51s Offense Can’t Get Big Hit In Iowa

Las Vegas 51s @ Iowa Cubs

July 15, 2016

Sean Gilmartin @ Jake Buchanan

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

W: Buchanan (8-5, 4.61 ERA); L: Gilmartin (9-4, 4.84 ERA)

Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Sean Gilmartin (L, 9-4, 4.84 ERA) – 5 IP, 6 H, 6 R (6 ER), 1 2B, 1 3B, 9 TB, 3 BB, 3 K (2 K/Sw), 5 GB: 8 FB: 5 LD, 83 Pitches (55 Strikes), 8 Swinging, 14 Called, 9.6% SwStr, 19.5% Whiff/Swing, 16.6 Pitches/IP, 24 BF

Beck Wheeler (0.00 ERA) – 1 IP, 1 H, 1 2B, 2 TB, 2 K (0 K/Sw), 2 GB, 18 Pitches (11 Strikes), 2 Swinging, 4 Called, 11.1% SwStr, 28.6% Whiff/Swing, 18 Pitches/IP, 4 BF

Paul Sewald (4.04 ERA) – 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 TB, 3 K (2 K/Sw), 1 GB, 18 Pitches (16 Strikes), 5 Swinging, 4 Called, 27.8% SwStr, 41.7% Whiff/Swing, 18 Pitches/IP, 5 BF

Jim Henderson (0.00 ERA) – 1 IP, 1 BB, 2 K (2 K/Sw), 1 GB, 18 Pitches (11 Strikes), 4 Swinging, 2 Called, 22.2% SwStr, 44.4% Whiff/Swing, 18 Pitches/IP, 4 BF

Batters

3B - Matt Reynolds - 1-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 13.3% SwStr, 33.3% Whiff/Swing, 3.75 Pitches/PA

LF - Michael Conforto - 2-4, 2 2B, 1 K, 12.5% SwStr, 20% Whiff/Swing, 2 Pitches/PA

C - Johnny Monell - 1-4, 1 2B, 1 K, 17.6% SwStr, 33.3% Whiff/Swing, 4.25 Pitches/PA

1B - Kevin Plawecki - 1-4, 2.25 Pitches/PA

SS - Gavin Cecchini - 2-4, 1 R, 3.25 Pitches/PA

CF - Roger Bernadina - 2-4, 1 2B, 1 GIDP, 7.1% SwStr, 14.3% Whiff/Swing, 3.5 Pitches/PA

Recapish

            The Iowa Cubs beat Sean Gilmartin and the Las Vegas 51s Friday night to even the four game series between the two clubs at one game each.

            The 51s jumped ahead with a run in the 1^st thanks to a sac fly, but left Michael Conforto at third base in the frame. After being handed a 1-0 lead, Sean Gilmartin came out and walked the first two batters in the bottom of the 1^st inning, and both runners eventually came around to score for Iowa.

Tacoma Rains On Montero’s Friday

Las Vegas 51s @ Tacoma Rainiers

July 1, 2016

Rafael Montero @ Cody Martin

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

W: Martin (7-5, 3.93 ERA); L: Montero (4-5, 6.31 ERA)

Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Rafael Montero (L, 4-5, 6.31 ERA) – 5 IP, 9 H, 7 R (5 ER), 1 3B, 1 HR, 14 TB, 5 BB, 2 K (1 K/Sw), 2 GIDP, 9 GB: 5 FB: 6 LD, 102 Pitches (62 Strikes), 4 Swinging, 16 Called, 3.9% SwStr, 8.7% Whiff/Swing, 20.4 Pitches/IP, 28 BF

Beck Wheeler (0.00 ERA) – 1 IP, 1 H, 1 2B, 2 TB, 3 K (3 K/Sw), 1 FB, 13 Pitches (10 Strikes), 5 Swinging, 2 Called, 38.5% SwStr, 62.5% Whiff/Swing, 13 Pitches/IP, 4 BF

Jeff Walters (7.88 ERA) – 2 IP, 3 H, 2 R (2 ER), 3 TB, 2 BB, 2 K (2 K/Sw), 2 GIDP, 3 GB: 1 FB: 1 LD, 34 Pitches (17 Strikes), 3 Swinging, 6 Called, 8.8% SwStr, 27.3% Whiff/Swing, 17 Pitches/IP, 9 BF

Batters

SS - Gavin Cecchini - 2-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K, 12.5% SwStr, 50% Whiff/Swing, 4 Pitches/PA

LF - Michael Conforto - 1-4, 2 K, 16.7% SwStr, 37.5% Whiff/Swing, 4.5 Pitches/PA

C - Johnny Monell - 1-3, 1 BB, 3 Pitches/PA

RF - Travis Taijeron - 2-4, 2 2B, 1 K, 5.9% SwStr, 14.3% Whiff/Swing, 4.25 Pitches/PA

DH - Kevin Plawecki - 1-4, 1 K, 10% SwStr, 25% Whiff/Swing, 2.5 Pitches/PA

Recapish

            The Las Vegas 51s took a lopsided 9-1 loss to Tacoma Friday night, which evened the series up at one game apiece. Rafael Montero struggled for most of the start, and would be charged with 7 runs before leaving in the 6^th inning. Recently promoted Beck Wheeler made his PCL debut and struck out 3 in a row in dominating fashion. At the plate, they wasted several opportunities to get runs home, and even their one run scored came on a double play grounder with the bases loaded.

            Montero allowed the first three to reach in the 1^st inning and found himself down 2-0 before an out was recorded. He faced the minimum in the 2^nd and 4^th innings, but threw 20+ pitches in the 1^st, 3^rd and 5^th innings. He’ll show flashes of the top prospect he was, but this is not the same guy who made it to Triple-A as a 22-year old in 2013. If the 51s had more starters available to them, Montero would probably already be in the pen, which is looking like his best option right now.

Conforto And Plawecki Power 51s To Victory

Las Vegas 51s @ Tacoma Rainiers

June 30, 2016

Darin Gorski @ Jarrett Grube

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

W: Gorski (1-1, 3.75 ERA); L: Grube (0-1, 5.40 ERA)

Boxscore

Great promo idea!

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Darin Gorski (W, 1-1, 3.75 ERA) – 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R (1 ER), 2 2B, 6 TB, 1 BB, 4 K (2 K/Sw), 1 GIDP, 5 GB: 6 FB: 5 LD: 4 PU, 83 Pitches (54 Strikes), 6 Swinging, 16 Called, 7.2% SwStr, 15.8% Whiff/Swing, 11.9 Pitches/IP, 25 BF

Chase Bradford (4.03 ERA) – 1 IP, 3 K (3 K/Sw), 18 Pitches (12 Strikes), 5 Swinging, 2 Called, 27.8% SwStr, 50% Whiff/Swing, 18 Pitches/IP, 3 BF

Zack Thornton (6.69 ERA) – 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R (2 ER), 1 2B, 3 TB, 1 BB, 1 K (0 K/Sw), 3 GB: 1 FB, 22 Pitches (15 Strikes), 9 Called, 22 Pitches/IP, 6 BF

Batters

2B - Ty Kelly - 2-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 SB, 2.6 Pitches/PA

SS - Gavin Cecchini - 1-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 11.1% SwStr, 33.3% Whiff/Swing, 3.6 Pitches/PA

LF - Michael Conforto - 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 4 Pitches/PA

1B - Eric Campbell - 2-4, 1 R, 1 K, 1 CS, 3.5 Pitches/PA

DH - Johnny Monell - 2-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K, 22.7% SwStr, 50% Whiff/Swing, 5.5 Pitches/PA

C - Kevin Plawecki - 2-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 7.7% SwStr, 14.3% Whiff/Swing, 3.25 Pitches/PA

Recapish

            The Las Vegas 51s started their road trip on a high note Thursday night in Tacoma, taking the opener of their series with the Rainier 7-3 thanks to some big flies. Two 51s recently demoted from the Mets made the biggest impact, as both Michael Conforto and Kevin Plawecki went deep with men on base for Las Vegas. Starter Darin Gorski was much more effective in his second start with the team, cruising through most of his 7 innings.

Top 10 Mets Minors Stories of 2015

Looking back at the top moments and stories from the 2015 season in Mets minor league baseball

       Let's dig right into the list!

Reviewing Michael Conforto’s Time With The B-Mets

His spray chart with the B-Mets

With Michael Cuddyer heading to the DL, the Mets announced the promotion of top-prospect Michael Conforto Friday afternoon.

            As Michael Conforto makes his way to Queens for tonight’s game against the Mets – he doesn’t have far to travel, the B-Mets were in Trenton – Mets fans everywhere are getting excited for his arrival, but what should we expect from him? To answer that would require a crystal ball, and I seem to have misplaced mine, but that is the type of question often addressed in more than a dozen posts around the interwebs. Unless you just don’t follow the Mets minors at all, you’ve probably heard that this Conforto kid has a polished approach from the left side, some nice power potential, and won’t kill you defensively in LF. He’s been beating up on AA pitching from the moment he got there, only once going consecutive games without a hit, but it’s still a huge jump from AA to the majors. Instead of guessing how much he will or won’t hit in the majors based on a few months of minors action, below I review how his last two months in the minors have gone – it’s mostly been high’s for Conforto – with more minors game highlights than you’ll see anywhere else, and links to recaps from his time with the B-Mets.

Top Mets Prospects Keep Standing Out Against New Britain

Binghamton Mets @ New Britain Rock Cats

July 22, 2015

Michael Fulmer @ Ryan Carpenter

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

W: Fulmer (5-2, 2.03 ERA); L: Carpenter (5-11, 4.03 ERA)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Michael Fulmer – 5 IP, 6 H, BB, 9 SO, 82 Pitches (58 Strikes), 3 GO: 2 FO

Beck Wheeler (4.74 ERA) – 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, BB, SO, 1 GO: 1 FO

Akeel Morris (7.56 ERA) – 1 IP, 2 H, R, 2 SO, HR, 1 GO

Adam Kolarek (4.89 ERA) – 1 IP, 2 H, R, BB, HR, 2 GO

Josh Smoker (1.50 ERA) – 1 IP, SO, 1 GO: 1 FO

Batters

Gavin Cecchini – 4-5, R, 3B (3)

Michael Conforto – 2-4, RBI (26), BB

Brock Peterson – 1-5, SO

Josh Rodriguez – 2-4, 3 R, HR (15), 2 RBI (59), BB

Joe Benson – 1-4, R, HBP

Xorge Carrillo – 1-4, 2 R, HR (6), 2 RBI (28), HBP, GIDP

Jared King – 1-1, R, HR (3), 4 RBI (32)

Recap

            The B-Mets would jump out to a huge 9-0 lead behind Michael Fulmer and a Jared King grand slam in their rubber match Wednesday afternoon, and the Binghamton bullpen did enough to hold on, although they made things interesting. Fulmer has really been breaking out for the B-Mets over the past 6 weeks, and this is the third time during that stretch that he’s had the Rock Cats number. He’s up to 16 scoreless innings total against New Britain (21 K: 1 BB, 14 H) this year, and the Cats batters still can’t help but flail at his slider as it bails out of the zone. The B-Mets bullpen struggled for the first time in a long time, as the New Britain batters finally broke out some from the 6^th through 8^th innings. Then the B-Mets turned to Josh Smoker for the 9^th, and he’d put a halt to any late game momentum the Cats had built with a dominant inning – just see the slo-mo below.

            As good as Fulmer, his strikeout total and pitch count might’ve been lower had his defense been better behind him. There were 3 errors – two from Carrillo and one from Cecchini – and Fulmer also allowed 6 singles, so he was working in trouble throughout the start, but he never flinched or changed his approach. He got ahead early with his fastball, and then tried to get hitters to bite at a nasty, late-breaking slider. The Cats put runners on the corners with one out against Fulmer in the 3^rd, but he responded with a strikeout – the 6^th straight out via the K – and then induced a soft fly out to Conforto. They’d put runners on the corners with 0 outs in the 4^th inning, but Fulmer induced a soft line out to Mazzilli for the first out, and then struck out the next two batters.

            The B-Mets mentioned that they wanted to get their bullpen some work, so it’s possible that Fulmer was going to leave after 5 innings anyway, but the pinch-hitting opportunity that they removed for turned out to be critical in this game. Jared King would come up with the bases loaded and launch a grand slam to right center field for 4 critical runs. Akeel Moris and Adam Kolarek both allowed solo blasts, which happens, and if ever there was a game for them both to allow a homerun, this game was it. And again, Josh Smoker keeps looking better every time out, and has the stuff to be an impact lefty out of the Mets pen.

            The B-Mets head to Trenton for a 4-game series that starts Thursday night at 7:00 PM, with John Gant (4-4, 4.17 ERA) scheduled to pitch for Binghamton.

Scoring Highlights