Mets Announce Initial September Promotions - Thoughts, Alvarez/Goeddel/Guillorme gifs

Reviewing the first round of September promotions announced after the Mets game on August 31, 2014.

To the New York Mets:

LH RP Dario Alvarez

Savannah – 1.32 ERA, 20 G, 6 GS, 61.1 IP, 43 H, 2 HR, 95 SO: 14 BB

St. Lucie – 0.00 ERA, 4 G, 6.1 IP, H, 10 SO: 3 BB

Binghamton – 0.00 ERA, 5 G, 5.2 IP, 4 H, 9 SO: 0 BB

Totals: 1.10 ERA, 29 G, 6 GS, 73.1 IP, 48 H, 114 SO: 17 BB (40.1 K%: 6.0 BB%), .483 OPS allowed

            I’ve heard both positive and negative reports on Alvarez, but I’ve been impressed watching him a few times on MiLB.tv this season. He was overmatching hitters in the SAL with Savannah, and then continued to dominate against tougher competition in his small sample sizes with St. Lucie and Binghamton. Alvarez throws low 90’s heat, a mid-80’s change-up and a slider in the high 70’s, which is his best pitch in my opinion. If the slider is real, he can pair it with the good control on his fastball to be a very strong LOOGY. If the change-up works against righties, he’s more than that. He started some when injuries swept through the Savannah rotation, but I don’t expect him to be more than a reliever anytime soon. It appears that Dario was slated to be a minor league free agent, so this affords the Mets a chance to see if his stuff translates to the majors. It’s unclear how Terry will use him, but, if nothing else, he should get plenty of opportunities as a LOOGY. That said, he was strong against both lefties and righties this year: 37 K%: 6.6 BB%, .490 OPS vs. righties and 45.6 K%: 4.9 BB% .472 OPS vs. lefties.

From his 10-strikeout performance with Savannah on June 24, 2014

Rough First From Thor NOT too Much to Overcome for the 51s

New Orleans Zephyrs @ Las Vegas 51s

August 22, 2014

Andrew Heaney @ Noah Syndergaard

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11		R	H	E
New Orleans	5	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0		7	11	1
Las Vegas	0	0	2	1	3	0	1	0	0	0	1		8	14	2

Win: Reid (5-1, 4.70 ERA); Loss: Evans (5-8, 4.42 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Noah Syndergaard (4.85 ERA) – 6 IP, 8 H, 6 R (5 ER), BB, 8 SO, HBP, 102 Pitches (67 Strikes), 8 GO: 2 FO, (1-2, R, SO)

Zack Thornton (3.95 ERA) – 1.1 IP, R, BB, HBP, SO, 2 GO

Jack Leathersich (H, 1, 6.75 ERA) – 0.1 IP, SO, 1 IR – 0 S

Chase Bradford (BS, 2, 3.67 ERA) – 1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 SO, 2 GO, 1 IR – 1 R

Ryan Reid – 2 IP, H, BB, 3 GO

Batters

Cesar Puello – 1-5, 2 R, BB, 2 SO

Matt Reynolds – 4-4, 2 R, 2B (13), BB, SB (9)

Josh Satin – 1-4, R, 2 RBI (46), BB, SF

Kevin Plawecki – 1-3, 2 R, 3 BB, SO

Cory Vaughn – 1-3, 2 RBI (24)

Anthony Seratelli – 1-4, 2B (8), RBI (29), SO

Daniel Muno – 3-6, RBI (59), 2 SO

Recap:

            Noah Syndergaard bounced back after his worst 1^st inning of the year to keep the Las Vegas 51s in the game long enough to come back and win it against New Orleans Friday night. The 51s would slowly fight their way back into a 6-5 lead by the end of the 5^th, while Thor dialed it up to have a very impressive stretch of four innings. Unfortunately, after having been given a lead, Thor would allow the Zephyrs to tie the game back up in the top of the 6^th, although he worked out of what could have been a much worse inning for him. Zack Thornton came in and looked so sharp with the game tied the 7^th that Wally Backman had no reason to worry about sending him back out for the 8^th, now pitching with a lead. Thornton was not as effective in the 8^th, leaving with only one man retired and the 51s in a tough spot. Jack Leathersich would come in for the second out of the inning, a strikeout, but Wally Backman chose to bring in Chase Bradford for the final out. Bradford would get the third out of the inning, but not before allowing the tying run to score. Bradford and Reid would combine to keep the Zephyrs off the scoreboard the rest of the way, allowing for a walkoff win in the 11^th. Offensively, Matt Reynolds and Daniel Muno were huge for the 51s, combining for half of the teams hits.

Thor Pitch Coverage

Table 1 – Breaking down pitch count by type and inning

Count (Strikes) – Average Speed	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	Total
Fastball	17 (8) 96.3	7 (3) 97.4	7 (5) 97.7	6 (5) 96	7 (7) 97.4	12 (11) 97	56 (39) 97*
Change-up	4 (4) 85	3 (2) 86.7	0	0	2 (0) 86	0	9 (6)ª 85.9
Breaking Ball	2 (1)	4 (2) 80.5	2 (2) 80.5	4 (3) 78	8 (5) 80	9 (4) 80.9	29 (17) 80.4º
Unknown	3 (3)	0	0	5 (2)	0	0	8 (5)
Total	26 (16)	14 (7)	9 (7)	15 (10)	17 (12)	21 (15)	102 (67)

 *46/56 Fastballs; ª8/9 Change-ups; º26/29 Curveballs

Table 2 – Breaking down pitch results by type

	Strike % Total Call Sw Foul	BIP% LD GB FB PU	Results AB BABIP ISO K
Fastball	73.2 19.6 17.9 14.3	10 60 30 0	14 .600 .214 4
Change-up	66.7 22.2 11.1 11.1	100 0 0 0	2 1.00 1.00 0
Breaking Ball	65.5 10.3 27.6 6.90	0 100 0 0	8 .000 .000 4

*A popout, a lineout and two groundouts on unknown pitches

Syndergaard Strong, Satin and Vaughn Provide the Offense

Las Vegas 51s @ Iowa Cubs

August 12, 2014

Noah Syndergaard @ Felix Doubront

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Las Vegas	0	2	0	0	1	1	1	0	1		6	12	0
Iowa	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	2	0		5	10	0

W: Bradford (3-1, 3.62 ERA); L: Hatley (2-6, 4.43 ERA); Save: Germen (5)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Syndergaard (4.76 ERA) – 6.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 8 SO, 108 Pitches (68 Strikes), 4 GO: 6 FO

Miguel Socolovich (H, 11, 3.58 ERA) – 0.2 IP, SO, 1 FO, 1 IR – 0 S

Gonzalez Germen (0.59 ERA) – 1 IP, H, BB, 2 SO, 1 GO

Batters

Matt Reynolds – 1-2, R, 2 BB, SAC

Josh Satin – 3-5, 2B (22), 2 RBI (41), SO

Kevin Plawecki – 2-5, R, SO

Cory Vaughn – 2-5, 2 R, 3B (1), HR (4), 2 RBI (19), 2 SO

Recap:

            Noah Syndergaard continued his streak of effective pitching Tuesday night in Iowa, and the 51s held on for a late win in game one. Outside of a long 3^rd inning, Thor was working quickly and effectively all night, pitching until he was too close to his pitch limit to continue. Offensively, Josh Satin and Cory Vaughn carried the load with some huge performances. Vaughn got the scoring started when he tripled in Kevin Plawecki from 1B in the 2^nd, and Satin would provide the go-ahead RBI double in the 9^th to seal the deal. Miguel Socolovich came in to finish off a scoreless 7^th after Thor reached his pitch limit – Thor was allowed to come in and face two batters, walking the leadoff batter before striking out the last batter he’d face. Chase Bradford came in for the 8^th but could not hold onto the lead, taking his first blown save in 27 appearances since joining Las Vegas. Gonzalez Germen was able to hold onto the lead in the 9^th, although he had some trouble to deal with. Germen has been very effective and consistent since returning to Las Vegas.