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Peter Gammons Betting Mets Draft Levi Michael
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This has all to do with Fred Wilpon’s comments about Jose Reyes and the Mets not having a long term solution to replace him. Levi Michael is a pretty sure bet to make it to the majors and should not take to long to get there. The one problem is he doesn’t have any outstanding tools and is pretty limited offensively.
I like Levi and ranked him 31st on my draft board, but I’m hoping the Mets don’t go in this direction, picking so early in the draft. He is no sure bet to stick at short as some think he is more of a 2nd baseman down the road which is a position he played as a freshman in college.
He showed some pop in previous years, but is one of those players whose power numbers have taken a big hit with the new bats. Season stats stand at .311 AVG, .461 OBP, 12 doubles, three triples, four home runs, 47 runs, and 46 RBI.
A polished player I like, but not at No. 13. Hopefully Gammons has this one wrong.
Previous First Round Reactions
Posted by: | CommentsA fanpost over at Minor League Ball about one fan’s reactions to the past Red Sox draft got me thinking about how I have felt about the Mets picks over the years and how good my feelings about them have been.
2007
Eddie Kunz – Thought this pick was just dumb. I hate drafting relievers in the first round unless they are supposed to be the next Mariano.
Not only was Kunz not the next Mo, he just sucks. If Allan Dykstra becomes anything at all it will ease the pain.Nathan Vineyard – Big, projectable left-hander who could already hit the low 90’s. There were not going to be any complaints from me.
Had some good K number and showed some potential, but retired at 19 so we will never know if I was right or not about him.
2008
Ike Davis – I wasn’t a huge supporter of this pick. I was still holding out hope Freddie Coupons would open up the wallet for once and pick Gerrit Cole.
I was dead wrong about this one.Reese Havens – I LOVED this pick. It was my favorite of the draft for the Mets.
He hasn’t stayed healthy, but when he has played he has been amazing. I don’t doubt he would be the Mets starting second baseman if it wasn’t for the injuries.Brad Holt – Thought this was a HUGE overdraft. Had a good fastball, but nothing else.
Early on he made me look stupid, but lately I’m thinking I was right for not liking it.
Brett Wallace and Ike Davis
2009
Steven Matz – I liked this pick a lot. Anytime you can grab the local kid, especially with how rare they are in NY I am all for it.
Too early to make a judgment because of the injury.
2010
Matt Harvey – Wanted Chris Sale or Yasmani Grandal so I wasn’t thrilled with the pick, but I thought it was okay and was pretty happy because of his upside.
You won’t hear my complaining about the pick at all now even though I still like those two a lot.
While almost all of these could still get an “incomplete” grade I think my record right now would be 4-1-2. The three right being Harvey, Havens (Assuming he gets healthy liking this pick will be good), Holt’s command looks like it is too big of an issue for him to make and impact, and Kunz sucks. Ike Davis was clearly a big miss by me. Just never saw this potential in his bat. No one could have seen Vineyard retiring like that and Matz hasn’t pitched so he gets an incomplete.
I am pretty happy with my initial gut feelings of the draft picks so far as long as Havens comes back healthy.
Hu & Iggy Gone, Beato & Tejada Up, Evans to Follow?
Posted by: | CommentsIn a merciful act the Mets announced, after the 2-1 loss to the Florida Marlins, that Chin-lung Hu and Ryota Igarashi were sent down to Triple-A Buffalo. To replace them on the roster shortstop/second baseman Ruben Tejada was called up and relief pitcher Pedro Beato was activated from the DL.
I do not think I have seen a batter be worse at the plate than Hu was, but the Mets players will surely tell you, “It took a lot for Hu to come in cold in that one game against the Nationals and deliver a sac fly with one at to put the Mets ahead, but not get the base hit to crack the game wide open.” This was one of the only times Hu made contact all year. The surest thing to an automatic out in the MLB.
Igarashi at least has good stuff, but his command was still atrocious and at his age he is unlikely to improve it all that much.
Getting into a 3-ball count, against the pitcher, hitting in late innings is a situation a Major League pitcher should never find himself in. Igarashi put himself in a situation where everyone in the ballpark knew he had to throw a fastball down the middle and he got burnt. You know what they say about playing with fire. At the very least he should have thrown that ball down the middle with 1 ball so the batter still had it in the back of his mind there was a chance Iggy threw a slider.
Should be the last we see of either of these players in a Mets’ uni.
Tejada should get significant time at 2nd base with Justin Turner getting most of the playing time at third base. Tejada was struggling at shortstop defensively, but his hitting looked much improved posting a .267/.337/.407 line. He is on pace to shatter his career high of five homeruns.
There were also some rumblings that David Wright will be placed on the DL Tuesday and Nick Evans called up. Evans has played third base in the past and can play first allowing Daniel Murphy to play third on occasion. The addition of Tejada and Evans creates a lot of versatility with the infield for Terry Collins to work with although this move is not 100% confirmed yet.
Evans has been heating up in May hitting .316/.391/.404 with a homer, double, 3 RBI, and a 7:8 K:BB in 15 games.
Familia Up to AA, Chris Young has Swelling
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(Scott Jontes/MiLB.com)
Today the Mets have announced 21-year-old right-handed pitching prospect Jeurys Familia has been promoted from Hi-A St. Lucie to Double-A Binghamton.
This year Familia has posted a line of:
(1-1, 1.49) – 36.1 IP, 21 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 1 HB, 8 BB, 36 K, 0.80 WHIP
Last year Familia spent all of last year in St. Lucie and struggled with his command going 6-9 with 5.58 ERA. Despite the overall bad numbers it was a tale of two seasons for Familia who has been lights out ever since last July. He took a bit off his fastball to get better command and the results have been huge. He dropped his BB/9 from 5.50 to 1.98 which is not just good, but well above-average, especially for a pitcher his age. He hasn’t even suffered in the strikeouts still K’ing a batter per inning.
Scouts have said he doesn’t even look like the same pitcher and that is in a good way.
Earlier today the Mets had to place Chris Young on the DL with tightness in his right shoulder. He had an MRI and it showed some swelling in theback of that shoulder which would explain the tightness. That is the same shoulder he injured in 2009 and this is already his 2nd stint on the DL this year. Sandy Alderson has already said Young won’t be back when the 15 days are up.
This is exactly why Young was considered a high risk/high reward player. When he has pitched he has been phenomenal and the best pitcher on the staff, but that has only been for a very limited number of games and who knows how long this one will keep him out for.
The Mets had to promote Pat Misch to fill the roster spot.
Well Dillon Gee here is your chance, don’t blow it.
Jenrry Mejia Has MCL Tear
Posted by: | CommentsThe Buffalo Bisons have announced that New York Mets top prospect Jenrry Mejia has an MCL tear in his right elbow.
According to the release Mets Medical Director Dr. David Altchek found a complete tear in the right elbow and has suggested that Mejia have surgery to repair it. The Mets are sending Mejia for a second opinion.
In five starts in 2011 Mejia was 1-2 with a 2.86 ERA in 28.1 innings. He only gave up 16 hits, but walked 14 while striking out 21.
Patients with a grade 1 tear of the MCL are likely to need 2-8 weeks of recovery while grade 3 patients (what Mejia is) will require surgery and “significantly” longer recovery time.
This is a major blow to an already pitching thin Mets. If there are any setbacks Mejia could wind up missing the whole season because surgery is all, but a guarantee at this point. Not only does this set back a top prospects development for a year, but it handcuffs the Mets for options of pitchers to call up. The Mets never seem to be able to catch a break.
If Mejia does have Tommy John surgery, he likely wouldn’t return to the mound for a year, costing him the rest of the 2011 season and part of the 2012 season. The surgery would probably push back his timetable to be able to pitch competitively in the big leagues until 2013.
- BA
D.J. Carrasco Optioned to Triple-A, Zach Lutz to the DL
Posted by: | CommentsThe Mets activated starting pitcher Chris Young today from the DL to make his start Tuesday night against the Nationals.
A spot needed to be made on the 25-man roster and in a bit of a shocking move the Mets optioned D.J. Carrasco to Triple-A Buffalo. Carrasco has been terrible in 2011 posting a 5.91 ERA and struggling with his control.
(Ezra Shaw/Getty Images North America)
In an off-season in which the Mets front office was reluctant to give anyone more than a one year deal they were willing to give Carrasco a two year deal.
Carraso will be stretched out in Buffalo in attempt to convert him into a starter, a role he prefers. Dillon Gee will be placed into the bullpen for the major league club. Gee has great control and should help fix some of the problems from earlier in the season.
In some minor league news Bisons’ third baseman Zach Lutz was placed on the DL with a right hamstring strain the same day Fernando Martinez was activated from the DL with the right hamstring strain.
How ironic is it that two most injured sluggers in the Mets’ pipeline swap spots on the DL with same injury on the same day. Stuff like this cannot be scripted.
Izzy and Igarashi to the Mets, Boyer and Duda Off
Posted by: | Comments[tweeted]http://twitter.com/AdamRubinESPN/status/57201422772604928[/tweeted]
Blaine Boyer has not been very effective in almost all of his appearances, including his save against the Marlins, pitching to an 0-2 tune with a 10.80. The last straw for Boyer was giving up all 4 runs in extra innings today against the Marlins. He will have to clear waivers before he can wind up in Buffalo.
With the Mets purchasing Jason Isringhausen’s contract and adding him to the roster it will be the first time he pitches in a Mets uni since being traded for Bill Taylor on July 31st, 1999.
While Lucas Duda struggled both at the plate and in the field, this move is more about getting more pitchers on the roster to eat some innings.
Ryota Igarashi has pitched well so far for the Bisons striking out 4 in 3.1 innings and earning the save today.
Sandy Alderson told reporters the reason they went with Igarashi over Manny Acosta is unless a player was placed on the disabled list before the game they would need to wait ten days before he was eligible to be added back onto the roster. He also said making the move to thirteen pitchers is temporary until Jason Bay returns when Igarashi will be sent back down to AAA.
I am not a big fan of the move to thirteen leaving the bench crippled. There are now just four three players on the bench Scott Hairston, Daniel Murphy, Chin-lung Hu, and Mike Nickeas. Terry Collins is now going to have a difficult time pinch hitting a righty in for Josh Thole should a lefty come to the mound because that move alone would wipe out half of his bench, unless of course Nickeas is the pinch hitter but he is essentially an automatic out.
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