Up Along First

Watch Wheeler, Flores In Tonight’s MLB Futures Game

Zack Wheeler and Wilmer Flores will both take part in tonight’s MLB Futures game in Kansas City. Both will be making their second trip to the game. Wheeler was selected for the USA team in 2010 with the Giants organization and Flores was selected at just 17 years old in the 2009 game.

Wheeler, 22, is 8-4 on the season with Double-A Binghamton to go along with a 2.62 ERA in 92.2 innings pitched. He likely won’t pitch in the game, as he last pitched on Thursday, tossing 7.1 innings.

Flores, just 20 years old, is having a breakout season in the minors. Flores hit .289 with ten homers and 42 RBI in 64 Florida State League games before getting the call to go to Binghamton. Since being called up, Flores is hitting .390 in 59 at-bats.

You can watch the game on ESPN2 or on MLB.tv. First pitch is at 5 p.m.

Original Article

Mid-Season Minors Review Part Two: St. Lucie Mets

[caption id=”” align=”aligncenter” width=”584”] FIRST HALF CHAMPS![/caption]

We are just a little more than halfway through the year for the Mets’ full-season minor league affilliates, so now would be a good time to take a look at how the season has gone so far for each team. We reviewed the Sang Gnats’ first half, so now it’s time to look at the St. Lucie Mets.

The St. Lucie Mets have been the Florida State League’s best team so far in 2012. Their 49-19 record in the first half was by far the best in the league as they won the South division by 14 games.

The Mets’ first half roster was extraordinarily deep. They experienced a huge roster turnover recently, one that could stop them from winning the FSL title, but their first half was remarkable. There wasn’t much to complain about with this team.

Top performers (Stats are as of 6/30):

• Wilmer Flores- 64 G, .289/.336/.463, 10 HR, 42 RBI, 18 BB
• Wilfredo Tovar- 65 G, .284/.377/.385, 12 SB, 1 HR, 25 RBI
• Cory Mazzoni- 12 starts, 5-1, 3.25 ERA, 48 SO, 1.26 WHIP
• Hamilton Bennett- 25 relief appearances,  7-1, 3.28 ERA, 33 SO, 35.2 IP

The positives-

• Wilmer Flores, who is now playing for Double-A Binghamton, was fantastic in his time with St. Lucie. He was the driving force of the St. Lucie offense, driving in a ton of runs in his third year with the team. Flores finally moved up earlier this month to play with Binghamton, one step closer to Queens.
• Ranked 29th in Toby Hyde’s pre-season prospect rankings and 24th by Amazin’ Avenue, Wilfredo Tovar has surprised everybody with his stellar play with Single-A St. Lucie. Tovar, 21, had a stellar .377 on-base percentage with St. Lucie and is now quickly rising up prospect rankings. He is now playing with Binghamton.
• Cory Vaughn doesn’t have a great batting average this year, hitting just .219 on the season, but he has shown great power with St. Lucie. Vaughn had a down year last year because of injuries but earned himself FSL Mid-Season prospect honors this season. Vaughn has a team-leading 14 home runs which is also currently second in the Florida State League. Vaughn will look to raise his batting average and earn a call up to Double-A in the second half of the year.

The negatives-

• Yohan Almonte has really struggled with the Mets this season. Despite going 6-3, Almote has a 5.77 ERA. He has allowed 81 runs in 64 innings, including a whopping 11 in his last start.
• Not much else…

Original Article

Morning News: Subway Series Begins, Mets FO To Be Patient, Futures Game

Here are today’s top three Mets stories, as well as news and notes from around Major League Baseball.

The Mets begin a three-game series with the crosstown Yankees at Citi Field tonight at 7:10. Andy Pettitte will go up against Jonathon Niese in what will certainly be the beginning of a very exciting series.

The Nationals won last night, so the Mets are now 3.5 games back.

Buster Olney reported via Twitter yesterday that the “ Mets, like a lot of teams, are going to wait a few more weeks before digging into trade market stuff. Waiting for more info to develop.”

The rosters for the 2012 Futures Game were released yesterday. The two Mets chosen to play in the game were Zack Wheeler and Wilmer Flores.

Wheeler and Flroes have both had breakout seasons this year. Both were already considered top prospects, but are now rising even higher on top prospect lists each week. Wheeler, 22, has been stellar for Binghamton, going 6-3 with a 1.88 ERA and 73 strikeouts. Flores, 20, recently earned the call to Binghamton. He was hitting .289 with ten homers and 42 RBI in 64 games down in Port St. Lucie.

The game will take place Sunday, July 8 at 5:00 p.m. and will be on ESPN2 and MLB.TV.

In other baseball news- Rays pitcher Joel Peralta was suspended by Major League Baseball yesterday for having pine tar on his glove in Tuesday night’s game against the Nationals. Peralta is appealing the suspension and will continue to pitch.

Troy Tulowitzki had successful groin surgery in Philadelphia yesterday. He is expected to be out 6-8 weeks.

David Ortiz told reporters yesterday that he’s fed up with the way the Red Sox clubhouse is being portrayed by the Media. The 36 year-old DH is having a monster season so far, hitting .310 with 18 homers and 49 RBI on the season.

Original Article

Morning News: Mets Sweep O’s, Injury News, Minor League Moves

Every morning, we’ll give you the top three stories from Mets-land, as well news and notes from around Major League Baseball. 

The Mets finished off their sweep of the Orioles last night by a score of 4-3. Dillon Gee got the start and tossed 7.1 innings, allowing two runs on three hits. He also struck out nine and walked two.

David Wright had a big day at the plate, going 3-4 with an RBI and a run scored. He raised his batting average to .358. Scott Hairston was the only other Met to have multiple hits. He had two doubles and an RBI.

By the way, Frank Francisco almost blew it, allowing a run in the ninth. Thankfully, he made it out alive and so did the Mets.

With the win, the Mets are still three games behind the Nationals, who beat the Rays last night.

There was plenty of injury news yesterday. Here are the “highlights”:

• Lucas Duda sat yesterday with a tight hamstring.
• Ruben Tejada moveed up to Triple-A Buffalo and will continue his rehab there.
• Ramon Ramirez made his second rehab appearance with the St. Lucie Mets yesterday. He threw a scoreless inning. Ramirez will also move up to Buffalo.

The Mets made a flurry of minor league moves yesterday. St. Lucie third baseman Wilmer Flores was part of a four-player group who were promoted to Double-A Binghamton yesterday. Wilfredo Tovar, Francisco Pena, and pitcher Cory Mazzoni also got the call to Bingo.

Flores, who was recently named MVP of last Saturday’s 51st annual Florida State League All-Star game, is hitting .289 on the season with 10 home runs and 42 RBI.

To replace these four players on the roster, the Mets moved up Travis Taijeron, T.J. Rivera, Rafael Montero, and Jeff Walters from Savannah to Port St. Lucie.

Expect the Mets to also move players up from Brooklyn to Savannah later today.

In other baseball news- It’s official. Brandon Beachy will need Tommy John surgery. The right-hander saw Dr. James Andrews this week to get a second opinion. Beachy was 5-5 this season with a 2.00 ERA in 13 starts.

Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki will have groin surgery today, and will be out indefinitely. Tulowitzki hurt his groin on May 30, and had to pull himself from a rehab stint last week because of discomfort. He is hitting .278 this season with eight home runs and 27 RBI.

Roy Oswalt will make his debut for the Rangers on Friday against the Colorado Rockies. Oswalt, who hasn’t pitched this season, signed a one-year deal with the Rangers this spring.

Original Article