Rising Stars Game

In the National League Rising Stars 7-6 win over the American League Stars Josh Thole had the game tying hit in the top of the ninth on an rbi single. Eddie Kunz had a blown save pitching .2 innings allowing 2 hits and a walk. Daniel Murphy also had a walk in his only plate appearance.

F-Mart Update:

Fernando Martinez has played solid baseball in the last week. After starting the season 2 for 9, Martinez has recorded 7 hits in 21 at-bats and has a 5 game hitting streak. More importantly, 3 of hits 7 hits have been doubles and Martinez has just 3 strikeouts which shows he is putting the ball in play and is not over matched.

Greg Veloz Struggles

Greg Veloz has continued to struggle over the last few weeks. Veloz, who at one point was hitting in the low/mid .300s, is now batting just .233 and .129 in his last 10 games. The 20 year old had a good year in A- Savannah batting .286 with 25 doubles and 28 steals in 111 games. He closed out the year playing 21 games in the hitter friendly A Florida State League but he only managed a .234 with a double and a steal.

As one of the top second base prospects for the Mets, Veloz is a raw athletic player with a ton of potential. He has good gap power which can be seen in his statistics for doubles and triples. Though Veloz needs to work on his strikeouts as he put up 113 combined St. Lucie/Savannah in 132 games. Scouts have also said that he is a little shaky on defense but he is only 20, and he is one of the Mets better second base prospects along with Reece Havens, Hector Pellot, and Emanuel Garcia. Though, at this point in time I would call him the top second base prospect. So now that Veloz is struggling, look to see how he bounces back and see how resilient the young kid is.

AFL Update:

Peo Saguaros won 8-1 today. Bobby Parnell had a solid start pitching 4 innings of 1 hit, no run ball. Tobi Stoner pitched a scoreless 8th inning while Eddie Kunz surrendered the only run of the game after walking 2 hitters and giving up a hit in the 9th. Shawn Bowman went 0-4 as the only Mets farmhand position player in the game.

On top of this Daniel Murphy, Josh Thole, and Eddie Kunz have been named to the Arizona Fall League's "Rising Stars Game" which will be Friday night in Surprise, Ariz.

Murphy and Thole playing well

In todays 11-18 Peo Saguaros loss Dan Murphy and Josh Thole both had multiple hit games. As the only two mets prospects to play in the game Murphy went 3 for 5 with a double, 2 runs, and 2 rbis. After an average start to the season Thole is 7 for his last 11 including 2 hits and a run in todays game and is now batting .421 without a strikeout.

Hawaii League Update:

Greg Veloz has just 2 hits in last 17 at bats shrinking his average to .259. Veloz has really struggled lately as is hitting just .156 in his last 10 games (32 at bats). Ruben Tejada apparently left Sundays game in the fourth inning. He is hitting .318. More information will be available on his status when known.

On the flip side pitchers Scott Shaw and Roy Merrit are continuing there success. Shaw has shown great stuff and good command in his 15.2 innings pitched. He has accounted 19 strikeouts and has prevented base runners from reaching base which can be seen in his very low whip of 0.38. Merrit has an era of 2.19 with 14 strikeouts in 12.1 innings.

In Josh Stinson's last start he gave up 5 runs in 2.1 innings. But other than that Stinson has pitched well as he only allowed 1 run in his other 3 starts. Junior Guerra has been average since giving up 5 runs in an inning on October 7th. He now has an era of 7.59.

Dominican Winter League

Argenis Reyes and Fernando Martinez began playing for the Leones del Escogido of the Dominican Winter League. The season started last week and Martinez is 2 for 9 while Reyes is 3 for 15.

Kunz Good and Bad

Eddie Kunz has been great thus far in the Arizona Fall League except for 1 game. In 5 of Eddie's 6 games he did not surrender a run. But on October 17 against the Mesa Solar Sox Kunz allowed 8 earned runs on 7 hits in .1 innings giving him an era of 216 for the game. After a good scoreless outing today Kunz has an era of 13.50.

I have seen this out of Kunz a lot in his short minor league career. He has pitched well very often but he usually will have an outing where he just doesn't have it while getting bombed. In order to be an effective relief pitcher, especially if he wants to be a setup man or closer in the majors, Kunz needs to learn how to pitch when he doesn't have his good stuff. So as Kunz continues to progress, keep an eye out to see if these occasional horrendous outing continue.

Saguaros Win Again

Last night Saguaros of the AFL won 8-2. In the win Bobby Parnell started the game. He struggled going only 1.1 innings allowing 2 runs on just 1 hit but surrendered 4 walks. He was then replaced by Jason Vargas who has an impressive game as he held Phoenix scoreless in 3.2 innings of no hit ball.

On the offensive side Murphy, Bowman, and Thole started. Murphy was 0-4 with a walk and a run lowering his average to .429. Bowman was 2 for 5 with a run and a strikeout which gives him a .400 average on the short season thus far. Thole had his best day yet as he was able to snag 2 hits in 4 at bats and pick up a rbi. He now is batting .250

Stoner Success

In last nights 3-2 win, Tobi Stoner picked up his league leading 2 win after a scoreless inning an lowered his era to 1.59 after 5.2 innings pitched. Eddie Kunz snagged his 2 save after pitching a scoreless inning to keep his era at 0 after 4 innings.

On the other hand the Sharks in the Hawaii Winter league had a bad loss yesterday due to poor performances by Mets farmhands. Josh Stinson gave up 5 runs in just 2.1 innings only for Junior Guerra to follow that up by surrendering a double and allowing the inherited runners to score. To top it off Ruben Tejada and Greg Veloz combined to go 0-5 with 2 strikeouts and a rbi.

Murph's Big Day

Daniel Murphy went 4-for-4 and drove in two runs as the undefeated Peoria Saguaros scored nine times in the eighth inning in an 11-6 win over the Surprise Rafters on Monday.

After the game Murphy said, "All you can do is try to have a quality at-bat, and fortunately right now I'm just missing the players on the field and finding some holes. I knew they ran a lefty out there, so we all tried not to do too much, just keep the line moving. We just want to have quality at-bats. I want to play well, give myself the best opportunity. I'm trying to get better on defense, I've taken some ground balls at second, went to the outfield a little. But mostly I'm hoping to stay as crisp as possible and play the game hard."

Kunz Blogging

Pitcher Eddie Kunz is blogging about his experience in the Arizona Fall League. To view the blog click.

"Last year I learned how to control my pitches and get my slider on track! Which worked and got me to start in AA this year and 2 weeks in the Big leagues in August. This year in the Fall Ball I am working on being more consistent with all my pitches and learning that the game is not in a hurry, I am a pitcher and I control the whole game."

Bowman AFL Player of the Week

Shawn Bowman was recognized as the Player of the Week for the first week of the AFL season. The 23-year-old, right-handed-hitting third baseman contributed a double and his second home run of the fall season to the 5-2 victory the Peoria Saguaros scored against the Peoria Javelinas on Monday. That production put Bowman at the top of the league's hitters in batting average (.545), slugging percentage (1.273) and home runs (two other players have hit two as well).

He also ranks ranks third in on-base percentage (.615) and extra-base hits (four). A native of New Westminster, British Columbia, Bowman was the Mets' 12th-round selection in the 2002 First-Year Player Draft. He was the 357th player selected.

Tejada Improving

After a poor season last year for A+ St. Lucie in the Florida State 19 year old shortstop Ruben Tejada is having a successful start to his season in the Hawaii Winter league. In 2007 Tejada hit .324 with 41 rbis, 45 runs, 16 stolen bases, 35 strikeouts, and 38 walks in 67 games between the Venezuelan summer league and the rookie gulf league. He was unable to continue that success in 2008 as he struggled throughout the year in the hitter friendly Florida state league. He only managed a .229 average with 37 rbis, 55 runs. He stuck out 77 times compared to 41 walks and was thrown out stealing 5 times out of 13 tries accumulating for only 8 stolen bases.

It looks like the 5 foot 11 kid is back on track as he is hitting .324 after 9 games and has 7 runs to go along with 8 rbis. Tejada does not have great tools. He does not have a lot of power and is more like a second baseman then a shortstop but after a great 2007 season he looked very polished and advanced for his age. This can be attributed to more walks then strikeouts and a high batting average to say the least. His defense is very good and even though he struggled in St Lucie he is said to have good plate discipline.

AFL 1 week

After the first week of the Arizona Fall League most of the Mets Prospects are performing very well. Shawn Bowman is hitting .545 with 2 homeruns and Daniel Murphy is batting .400 with 1 homerun. Vargas, Kunz, and Parnell all have an era of 0 while Stoner has a win and a 1.93 era after 4.2 innings pitched.

AFL Update:

In todays 9-2 Peo Saguaros win Shawn Bowman had a double, a homerun, and 4 rbis. Murphy went 0-4 but scored a run due to a walk. Finally, Kunz had another strong outing recording 2 more strikeouts in an inning

Hawaii Winter League update:

The Hawaii Winter League a few weeks ago and there are several players in the Mets minor league system on the Honolulu Sharks. Representing the Mets are pitchers Junior Guerra who has a 10.29 era after 7 innings pitched, Roy Merrit who is 0-1 with a 4.05 era after 6.2 innings pitched, Scott Shaw with a 1.35 era in 6.2 innings, and Josh Stinson who is 2-0 with a 0.87 era after 10.1 innings.

Position player wise the Sharks have young shortstop Ruben Tejada who is batting .308 after 6 games, catcher Jordan Abruzzo who has a .214 average after 14 at-bats, and second baseman Greg Veloz who is hitting .323 in 8 games.

Josh Thole

Catcher Josh Thole had a breakout year at the plate in A St. Lucie. Prior to the 2008 season, Thole never had the position all to himself. In 2007, Thole had to split time with Francisco Pena, and boy how he developing, or should I say not developing. Prior to the start of the 2008 season Thole did not have the starting job and was set to split time with Sean McCraw and Jason Jacobs. While McCraw and Jacobs struggled, Thole began to hit. As the all star break arrived Thole was hitting a mediocre but fine for a catcher average of .262. Then Thole really performed, he hit .333 after the break raising his average to .300 for the year and also ending with 25 doubles, 5 home runs, 56 rbis, 38 strikeouts, and 45 walks in 111 games. Anytime a player has more walks then strikeouts, you know he is putting together good at-bats.

The soon to be 22 year old was selected by the Mets in the 13th round of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft out of high school. Thole had a slow start to his career but has finished up the season strong and received FSL Mid and Post Season All-Star. The 6 foot 1, 190 pound righty hits lefty and will split time this season in Arizona. But with the Mets lack of depth in catchers in there farm system, Thole is at the top of the list and if he continues to improve he might see playing time in a year or two, especially if he continues to hit.

AFL Mets:

The Mets have 7 players representing them in the Arizona Fall League on the Peoria Saguaros. Representing the Mets are pitchers Tobi Stoner, Jason Vargas, Eddie Kunz, and Bobby Parnell, and Shawn bowman (infielder but primarily 3b), Daniel Murphy who will usually be playing 2b, and the solid hitting catcher Josh Thole.

Both Murphy and Bowman are in the opening day lineup and will be playing second and thirdbase while batting second and seventh in the lineup.

Mets Prospects will provide more information on the players representing the Mets in the AFL in the next couple of days.

Early Future

So how will the Mets Prospects affect the Mets next year? I honestly see Evans being traded and Murphy will continue to get a lot of playing time. Mike Carp could be used as a power hitting lefty off the bench but could just play in AAA and will not get significant time with the Mets if he is called up. I see Fernando Martinez playing a lot more of his games in the Minors this year and possibly making the move to the Mets later in the season if he plays well.

The Mets will also rely on young pitchers. Niese will probably be in the rotation and Parnell could be in either the pen or rotation. Dillon Gee or Dylan Owen could be called up at some point if they have success in AA next year. In 4 starts in AA Gee was 2-0 with a 1.33 era. Eddie Kunz could be used in the Mets bullpen but I believe he still needs a lot of work in the minors first. Eddie Camacho could be a sleeper for the bullpen as he posted good numbers in AA before struggling in 14 games for New Orleans. He has good stuff and is dominant against left handers 1.80 era but has shown he can get rattled pretty easily (7.5 era away games, runners on 8 era, behind in count 8.44 era).

Not Again!

The Mets season once again ended in a blink of the eye. Once again, on the final day of the season the Mets were unable to win just one game and get themselves into the playoffs. But we learned a lesson this year. We learned what we will need to make our club a championship club.

First the bullpen; the Mets need a total reconstruction of the bullpen. They need to trade Heilman, Schoenweis, and one other reliever whether it’s Ayala or Sanchez I don’t really care. Everyone knows Heilman has good stuff but he is a complete nutcase and can not get it done when it counts. Schoenweis is just a joke but give him a little credit because at least he cares, something you can’t say about a lot of other Mets.

The Mets starting pitching will be significantly different next season. The Mets will most likely not retain Oliver Perez and who really wants Pedro back after his inability down the stretch. That means the Mets will only have Maine, Pelfrey, and Santana. Most likely Niese will also be in the starting rotation but who knows. With that being said the Mets will need to get 1 solid starter if they want to have a deep rotation.

Time to talk about the Mets position players; the easiest decision this off season might be to trade Luis Castillo. Castillo batted a mere .245, .47 points under his career average. He cannot do anything at the plate in all honesty and he doesn’t have the same range he used to have on defense. I feel like Orlando Hudson would be the perfect player to put at second. He wants to play in New York and his personality is great and he can be a leader in the clubhouse. I also see an outfield change whether they bring in a free agent in left or trade church.