; ;

MMN Recap: Simeon Woods Richardson Continues to Impress

By Joseph Hill

April 21, 2019 No comments

Photo by Ed Delany, MMN

After all four Mets minor league affiliates were rained out on Friday, all four continued action on Saturday by playing seven-inning doubleheaders.

Syracuse (8-7) 5, Pawtucket (7-7) 2 (F/7)  Box Score

After 11 games in St. Lucie, Frazier continued his rehab assignment with Syracuse, playing four innings at third and three innings at first. He hit a key RBI double in the third that tied the game at two. Hechavarria was the biggest offensive contributor, driving in three runs on three separate hits. Luis Guillorme got his first Triple-A action since his recent demotion, playing second base and going 0-3. DH Tim Tebow continued to struggle, with an 0-3 dropping his OPS to .409.

  • RHP Corey Oswalt (W, 2-0, 3.55 ERA): 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, BB, 6 K

Oswalt got his second start of the season, his first game action since he was sent back to Syracuse last Sunday. He was in control all game, throwing a “complete game” on 99 pitches (67 strikes). His only real scuffle came when he gave up a mini-rally with two outs in the third, but he settled in nicely after that to provide a much-needed quality start.

Syracuse (9-7) 3, Pawtucket (7-8) 2 (F/7)   Box Score

The Mets didn’t receive much offense in the second game of the doubleheader, but they got just enough to win. Gomez led off the bottom of the first with a double and eventually scored on a fielder’s choice hit by Adeiny Hechavarria. The only other offense came on solo homers by Taijeron and Espinosa. Taijeron has gotten off to a hot start in his return to the Mets organization as he blasted his fifth homer of the year.

The Mets had a bit of a funky defensive alignment in this one, with infielder Dilson Herrrera spending some time in left field, third baseman David Thompson at first, and shortstop Hechavarria at third. Guillorme played second again and picked up his first Triple-A hit of the season. After being used very sparingly by the big club, much like last year, he’s going to need to get back into a rhythm. Thompson, coming off an injury-plagued season and holding onto his prospect status by a few threads, has started this season slowly with a .574 OPS.

  • RHP Zach Lee (W, 1-0, 4.97 ERA): 5.1 IP, 4 H, R, 0 BB, 4 K
  • RHP Tyler Bashlor (0-1, 11.81 ERA): 1.1 IP, H, R, 0 BB, 3 K

Lee was lights out for five innings before a couple singles and a force out ended his shutout in the sixth. Overall it was a very nice outing for him after an awful first outing and mediocre second outing as a Syracuse Met. Bashlor, who has really struggled in the early going, shut the door in the sixth but allowed a run in the seventh after a hit by a pitch and a single. Nonetheless, he closed it out, recording his first save of the season. His overall numbers still look ugly, but it was a small step to getting his season back on track in the hopes of a potential promotion.

Binghamton (6-4) 6, Erie (7-5) 5 (F/7)   Box Score

The Rumble Ponies scored all six of their runs as part of a long rally in the sixth inning that sent ten men to the plate. Will Toffey drew two walks and has a .359 OBP despite a .138 average. Sam Haggerty, the second piece acquired in the Kevin Plawecki trade, recorded a hit and is off to a solid start with a .302 average and .840 OPS.

After giving up a homer to the first batter he faced, Gibbons settled down through the first three innings. Trouble arose in the fourth when he started getting a little wild, and a fielding error by right fielder Kevin Kaczmarski, one of two errors he made in the game, certainly did not help matters. Gibbons did make it through five decent innings though, despite needing 91 pitches to get through it. Nogosek was all over the place and could not record three outs, but Uceta did a nice job of settling things down and recording his second save of the season. He has six strikeouts and just one walk through five innings this season.

Binghamton (7-4) 6, Erie (7-6) 5 (F/7)   Box Score

  • Andres Gimenez SS: 3-4, .279/.326/.465
  • Will Toffey 3B: 1-1, 3 BB, .167/.419/.367
  • Dario Pizzano RF: 2-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, K, .216/.302/.324

Gimenez is really starting to heat up after a slow start the season, as he lined three singles to extend his hitting streak to five games. His overall line looks solid now even with the slow start, and the power stroke has been there too with five extra-base hits in ten games. He also stole his first two bases of the season, although he also committed his second error of the season.

Toffey got on base four times and has had a really interesting start to the season. He hasn’t hit much but he’s walked a ton, with only five hits compared to 13 walks. He’s exemplified the plate discipline skills that he’s known for, and once a few more hits start dropping in his line is going to start looking very impressive very quickly. Even as is, he’s still maintaining a .785 OPS. Pizzano was the most important offensive contributor in the win, hitting a solo homer in the sixth and a go-ahead two-run double in the seventh. Binghamton scored five of their runs in the final two innings, four of which were in the final inning as they came from behind to complete the doubleheader sweep.

Palm Beach (12-4) 6, St. Lucie (8-8) 0 (F/7)   Box Score

The St. Lucie offense could barely muster up anything against Palm Beach in this one, with just six singles as a team. Meyer, who is known for his defensive prowess and strong arm behind the plate, got two of those hits and is off to a very nice start offensively despite not being known for his bat. After a solid debut in Brooklyn last year, Cortes is off to a really rough start in his first taste of full-season ball, but hopefully his hit is a sign that he will break out of it soon.

Lindsay, who started off cold before heating up, has gone ice cold again with 16 strikeouts in his last 22 at-bats. To make matters worse, he exited the game in the fourth inning with what was reported to be a nasty leg injury after an inside-the-park home run. Lindsay has always had talent but has had his career hampered by injuries, so hopefully this is nothing too serious and he can get back on track as soon as possible.

  • RHP Luc Rennie (W, 2-1, 2.93 ERA): 4.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 BB, K
  • RHP Conner O’Neil (1-0, 3.12 ERA): 1.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, BB, K

Rennie was not quite as sharp as his previous two starts, but has still been a nice little surprise as he went most of 2015, all of 2016, and all of 2017 without pitching in affiliated ball. He posted a 4.07 ERA with 60 strikeouts in 55.1 innings in ten games for Columbia last year. The right-hander is still just 24 years old. O’Neil is off to a decent start off after a nice season in Columbia last year, but has walked three over his past two outings.

St. Lucie (9-8) 5, Palm Beach (12-5) 1 (F/7)   Box Score

St. Lucie got most of their production from the middle of the order in this one, with Brodey and Vasquez continuing their strong starts to the season. Carpio is off to a slow start but recorded two hits to get his average off the interstate. A low OBP hitter over the past few seasons, he has drawn four walks already this year as he looks to improve in that department.

Ryley Gilliam, Photo by Ed Delany of MMN

  • LHP Kevin Smith (W, 1-2, 3.93 ERA): 5.1 IP, 5 H, R, 0 BB, 4 K
  • RHP Ryley Gilliam (0-0, 0.00 ERA): 1.2 IP, H, 0 R, BB, 2 K

The left-handed Smith bounced back from an outing in which he gave up 11 hits in 4.1 innings with his best outing of the season so far, and his first in which he completed five or more innings. He dominated Brooklyn last year with a 0.76 ERA in 12 games, only three of which were starts. As expected, he is off to a much more modest start after making the jump to St. Lucie, but his improvement in this start was good to see.

Gilliam continued to flat-out dominate while recording his second save of the season. In ten innings, he has not allowed a run while striking out 14 and only walking one. Batters are hitting just .118 off him and he has a WHIP of 0.50. After being drafted out of Clemson, he dominated Brooklyn last year and has been just as good in St. Lucie. A promotion to Binghamton should be in his very near future.

Hickory (11-4) 3, Columbia (7-8) 2 (F/8)   Box Score

The highly-regarded Mauricio, who only recently turned 18, has hit well in the early going of his full-season debut, even if it hasn’t come with much power yet. He is still a very advanced hitter for his age. The talented Vientos recorded a double and a walk, but is still yet to really get going so far this season after a strong 60 games for Kingsport last year.

Down 2-1 in the seventh, the Fireflies fought back as center fielder Anthony Dirocie singled home former NFL player Bradley Marquez to tie the game. However, even with a runner starting at second base in the bottom of the eighth, they still couldn’t bring him home and their comeback attempt was for naught.

Woods Richardson pitched great in his fourth start of the season, and he now owns a 1.54 ERA with 15 strikeouts and no walks in 11.1 innings. Still, the Mets are taking it slowly with the 18-year-old in his first full season of professional baseball. Taveras, also making his full-season debut, is off to a nice start as well but pitched a shaky 3.1 innings of work yesterday. He has a career 2.51 ERA in 190.1 minor league innings, but he hasn’t pitched in full-season ball until now at age 21.

Hickory (12-4) 5, Columbia (7-9) 4 (F/7)   Box Score

  • Ronny Mauricio SS: 0-4, 3 K, .323/.373/.387
  • Mark Vientos 3B: 1-3, 2 K, .229/.328/.333
  • Anthony Dirocie RF: 2-3, HR, 3 RBI, K, .268/.367/.463

Mauricio slowed down a bit with a rough day at the plate, striking out three times in four at-bats, while Vientos recorded another hit but is still yet to really take off. The Fireflies didn’t get much offense until a three-run homer by Dirocie in the bottom of the seventh, but it was too little, too late by then.

Nunez allowed just one hit in five innings while striking out eight. Unfortunately, that hit was a three-run homer. Despite the mediocre ERA, Nunez has been impressive this season, with 25 strikeouts and only three walks in 16.1 innings. Opposing batters are hitting just .186 off of him as well.

The Mets seem to be using Viall, who worked a perfect inning, as strictly a reliever this year after a rough year as a starter in Columbia last year. So far batters are hitting .200 off of him in six appearances. However, he has still walked four in 6.2 innings, which has always been his main problem. Zabaleta allowed his first two runs of the season, but he has still been pitching very well out of the bullpen for the Fireflies.

 

 

 

 

Share the post "MMN Recap: Simeon Woods Richardson Continues to Impress"

  • Facebook
  • X

Written by JHill

Back to Top ↑