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

Milner Edges Matz in Battle of Lefties

Binghamton Mets @ Reading Fightin Phils

August 17, 2014

Steven Matz @ Hoby Milner

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

Win: Milner (8-6, 4.25 ERA) Loss: Matz (5-4, 2.35 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Steven Matz – 7 IP, 6 H, R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 101 Pitches (58 Strikes), 7 GO: 5 FO

Hansel Robles (4.73 ERA) – 1 IP, H, 1 GO: 2 FO

Hoby Milner – 9 IP, 3 H, 5 SO, 99 Pitches (71 Strikes) 9 GO: 8 FO

Batters

T.J. Rivera – 1-3, SB (1)

Juan Centeno – 1-3

Kyle Johnson – 1-3, 2B (23)

Recap:

            Dueling southpaws stole the show Sunday afternoon in baseball town, Pa., and it was Reading starter Hoby Milner who came out on top, needing just 99 pitches to shutout the Binghamton Mets. Steven Matz overcame poor command to look very strong over 7 IP, but one run allowed was enough to earn him the loss on this day. Albert Cartwright, who went 3-3 against Matz Sunday, led off the 4^th with well-stroked double to CF. After Matz retired the next two batters, Jake Fox singled to RF to drive Cartwright in, although he’d be thrown out trying to advance to 2B after the run scored. And that was the game.

Flores and M∂D Stay Hot but a Wild Mazzoni Left the 51s in too Big of a Hole

Las Vegas 51s @ Tacoma Rainiers

July 23, 2014

Cory Mazzoni @ Andrew Carraway

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

W: Carraway (5-5, 5.74 ERA); L: Mazzoni (1-1, 6.75 ERA); Save: Smith (7)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Erik Goeddel (5.29 ERA) – 2.1 IP, BB, 2 SO, 4 GO: 1 FO

John Church (3.30 ERA) – 2 IP, H, 2 SO, 3 GO: 1 FO

Batters

Matt ∂en Dekker – 2-3, R, 2B (23), 2 BB, HBP

Wilmer Flores – 2-4, R, HR (13), 3 RBI (57), BB, SO

Allan Dykstra – 1-4, R, HR (13), RBI (60), BB, SO

Daniel Muno – 1-4, 2B (11), 2 SO, HBP

Juan Centeno – 2-3, 2 BB, SO

Cesar Puello – 0-3, R, BB, HBP, SB (10)

Recap:

            The Las Vegas 51s were not able to overcome a wild Cory Mazzoni Wednesday night, losing to the Rainiers for the third time this series with one game left to play. Mazzoni was wild from the start, walking leadoff hitter Abraham Almonte to start the bottom of the 1^st. He’d walk the leadoff hitter in the 3^rd and 4^th innings as well, allowing all three leadoff walks to come around and score. He looked good working a 1-2-3 2^nd inning, but was missing his spots and the strike zone the rest of the game. Offensively, Matt ∂en Dekker and Wilmer Flores continued their hot hitting, and the 51s had plenty of opportunities throughout the game, they just weren’t getting timely hits. Erik Goeddel and John Church came out of the pen and were great, shutting down the Rainiers offense over the last 4.1 innings.

T∂A and Vaughn Go Yard, but 51s Lose Late Painfully (with gifs!)

Las Vegas 51s @ Oklahoma City Red Hawks

June 13, 2014

Logan Verrett @ Brett Oberholtzer

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12		R	H	E
Las Vegas	1	0	0	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0		5	10	2
OKC	1	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	1		6	14	0

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Logan Verrett – 5 IP, 8 H, 4 R (2 ER), BB, 4 SO, HR, 95 pitches (59 strikes), 24 batters faced, 6 groundouts, 4 flyouts, WP

Chase Bradford – 2 IP, H, 2 SO, 6 batters faced, 3 groundouts

Buddy Carlyle (H, 6) – 0.2 IP, SO

Brett Oberholtzer – 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 9 SO, 2 HR, 98 pitches (66 strikes), 24 batters faced, 6 groundouts, 3 fly outs, WP

Kevin Chapman – 2.2 IP, BB (intentional), 4 SO, WP

Batters

Travis ∂’Arnaud – 2-6, R, HR (3), RBI (4), 2 SO

Allan Dykstra – 2-3, R, BB

Juan Centeno – 3-5, R, 2B (3), SB (2)

Enrique Hernandez – 2-6, 2 R, 3B (1), SO

Marc Krauss – 2-4, R, 2B (1), RBI (6), 2 BB, 2 SO

Max Stassi – 2-4, SO

L.J. Hoes – 2-5, 2B (3), BB, SO

Gregorio Petit – 3-6, R, 2B (13), HR (6), RBI (26), SO – ended game with a walk-off HR into the LF bullpen

Recap:

            Some poor defense in the 3^rd, three wild pitches in the 9^th, missed opportunities late, and a walk-off blast from Petit combined to end the Las Vegas 51s three game-winning streak. 51s highlights can be found below in gif form. I wanted to include the walk-off HR, but the archives cut out before the bottom of the 12^th. These recaps take some time, so I won’t always be able to put them together, but they are more fun than the standard written ones.

Astro's PbP, 51s Lose to El Paso 7-4

Las Vegas 51s @ El Paso Chihuahua’s

May 29, 2014

Joel Carreno @ Michael Nix

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E	LOB
Las Vegas	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0		4	13	1	8
El Paso	2	0	0	0	0	3	1	1	X		7	14	0	12

Win: Nix (2-0); Loss: Carreno (1-2); Save: Boyer (4)

MiLB.com boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Michael Nix – 6 IP, 7 H, ER, 2 BB, 5 SO, HR, 99 pitches, 62 strikes, 25 batters faced, 7 groundouts

Blaine Boyer – IP, SO, 2 groundouts

Batters

Omar Quintanilla – 3-5, R, 2 2B (4), SO, E

Josh Satin – 2-5, R, HR (2), 2 RBI (9), GIDP

Andrew Brown – 2-3, R, HR (11), RBI (27), 2 BB, SO

Juan Centeno – 2-4

Jake Goebbert – 2-3, 3B (2), RBI (34), BB

Adam Moore – 2-5, R, 2B (9), RBI (16), 2 SO

Cody Decker – 3-4, R, 2B (11), BB

Alex Castellanos – 2-4, R, 2B (9), RBI

Astro’s Play By Play

1^st inning

Top

1)   SS Omar Quintanilla pulled a sharp groundball through the 2B hole. S9/G34

2)   2B Josh Satin chopped one at the 2B to start a double play. 463/G4

3)   RF Andrew Brown launched a HR over the right-center field wall. HR/89D

4)   1B Allan Dykstra flared a single into shallow CF.

5)   3B Zach Lutz hit a medium roller to the backhand of the 3B. 53/G5

Totals: R, 3 H, HR, GIDP, LOBster

Bottom

1)   SS Jace Peterson hit a high chopper over the mound fielded by Satin near the bag, but Peterson was too fast and beat it out. S4/G4M

2)   2B Brooks Conrad lined a single into RF – Peterson to 3B. S9/L9S

3)   LF Travis Buck hit a sac fly out to deep right-center field – Peterson scored from 3B. SF8/F8D

4)   RF Jeff Francoeur skied out to LF. 7/F7

5)   1B Jake Goebbert hit a sharp line drive into the RF corner for an RBI triple. T9/L9L

6)   C Adam Moore struck out looking at a big hook. K/Lo

Totals: 2 R, 3 H, 3B, SF, LOBster