The more I watch Binghamton’s Rumble Ponies the more this scrappy group reminds me of the 1969 Mets. The similarities are sometimes uncanny.
This weekend in Friday and Saturday games, the Ponies squeaked by the Hartford Yard Goats in back-to-back pitching duels, both 1-0 victories.
Corey Oswalt, the Eastern League’s Pitcher of the Year, and Ricky Knapp, a gutsy newcomer in the Rumble Pony rotation, did the early heavy lifting with six different Pony relief pitchers working perfectly to nail now the victories. Those 1-0 wins took me back to Pittsburgh in a critical road series in 1969. Remember that? Jerry Koosman and Don Cardwell combined in back-to-back victories over a Pirate team featuring the likes of Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente. In and odd twist, Koosman and Cardwell knocked in the winning runs with base hits in both games of that Pittsburgh doubleheader.
Pitching and defense defined those 1969 Mets. With a starting rotations of Seaver, Koosman, Gentry, Cardwell and McAndrew, Met pitching limited the offense outputs of their opponents. It was a different era of baseball at that time. That Met staff would amass 51 complete games that year. The role of the bullpen was minimized with starting pitchers who started and completed nearly one-third of the games on the schedule.
Although the game has changed with the bullpen growing in stature in the modern game, pitching is a huge part of Binghamton’s success. Oswalt, the ace of the Binghamton staff, has the best earned run average, 2.28, in the Eastern League. Oswalt has been nearly unhittable over the last ten games, going 7-1 with a 1.18 ERA. The Ponies are getting quality starts from Ricky Knapp, Mickey Jannis, Casey Delgado and Marcos Molina.
The pitching staff as a whole had an 3.20 ERA, the second lowest in franchise history.
And, the Rumble Ponies got stellar work from their bullpen. Tim Peterson has been brilliant in relief with a 5-3 record and a 1.16 ERA. Newcomer Tyler Bashlor has not allowed a run in 13.2 innings of work out of the pen since he recently joined the Ponies. Bashlor’s WHIP is an incredible 0.66. Left-hander Ben Griset is 4-1 with a 2.39 ERA, 1.12 in his last 10 outings. Drew Smith obtained in the Lucas Duda trade is 3-2 with a 1.80 ERA, 0.87 in his last 10 outings. Smith struck out 7 consecutive batters on one recent game. Corey Burns has been hot going 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA in his last 10 appearances. And, P.J. Conlon has looked good out of the pen with a 1.39 ERA since his move from the starting rotation.
Mickey Jannis, a knuckleball throwing pitcher on the Rumble Pony staff, told me in a Tip-Off interview that he was always taught that great baseball teams are strong defensively up the middle. Think of those 69′ Mets. Jerry Grote, tough and grizzled behind the plate, Buddy Harrelson fast and slick at shortstop, and Tommie Agee gliding through the outfield in centerfield.
The Rumble Ponies set a franchise record for fewest errors in a season with only 68, previous record was 100.
Binghamton, too, plays terrific defense. Jannis heaped praise on Binghamton battery mate Tomas Nido, calling Nido perhaps the best defensive catcher in all of minor league baseball. Jannis said no one frames a pitch better than Nido and the catcher’s knowledge of the game and ability to call pitches reduces the stress that comes with pitching professionally.
In the middle of the diamond, Gustavo Nunez and Luis Guillorme make a dazzling defensive tandem. With Amed Rosario a fixture at shortstop at Citi Field, the two have recently been switching roles at short and second. A centerfield platoon with Champ Stuart and Patrick Biondi sharing duties as the quarterback in the outfield has been remarkably productive for Binghamton.
Neither the 69′ Mets or the Rumble Ponies have tore it up at the plate but both teams are masters of close outcomes. The Mets won 70 games by three or fewer runs in 69 going 41-23 in one run decisions. 53 of Binghamton’s 84 wins have been by margins of 3 runs or less. The Rumble Ponies are 30-18 in one run outcomes.
The Mets did have Cleon Jones as an offensive anchor. Jones batted .340 in 1969 and Art Shamsky hit .300. Only two recent call-ups from Class A Port St. Lucie, Peter Alonso and Patrick Mazeika have batting averages over .300 for Binghamton. Binghamton does have a cluster of consistent contact hitters with Kevin Taylor the leader of the pack at .288. Luis Guillorme follows closely behind at .284 with Kevin Kaczmarski hitting .270, Gustavo Nunez .267, David Thompson .262 and L.J. Mazzilli .256.
And, everyone drives in runs for Binghamton. Six Rumble Ponies have 42 RBIs or more with David Thompson the King of the Hill in that category with 68.
Neither the 69′ Mets or the Rumble Ponies displayed much power at the plate. Binghamton was last in the league in home run production and slugging percentage and second to last in doubles or triples. But Binghamton lead the Eastern League in base-on-balls and were close to the top in on-base-percentage. The championship Mets of yesterday did not have big power numbers either but got the job done.
The 69′ Mets created a blueprint that brought them a World Series championship. With the Eastern League playoff set to begin in Binghamton this Wednesday, time will tell if a similar plan will result in dividends for the first edition of Binghamton Rumble Ponies.
Excited for the Easten League playoffs (I mean, really, what else for a Mets fan to root for right now?) It’s great to see Alonso adjusting so well to the level, which does add that power bat the Ponies have been missing. I’m also a big Guillorme fan. That glove, combined with the OBA and lack of K’s makes me think that he’s got a shot to be a valuable contributor in Queens. The spring training bat catch (totally bad ass) makes me believe he’ll handle himself just fine in The Show.
I wonder how their lineup will look like with Mazeika in it. Still haven’t seen the full strength lineup with him in it
I just wish there was as much to be excited about in the rest of them system.
Not sure what advantage you’d get. Who would Mazeika replace? Alonso at DH? Not sure that strengthens the lineup. And replacing Nido at catcher, or putting Mazeika at DH and Alonso at 1st weakens the defense.
He’s only been there two weeks and he started out well. So he hasn’t adjusted to anything yet. While its not the standard, its also not uncommon for a player to start out well at a new level. The adjustments come after the league has figured him out and shut him down. We (hopefully) won’t see that until next season.