Daily Archives: October 27, 2007
In response to the highly-successful Arizona Fall League (AFL), Minor League Baseball brought back the eight-years defunct Hawaii Winter Baseball League (HWB).
MLB established it as an AFL of sorts for younger, less developed top prospects, along with an added wrinkle: the league also includes some of the top prospects and best young players in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
This year, the Mets sent seven prospects to play for the Waikiki Beach Boys, and while the results have been up and down, there are some very promising signs coming off the island for the Mets.
Last night, Nick Carr, a 20-year-old hard-throwing right hander that pitched for Brooklyn this season, made his first start in the HWB, tossing three scoreless innings. Add that to a scoreless relief outing, and he’s got a blank ERA, having allowed just one hit in six aggregate innings for a .059 BAA.
Offensively, Met infielders have been impressive. Emmanuel Garcia, a 21-year old Canadian-born second baseman, is hitting .348 with five doubles, two triples and eight stolen bases in 66 at bats. He’s scored 13 runs in 17 games, and has walked eight times compared to seven strikeouts. All this after hitting .256 in the extreme pitcher friendly Florida State League, albeit with 34 steals.
Hector Pellot, 20-year old Puerto Rican second baseman and 2005 fourth round pick, carries a .283 average in 60 at bats, with a homer and 7 RBI. He’s continuing to show slow but steady progress after hitting .274 with 19 doubles, 3 triples and 7 homers for low A Savannah, then going .304 with a homer in a very late season promotion to St. Lucie.
Lucas Duda, a six foot four, 225 pound 1B/OF taken out of USC this past June, is hitting .389 with four extra base hits and five RBI in 18 at bats. After showing limited power with USC, he hit .299 with 20 doubles, three triples and four homers for Brooklyn.
A bit old for the league at 22, Dan Murphy, third baseman who put up solid numbers for St. Lucie this spring, is at .271 in Hawaii. He’s hit six doubles and a homer, and has 13 RBI in 17 games. He hit .285 with 34 doubles, three triples and 11 homers in a full season in the Florida State League, driving in 78 runs, walking 42 times and only striking out on 61 occasions.
Not so hot are catcher Sean McCraw and righty reliever Brant Rustich.
McCraw, a 21-year old who split the year hitting .268 between Savannah and St. Lucie, is just 3-for-31 for Waikiki, striking out 12 times, though he’s drawn eight bases on balls.
The bases on balls have been the real problem for Rustich. Drafted in the second round out of UCLA in June, he lost his closers’ job for the Bruins due to wildness. He had pinpoint control in 23 innings between Kingsport and Brooklyn, walking just two while K’ing 22 with 97 miles per hour heat.
Unfortunately for Rustich, he’s lost the location of his fastball again, walking eight in 10.1 innings. Allowing fourteen hits hasn’t helped, and he’s got a 5.56 ERA for the Beach Boys, though he has a 3-0 record.
…carr and rustich are big, hard-throwing right handers, and both could make big leaps this season, especially carr…pellot’s progress is encouraging, as a lot of people were questioning the pick back in 2005…he’s still just 20, so things are looking up for him…
…garcia, of course, is having the best fall league season of all, and as a speedy middle infielder, could become a big part of the Mets’ system if he continues this success next season, when he’ll most likely start the year in Double-A Binghamton…
Tagged Minors |
According to the Associated Press, the Padres have put 2B Marcus Giles on waivers Friday.
…in other words, he will be a free agent in the next week or so…
…from what i recall, the Mets made zero effort in acquiring giles last off-season, after he was non-
tendered by the Braves…
The 29–year-old Giles is batting .249 in his last 1,000 at-bats, while hitting just 15 HR with 100 RBI. His batting average and on base percentage have declined every season since 2003.
…if giles is left out in the cold, and needs a team to try out with, i’d welcome him to Port St. Lucie…otherwise, i do not see him as any sort of solution on offense…also, he’s never been a great defensive player, which is what the team value’s most at second base…
In a post to Loge 13, Kingman explains why be feels Ron Swoboda’s historic catch in Game 4 of the 1969 World Series is among greatest catches in post-season history.
Kingman concludes…
“This and the Agee catch are two of the greatest postseason plays ever, not just because of the athleticism involved but because of what they meant for the game. Sorry Endy. Try again next year.”
…yes, endy, i hope you have the chance to try again next year, because it will mean things went pretty very well over the next 12 months…
