Around the Minors (Week 5) ~ May 3rd – 9th

BUFFALO BISONS
(Triple A, International League)

RECORD:  Overall – (17-13) 3rd place in Northern Div. — Week 4 – (2-4)

BATTING RANK:  4th out of 14 teams (.275 Team BA)

PITCHING RANK:   9th out of 14 teams (4.33 Team ERA)

After an impressive five-win week 4, Buffalo felt it's short lived grip of first place slowly release in Week 5.  It started with an absolute drubbing at home against Aroldis Chapman and the Louisville Bats (20-7 loss).  Buffalo was able to salvage a series tie with a 5-4 win the following night.  Elmer Dessens picked up the win after blowing the save in the 9th on another stellar effort from RA Dickey (8 innings, 2 ER, 7 Ks).  The Bisons then hit the road for a four game series in Indianapolis against the Indians.  Buffalo pitched poorly in the first two games giving up 9 then 8 runs respectively in two losses.  Tobi Stoner started the third game and was victorious for the first time this season (1-4).  Tobi had his best outing of the season going 6 innings and allowing 1 run on 4 hits with 8 strikeouts.  Yesterday's finale proved to be too much for the Bisons as they fell in a 5-4 loss despite a 3-4 3 RBI day from catcher Josh Thole. 

Normally I don't like jumping on a player for having a rough week, but the #'s that Kiko Calero put up this week are astoundingly horrendous.  For a pitcher who was once thought of as a possibility as a regular bullpen piece for the Mets, his #'s this week are tough to ignore.  In his two appearances this week, spanning 1.2 innings, Calero gave up 13 ERs on 13 hits raising his ERA almost 7 points.  Whether he is still feeling the effects of his off-season surgery, I have no idea, but I have a hunch he won't be smelling Queens anytime soon if he keeps that up.  Not all was bad in Buffy though as the team still only sits 1 game out of first place trailing the Syracuse Chiefs and Scranton/Wilkesbarre Yankees.  Mike Hessman's International League domination continues as he currently leads the league in HR (9), RBI (33) and SLUG % (.633).   Chris Carter has safely recorded a hit in each of the Bison's 6 games this week and is currently amidst a 10 game hitting streak which he will put on the line tonight in Louisville.

MVP of the Week: As mentioned just prior, Chris Carter and his 10 game hitting streak get MVP honors this week.  Over the streak, Carter has seen his BA raise almost a half a point to .339 which is good enough for 6th in the league.  During the streak he's gotten 17 hits in 40 at bats (.425), including 4 homeruns and 10 RBIs.  I really, really hope we see him in Queens soon.

Pitcher of the Week:  To be honest, nobody really deserves to be pitcher of the week.  Even Tobi Stoner who pitcher very well in his first win of the year on Saturday, got shallacked on Monday night.  What the heck, I'll give it to RA Dickey again.

Week in Preview:  Buffalo begins the conclusion of their 8 game road trip tonight, with the first of 4 in Louisville against the Bats.  They return home on Friday night to start a four game series against the most recent Triple A Mets affiliate, the New Orleans Zephyrs.

BINGHAMTON METS:
(Double A, Eastern League)

RECORD:  Overall – (18-12) Tied 2nd in Eastern Div — (Week 4) -  (4-3)

BATTING RANK:  1st out of 12 teams (.273 Team BA)

PITCHING RANK:  Tied 8th out of 12 teams (4.58 Team ERA)

The B-Mets put together another strong week going 4-3 and were able to pick up a game on the first place FisherCats of New Hampshire, now only 1 game behind.  Binghamton started an excruciating stretch of games beginning on  April 30th, with 17 of 23 on the road.  They began the week in Erie, New York and split a four game series with the Seawolves, winning the first two before dropping the final pair.  Eddie Kunz was very effective in a no-decision win on Monday, going 6 innings allowing only 1 run while striking out seven.  Perhaps most impressive was the zero walks he allowed, which have plagued him early on this season.  The B-Mets returned home from Erie for a 3 game set against first place New Hampshire and after losing the first game of the series, took the final two to move within one game of first place.  Eddie Kunz was the beneficiary of a 13 run onslaught on Saturday even though he did not pitch very well, but Dillon Owen was a different story in Sunday's game.  Owen allowed 1 run on 3 hits in 6 innings and picked up the much needed rubber game victory for Bingy.

The offensive barrage continues for the B-Mets as they now lead the Eastern League with 189 runs scored in 31 games.  That's just over 6 runs per game, something the New York big league club, could desperately use.  They lead in almost all of the major offensive categories including Doubles (73) and Homeruns (36).  They've been nothing short of ruthless against opposing pitchers and hope that their rotation continues to show improvement as they have done over the past few weeks.  The B-Mets currently have 8 players on their roster batting over .286, with a minimum of 45 at bats.  4 of the 8 are over .300 (Marshall Hubbard, Carlos Guzman, Nick Evans and Kirk Nieuwenhuis).  Catcher Mike Nikeas had a fantastic week, including 3 separate 3 hit games. One of the three, he hit for 3 doubles.  Nikeas will now be sharing time with former Met, Omir Santos behind the plate in Binghamton.  Omir was re-assigned earlier in the week from Buffalo

MVP of the Week:  I'm going with a split decision for this week's MVP as both Captain Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Lucas Duda contributed great efforts this week.  Duda is hitting at a .360 clip on the week including 4 doubles, 1 HR and 6 RBIs.  Nieuwenhuis is batting .300 for the week with 2 doubles, 1 triple, 2 HR and 6 RBIs.

Pitcher of the Week:  For the second week in a row, the pitcher of the week was Mike Antonini.  In his best start of the year on Friday night, albeit a loss blown by the pen, Mike pitched 7 strong innings allowing only 2 runs on 2 hits.  Mike's ERA has dropped down to 3.91 and he now leads the team in innings pitched with 34.0.

Week in Preview:  After the short 3 games homestand this weekend, Binghamton hits the road for 7 games starting first with a 3 game set in Portland, Maine before finishing the trip against the Trenton Thunder in New Jersey.

ST. LUCIE METS:
(High A,  Florida State League)

RECORD:  Overall – (12-17) Tied 4th in the FSL South Div — (Week 4) – (3-3)

BATTING RANK:   Tied 7th out of 12 teams (.258)

PITCHING RANK:  12th out of 12 teams (4.84)

With a .500 week, St. Lucie actually had their most successful week of the season so far and was able to pull themselves from the dredges and into a tie for 4th place in the division.  The pitching has yet to get fully on track as they still rank last in the league with a 4.84 ERA, however this week there were signs of  improvement.  Starting pitcher Chris Schwinden produced the first win of the week going 6 solid innings, allowing 4 hits and 0 walks while striking out five batters against Charlotte.  This was only the 2nd win in 6 games so far against the StoneCrabs this year.  After dropping the series, the Lucie Mets hit the road for three games in Ft. Myers against the Cardinals.    After dropping the first game of the series, Scott Moviel and Kyle Allen threw together back to back wins each giving up 2 ER in 6.1 innings a piece.  The bullpen continued to pitch well, getting 3 appearances and 3 innings of 1 hit ball from Emary Frederick, who now has a 0.71 ERA in 12.2 innings of work.

Since Reese Haven's return to the lineup on the 30th of April, the Mets offense has gotten that spark back that they've desperately needed.  Havens is now batting .279 on the year including 2 HRs and 6 RBIs.  He has recorded multiple hits in 4 of his last 6 games and is batting .417 against lefties.  2B Josh Satin continues to play well and is currently on a 6 game hitting streak in which he has scored 6 runs.  He has seen his average rise up to .317 on the year.  The real star of the week that propelled the Mets was firstbaseman, Eric Campell, who was promptly named Florida State League Player of the week.  Campbell hit a blistering .565 in 23 at bats this week, including 5 extra base hits.  Amazingly he only recorded 1 RBI on the week as the guys in front of him were not able to get on base.  He did however manage to score 7 runs, which led to the offense's resurgence. 

MVP of the Week:  Florida State League Player of the week!  I think that's enough right there to earn Eric Campbell the honors.  Eric is now 5th in the league with a .340 batting average.  His week provided a span of 5 consecutive games with at least 2 hits including one 4 hit game against the Cardinals.

Pitcher of the Week:  Closer Manny Alvarez makes his 3rd appearance of the year as pitcher of the week.  He continued his dominating season with 6 innings of 2 hit ball over 4 appearances.  He has yet to allow a run in an amazing 21.1 innings.  Even more impressive, are his 20 strikeouts and only 3 walks.  One thing is for certain, when the Mets are able to bring a lead late into the game, Alvarez will be there to close the door.

Week in Preview:  The Mets start a strange week of 3 two-set games.  On Monday they begin the first of a 2 game home/away series with Brevard County before returning home Wednesday.  The Jupiter Hammerheads follow in Brevard on Friday to conclude the week for two more.

SAVANNAH SAND GNATS: 
(Low A, South Atlantic League)

RECORD:  Overall – (19-12) 1st in the South SAL div. — (Week 4) – (3-4)

BATTING RANK:  7th out of 14 teams (.247 Team BA)

PITCHING RANK:   1st out of 14 teams (2.73 Team ERA)

Savannah's 3-4 record for the week might not look pretty on paper, but considering they spent the entire week on the road against two of the top teams in the North Division, you have to give them a lot of credit.  Despite the four losses, they were able to maintain a 1 game lead in the division over Augusta.  The Sand Gnats had a chance to make the week a victorious one, but were on the losing side of an incredible 15 inning 12-11 loss on Sunday night.  The overall pitching of the Gnats continues to be it's strongest attribute.  As a team, the staff leads the league in ERA at 2.73 as well as saves with 14.  They've given up the second fewest homeruns in the league with 13 and have 294 strikeouts, second only to the Crawdads of Hickory.  They are led by starting pitchers Mark Cohoon and James Fuller, who are each tied for first place in the league with 4 wins a piece (each earning a victory this week as well).  Youngster Armando Rodriguez continues to take strides as he has only allowed 5 runs (1 earned) over his last 3 starts spanning 15.1 innings.

The offense is consistently inconsistent, but is somehow able to win either way.  Perfect example of this was their back to back victories in Delmarva winning 12-4 the first night and squeaking out a 1-0 12 inning affair the next.  Does it matter how they do it?  No, what matters is the W and they've found ways to make that happen.  In three of the games this week, the Gnats were only able to put 1 run on the board, however in complete contrast, they were able to score at least 11 runs in 3 of the other games.  Juan Lagares had a 5 hit/ 4 RBI night on Sunday and Alonzo Harris chipped in with 4 hits as well in the 12-11 loss on Sunday.  Center fielder, Pedro Zapata contributed with his own 4 hit, 3 RBI night as well the night prior in Lakewood. 

MVP of the Week:  Wilmer Flores, once again is the Player of the week.  Flores batted .294 for the week with 2 homeruns and 5 RBIs.  Wilmer is now batting .333 on the year which is good for 5th in the league.  His .574 slugging percentage is second best.

Pitcher of the Week:  4 game winner, Mark Cohoon gets the nod this week for his 9 inning performance on Wednesday night.  Although Mark did not factor in the decision (an eventual 12 inning 1-0 victory), he only allowed 4 hits and struck out 7.  As mentioned earlier he is tied for the league lead with 4 wins and is now 5th in the league with a 1.62 ERA.

Week in Preview:  Savannah will finish up their daunting road trip on Monday with the finale in Lakewood.  They return home for a 4 game set against the Rome Braves before heading right back out onto the road against second place Augusta.

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HOJO

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