The Mets Internal Bullpen Options, The Binghamton Mets Bullpen

How many of these current B-Mets have a future in the Citi Field bullpen?

Reviewing the bullpen options for the Mets from the AA and AAA level – a look at the Binghamton Mets pen today, after I investigated the Las Vegas pen yesterday (lefties, righties).

            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 top internal bullpen options from the Binghamton Mets below, and I also give my opinion as to whether they would be a good fit for the Mets in September.

Great Start From Lugo Leads B-Mets Over New Britain

Binghamton Mets @ New Britain Rock Cats

July 20, 2015

Seth Lugo @ Shane Carle

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Binghamton	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0		3	5	1
New Britain	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0		2	6	0

W: Lugo (5-4, 3.45 ERA); L: Carle (9-6, 3.55 ERA); Save: Velasquez (14, 2.18 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Seth Lugo – 7 IP, 4 H, R, BB, 8 SO, HR, HBP, 82 Pitches (55 Strikes), 6 GO: 5 FO

Matt Koch (3.09 ERA) – 1 IP, 2 H, R (0 ER), 2 SO, 1 GO

Jon Velasquez – 1 IP, 2 SO, 1 GO

Batters

L.J. Mazzilli – 2-4, R, 2B (11)

Michael Conforto – 1-3, R, 2B (12), RBI (25), BB

Brock Peterson – 1-4, R, 2B (10), RBI (30)

Brandon Nimmo – 1-4, 2B (12), RBI (15)

Recap

            The B-Mets won their fourth straight Monday night in New Britain behind a great start from Seth Lugo, and a doubles outburst for 3 runs in the 4^th. Lugo had a great start, working efficiently through 7 innings as he collected 8 strikeouts, and getting filthier as the start went on. For most of the game, the B-Mets batters struggled to get anything going against Shane Carle, but 3 straight RBI doubles in the 4^th inning was all the offense this great B-Mets pitching needed.

            Lugo retired the first two batters in the 1^st inning in quick order, but then put the B-Mets behind 1-0 after he grooved a fastball to Pat Valaika. He’d allow only 3 singles the rest of the way, working ahead in the count most of the night, which led to a lot of early contact when he wasn’t striking batters out.

            Matt Koch took over in relief of Lugo for the 8^th inning, and the Cats would load the bases before he could record an out. After trading the first out for a run on a groundout to 1B, Koch retired the next two batters in strikeouts to end the frame with a 3-2 lead. Jon Velasquez would work a perfect 9^th inning, retiring the final two batters on strikeouts.

            The series continues Tuesday night at 7:05 PM, with Gabriel Ynoa (6-6, 3.87 ERA) scheduled to pitch for the B-Mets.

Scoring Highlights

B-Mets Pitching Getting It Done Lately

Michael Fulmer and Gabriel Ynoa have been leading the way for a revamped B-Mets pitching staff

The Binghamton Mets are 47-42 overall, but have a 19-12 record over their last 31 games played, and they have some great pitching to thank for their current run.

            Coming into the 2015 season, the Mets were considered to have a Top-5 farm system, with the Las Vegas 51s ranked the third most talented roster in the minor leagues by Baseball America, and much attention given to the overall pitching depth within the system. While there are interesting players throughout the system, the 51s and the PSL Mets appeared to have the most talented rosters coming out of spring training, although the B-Mets initial roster had some exciting names too. Still, the B-Mets were lacking Michael Fulmer, who was staying back in extended spring training to get to full health, and L.J. Mazzilli, who was suspended 50 games to start the season (for drugs of abuse, not PED’s), and we all knew Michael Conforto was not far off, so the B-Mets figured to finish the first half more talented than they started.

Lara and the B-Mets Pen 2-hits Akron in a 1-0 Nailbiter

Binghamton Mets @ Akron Rubber Ducks

April 10, 2015

Rainy Lara @ Cody Anderson

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Binghamton	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0		1	4	0
Akron	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	2	1

W: Lara (1-0, 0.00 ERA); L: Anderson (0-1, 1.42 ERA); Alvarez (S, 1, 0.00 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Rainy Lara – 6.2 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 SO, 77 Pitches (53 Strikes), 6 GO: 2 FO

Dario Alvarez (H, 1, 0.00 ERA) – 1.1 IP, HBP, SO, 1 FO, 1 IR – 0 S

Jon Velasquez – 1 IP, 2 GO

Batters

T.J. Rivera – 1-4

Jayce Boyd – 1-4, 2 SO

Aderlin Rodriguez – 1-4, GIDP

Eudy Pina – 1-3, SO

Recap:

            B-Mets pitchers Rainy Lara, Dario Alvarez and Jon Velasquez combined for the 22^nd 2-hitter in franchise history Friday night, and Binghamton came away with their first win of the season in a 1-0 pitcher’s duel. Starter Rainy Lara was cruising throughout, and faced only two over the minimum before he ran into his pitch limit with two outs in the 7^th. With about 8 pitches to spare, he probably could’ve finished the inning, but I have no problem with manager Pedro Lopez taking him out before things got worse. Of course, if this were June, Lara certainly would’ve stayed in there to try and finish the 7^th, if not start the 8^th (and maybe even the 9^th). The Mets bats couldn’t get much going against Akron starter Cody Anderson either, as they managed only a single through the first 5 innings. However, the Mets would break the scoreless tie in the 6^th thanks to their speed. B-Mets catcher Xorge Carrillo would get hit by a pitch to leadoff the inning, and then he stole 2B with Gavin Cecchini at the plate – the play resulted in a collision, but Carrillo would stay in the game. Cheech couldn’t advance him, but Pina would reach on a flare single to CF that moved Carrillo to 3B – it was just out of the reach of Akron’s SS. With two on and one out, Anderson got the grounder he was looking for, but Akron could only get one out as the lone run of the game crossed the plate. The B-Mets threatened big-time with one out in the 7^th, after Aderlin Rodriguez picked up his first AA hit to load the bases, but the next two batters would strike out swinging. Aside from a Dario Alvarez HBP, the pen kept it clean after Lara was removed, and Velasquez picked up his first save of season, which matches his total from 2014. Check out the gif highlights from this game below.
            The B-Mets turn to Luis Cessa to keep the strong pitching going Saturday afternoon at 2 PM. Cessa had one spot start with Bingo in 2014, which did not go well, but it was before he started breaking out with St. Lucie.

A Collection of Mets Relief Prospects gifs from 2014

Will any of these guys be warming up in the Mets pen soon?

This final collection from 2014 is the biggest, 95 total gifs of some of the top relief arms in the system: 2 of Chase Bradford, 6 of Erik Goeddel, 30 of Darin Gorski, 4 of Zack Thornton, 8 of Randy Fontanez, 8 of Chase Huchingson, 3 of Jack Leathersich, 5 of Hansel Robles, 6 of Cody Satterwhite, 2 of Jon Velasquez, 16 of Dario Alvarez, and 5 of Akeel Morris.

Chase Bradford

            Bradford started 2014 with Binghamton, but finished as one of the most reliable arms in the Las Vegas pen. He did not allow a walk in his final 22 IP during the regular season, and struck out 29.8% of batters faced during that time. He did allow 4 homeruns during that span, and 6 total with Las Vegas, after allowing only 1 homerun over his 52 innings with Binghamton across 2013-14.

6/13 – 2 IP, H, 2 SO, 3 GO

Castro swinging

Torreyes swinging

Astromets Top 83 Prospect Series: 46-55

            For this top prospect list series I tried to include as many players as possible, as I watched a lot of talented Mets prospects in 2014, and was following the progression of those I couldn’t watch. I do not include any Dominican Summer League players here, as I know next to nothing about those guys and they are so far away. I started by separating players into different groups and then essentially ranked those groups. Still, a lot of these players become interchangeable beyond the top 25 or so prospects. Also, there are a number of ’50+ future value’ players (per Fangraphs Kiley McDaniel), so the very top of the list is pretty interchangeable too. I don’t think I missed any obvious stateside prospects, but I apologize in advance for when I did, and I'll address them at the end.

Other entries from this series: 1-9 | 10-15 | 16-24 | 25-33 | 34-45 | 46-55 | 56-62 | 63-74 | 75-83

Peavey Too Much for the EL, Leads the BMets Over Trenton

Binghamton Mets @ Trenton Thunder

July 25, 2014

Greg Peavey @ Dan Camarena

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Binghamton	0	0	0	2	0	1	2	1	0		6	9	0
Trenton	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0		1	6	2

W: Peavey (8-1, 2.54 ERA); L: Camarena (0-4, 7.85 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Greg Peavey – 8 IP, 5 H, R, BB, 7 SO, 100 Pitches (68 Strikes), 6 GO: 5 FO

Jon Velasquez (3.15 ERA) – 1 IP, H, BB, 3 SO

Batters

Brandon Nimmo – 1-4, R, BB, SB (3), SO

Dilson Herrera – 0-5, 3 SO

Brian Burgamy – 2-5, R, 2B (22), 2 SO

T.J. Rivera – 2-4, R, RBI (10)

Jayce Boyd – 1-3, R, HR (5), RBI (38), BB, SO

Darrell Ceciliani – 2-3, R, 2 RBI, SF, 2 SB (12)

Recap:

            The BMets got back to their winning ways Friday night behind the hot arm of starter Greg Peavey. Peavey, who has struggled to adjust to AAA with the Las Vegas 51s, continued to prove too good for AA, needing only 100 pitches to get through 8 IP. Infielders Brian Burgamy and T.J. Rivera kept hitting, each providing a big hit in the key 4^th inning rally that would give the Mets a permanent lead. Jayce Boyd provided a solo blast to CF in the 6^th to put the Mets up 3-1, his fifth homerun of the season. On an odd play in the 7^th, the BMets scored two runs on a strikeout. With Nimmo on 2B and Ceciliani on 3B, Herrera chased a pitch in the dirt and then bolted for 1B. The ball bounced in front of the catcher O’Brien, who recovered it and checked on 3B before throwing to 1B for the out. As soon as O’Brien made the throw to 1B, Ceciliani broke for home, making it safely without a throw. There was no return throw home because the ball was dropped at 1B (trying to take it out of his glove), and Nimmo had bolted for 3B, which is where the throw ended up going. Nimmo was likely going to be safe at 3B anyway, but the throw sailed up the LF line, so Nimmo got up and bolted home. Peavey gave way to Jon Velasquez for the 9^th, and he struck out the side to finish the game.

Two Blasts for Ceciliani, One for Nimmo Leads the B-Mets over Erie Before the Break

Binghamton Mets @ Erie SeaWolves

July 14, 2014

Gabriel Ynoa @ Jeff Ferrell

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Binghamton	0	1	0	1	5	2	2	0	0		11	13	0
Erie	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1		4	12	0

W: Ynoa (2-0, 3.50 ERA); L: Ferrell (6-7, 5.61 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Ynoa – 5.2 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 5 SO, 107 Pitches (73 Strikes), 4 GO: 4 FO

Jon Velasquez (3.05 ERA) – 1 IP, 2 GO: 1 FO

Batters

Brandon Nimmo – 1-5, R, HR (4), 2 RBI, SO

Dilson Herrera – 1-4, R, 2B (7), RBI (20), BB

Travis Taijeron – 2-5, 2 R, RBI (46), 2 SO

Darrell Ceciliani – 25, 3 R, 2 HR (6), 4 RBI (39), SO

Jayce Boyd – 3-5, 2B (14), 2 RBI (34)

Kyle Johnson – 2-4, 2 R, BB, SO

Recap:

            The B-Mets went into the All-Star break with a big win over Erie, making them winners in 7 of their last 8 games. The recent surge leaves them 4.5 games out of first in the Eastern division of the Eastern League, and ten games ahead of the third place New Britain Rock Cats.