Great Start From Lugo Spoiled By Pen And No Run-Support

Las Vegas 51s @ Round Rock Express

August 28, 2015

Seth Lugo @ Nick Martinez

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

W: Martinez (1-1, 3.46 ERA); L: Lugo (2-1, 3.52 ERA); Save: Mendez (4, 2.86 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Seth Lugo – 5.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, BB, 8 SO, HR, 87 Pitches (56 Strikes), 5 GO: 2 FO

Alex Torres (1.69 ERA) – 0.1 IP, 2 BB, 1 FO, 2 IR – 2 S

Vic Black (8.18 ERA) – 0.2 IP, H, R, 3 BB, SO, 2 IR – 0 S

Scott Rice (1.72 ERA) – 0.2 IP, 1 GO: 1 FO, 2 IR – 0 S

Cody Satterwhite (4.64 ERA) – 1 IP, BB, 2 SO, 1 GO

Nick Martinez – 7 IP, 7 H, R, 2 BB, 2 SO, HR, HBP, 99 Pitches (61 Strikes), 7 GO: 1 FO

Jimmy Reyes (H, 8, 2.41 ERA) – 0.2 IP, 2 GO

Ross Ohlendork (H, 4, 4.29 ERA) – 0.1 IP

Roman Mendez – 1 IP, SO, 1 GO

Batters

Darrell Ceciliani – 2-3, 2 2B (19), PO

Eric Campbell – 1-4, SO

Kirk Nieuwenhuis – 1-3, BB

Johnny Monell – 1-4

Kevin Plawecki – 1-3, R, HR (1), RBI (9), HBP, SO, GIDP

Matt Reynolds – 1-3, 2B (28)

Drew Stubb – 1-3, 2 R, BB, 2 SO

Nomar Mazara – 3-4, 2 R, HR (1), 2 RBI (8), SO

Brett Nicholas – 1-3, 2B (19), BB

Ryan Rua – 1-2, 2 BB, SO

Recap

            The Las Vegas 51s got another great performance from Seth Lugo, but Alex Torres and Vic Black were wild during some critical moments in relief of Lugo, and the offense could not get going against Round Rock starter Nick Martinez. Lugo struck out 6 of the first 10 batters he’d face over the first 3 innings, but allowed a leadoff blast to 20-year old Nomar Mazara in the 4^th inning to fall behind 1-0. The 51s were going to be in a good position to tie the game with one out in the top of the 6^th, but instead of reaching 3B with a triple, Darrell Ceciliani pulled up lame between the bags, which resulted in a tag out and injury delay. Brandon Nimmo would have to replace him, although Nimmo had been out of the lineup after taking a ball to the nose (per Las Vegas announcer Russ Langer), and had been planning to miss a few more days. Eric Campbell followed with a single, so there was a good chance they could’ve tied the game right then. In the bottom of the frame, Lugo was removed with one out and runners on 2B and 3B, and both of those runners would be allowed to score. Torres walked the first two batters he faced before allowed a sac fly to Joey Gallo, and Vic Black walked a batter before finally finishing the frame by painting the outside corner with 98 MPH heat. Kevin Plawecki provided the only scoring for Las Vegas leading off the 7^th with a blast, which was his first AAA homerun of the year. Both Lugo and Cody Satterwhite would strikeout Joey Gallo during the game, and both got him to swing through 3 pitches in the AB.

            This series resumes Saturday night at 7:05 PM, with Matthew Bowman (7-15, 5.40 ERA) scheduled to pitch opposite Chi Chi Gonzalez (6-7, 3.96 ERA).

Scoring Highlights

            Darrell Ceciliani and Matt Reynolds combined for 3 doubles in the game. Ceciliani grabbed his hamstring and went face down between 2B and 3B trying to stretch his second double into a triple, and he would have to leave the game.

            Nomar Mazara led off the bottom of the 4^th with a long homerun to RF for Round Rock – he is an impressive 20-year old prospect.

            In the bottom of the 6^th, Seth Lugo would allow a pair of singles to Drew Stubbs and Mazara leading off the frame before striking out Ed Lucas for his final batter faced on the night. He probably didn’t need to come out at just 88 pitches, and the 51s relief could not bail him out. Alex Torres came in and walked to first two batters he faced before trading a run for an out on a sac fly.

Kevin Plawecki provided the only Las Vegas run with a solo blast leading off the 7^th.

            In the bottom of the 7^th, Mazara singled home Stubbs to increase the Express lead back to three runs.

Defensive Highlights

            Matt Reynolds made a great play in the hole for the final out of the 1^st inning.

           

Pitcher Coverage

Seth Lugo

Table 1 – Lugo pitch stats by inning – gameday glitch has 1 pitch counting as 2

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	Total
Total	15	13	22	13	11	13	87
Strikes	11	8	13	10	6	8	56
Swinging*	2	3	3	2	2	2	14

*16.1% Swinging strike rate

K1

K2

K3

K4

K5

K6

K7

K8

Cody Satterwhite

K1

K2

3 looks into the Cat's Eye nebula, final outburst of a dying star. http://t.co/hJekdHBRi2 and http://t.co/zJEbTA1aC5 pic.twitter.com/1wOEiq57rU

— Corey S. Powell (@coreyspowell) August 29, 2015

The Mets Internal Bullpen Options, Las Vegas 51s Righties

Reviewing the bullpen options for the Mets from the AA and AAA level – a look at the Las Vegas 51s pen today, and I’ll try to have the B-Mets post up by tomorrow.

            After many questions surrounding the pen coming into 2015, the Mets have had one of the top bullpens in the major leagues this year – Fangraphs has the Mets relievers at a 3.14 ERA after their series in Baltimore, which is 6^th in the majors – but they’ve been stumbling lately – they have a 4.34 ERA over the last 30 days, which is 20^th in the majors. Jenrry Mejia’s second suspension was an unexpected blow, and while Bobby Parnell’s struggles were a little more predictable – he struggled a lot in A+/AA before coming up, and he didn’t have his normal upper-90’s velocity – the Mets still ran him out there for 23 appearances (19.1 IP).

Fortunately, Logan Verrett has returned in place of Parnell, which is not something I would have imagined typing back in March (when Verrett wasn’t even on the Mets), but he was great during his first stint with the Mets this year, and he’s been strong in Las Vegas since. The Mets are getting further good news for the pitching staff down in AA, where Erik Goeddel has looked great during his 2 appearances (GIF’s from 8/16 here, details from 8/19 here), topping out at 94 MPH with his heater on Wednesday night. Also, down in Port St. Lucie Rafael Montero and Steven Matz are in various states of rehab, and at least Matz is expected to return this year.

            While Verrett and Goeddel should help boost the pen in the short term, the Mets will look to add reinforcements once the rosters expand in September, and may wish to look internally for a lefty option in the mean time if Eric O’Flaherty proves unreliable. I reviewed the seasons and stuff of the right-handed internal bullpen options from the Las Vegas 51s below, and I also give my opinion as to whether they would be a good fit for the Mets in September.

51s Bats Erupt Behind Lugo In His AAA Debut

Las Vegas 51s @ Salt Lake Bees

August 5, 2015

Seth Lugo @ Nate Smith

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Las Vegas	4	0	0	1	1	2	1	0	0		9	17	1
Salt Lake	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0		3	6	0

W: Lugo (1-0, 3.60 ERA); L: Smith (0-1, 10.80 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Seth Lugo  – 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 3 SO, 88 Pitches (58 Strikes), 5 GO: 7 FO

Cody Satterwhite (4.42 ERA) – 2 IP, 5 SO, HBP, 1 GO

Chase Huchingson (2.08 ERA) – 1 IP, H, 2 GO

John Church (4.82 ERA) – 1 IP, 2 GO: 1 FO

Batters

Dilson Herrera – 1-6, R, 2 SO

Wilfredo Tovar – 4-6, 2 R, 2B (13), 2 RBI (38)

Matt Reynolds – 3-6, R, RBI (52), SO

Zach Lutz – 2-4, 2 R, 2B (4), HR (1), 2 RBI (8), BB

Brandon Allen – 2-5, RBI (57), SO

Travis Taijeron – 1-5, R, 2 SO

Brooks Conrad – 1-4, R, 2 RBI (39), BB

Brandon Nimmo – 3-4, R, HR (1), RBI (2), BB

Recap

            The Las Vegas 51s brought out the big bats as they rolled into Salt Lake Wednesday night, taking a big lead early and never looking back. The lead surely helped Seth Lugo relax in his first AAA start, and he was in control over the first four innings against the Bees, allowing only an unearned run in the 1^st, but then lost control in the 5^th. Lugo was able to limit the damage done by Salt Lake in that 5^th inning to just 2 runs, and Las Vegas quickly got those runs back and more. Everybody got in on the offensive attack except Anthony Recker, with Zach Lutz picking up his first homerun of the season, and Brandon Nimmo adding his first AAA homerun an inning later. Cody Satterwhite was the first to replace Lugo, and he’d strikeout 5 of 7 batters faced over 2 innings before giving way to Chase Huchingson. Huch and John Church kept the Bees off the scoreboard for the final two frames to hold on for a 9-3 victory, the third straight for Las Vegas.

            This series continues Thursday night at 9:05 PM, with Tim Stauffer (1-0, 5.06 ERA) scheduled to pitch for Las Vegas.

Scoring Highlights