERA); Save: Pestano (1, 6.97 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Tyler Pill (6.56 ERA) – 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 6 SO, 2 HBP, 95 Pitches (52 Strikes), 4 GO: 3 FO

Scott Rice (H, 4, 2.70 ERA) – 0.1 IP, 1 GO, 2 IR – 0 S

John Church (H, 5, 3.79 ERA) – 1.2 IP, BB, SO, 2 GO: 1 FO, 2 IR – 0 S

Vic Black (BS, 1) – 0 IP, H, 3 R, 2 BB, HR, 14 Pitches (5 Strikes)

Chase Huchingson (0.00 ERA) – 0.1 IP, 1 FO

Zack Thornton (4.68 ERA) – 0.2 IP, 2 SO

Batters

Daniel Muno – 2-4, 2 RBI (15), 2 SO

Kirk Nieuwenhuis – 1-4, R, SO

Alex Castellanos – 1-4, 2B (23), SO

Wilfredo Tovar – 3-3, 2 R, SB (20)

Recap

            The 51s were sitting pretty as they entered the late innings Friday night, enjoying a 4-1 lead with Vic Black coming in for the 8^th, and a reliable bullpen available behind him. Unfortunately, Black was very wild in this start, walking the first two batters of the 8^th inning, and then allowing a game-changing three-run homerun to C.J. Cron. That would be it for Black on this night, and the 51s pen kept it a one run game, but they were suddenly trailing by a run with only 3 outs to work with. The Bees bullpen would hold on in the 9^th for the comeback win to even the series at a game apiece.