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Mets Minors Recap: Gagnon’s Hitting Better Than His Strong Start

By Matt Mancuso

July 17, 2019 No comments

Photo by James Farrance Photography

Syracuse (47-48) 5, Indianapolis (47-47) 2 Box

The 29-year-old veteran continued his hot hitting with Syracuse this season with three more hits. He’s been one of the best hitters in the minor-league since joining the Mets organization, becoming so feared that other teams’ social media accounts are begging the Mets to promote him to the Majors. The only other player who tallied multiple hits was Tuesday’s starting pitcher, Drew Gagnon. Even though they collected one other hit all game outside the Gagnon-Tejada duo, they still managed to find a way to win.

Syracuse took a quick 1-0 lead after a Rajai Davis triple and a Danny Esponisa ground-out. In the fifth, with the score even, Tejada singled in two. He drove in two insurance runs two innings later with an RBI double.

Gagnon’s been extremely consistent since returning to Syracuse in late June allowing two runs every single start. Last night, he scattered five runs and two hits over six innings. Among starters with 40 IP on the year, his 2.28 ERA ranks first in the International League. Bashlor seems to have turned a corner; he’s given up only one run over his last ten appearances.

Binghamton’s game against the Phils was suspended in the fourth inning. The Rumble Ponies were trailing 4-0. The game will be made up today as a seven-inning game.

West Virginia (50-46) 11, Columbia (37-55) 6 Box

Columbia wasn’t able to touch West Virginia’s starting pitcher Ryne Inman for the first four innings. They threatened against the Power’s bullpen, but it was a case of too little, too late. Newton clobbered a three-run homer for his fifth homer of the season. He’s been on fire lately; with his early-season slump, it’s possible that he was rushed back from injury.

Seven out of the ninth Mets tallied hits. The 2-3-4 trio of Avant, Lagrange and Chambers combined for seven hits, three runs and three RBIs.

  • Tylor Megill (L, 3-2, 2.61 ERA): 0.2 IP,  2 H, 4 R, 4 ER, K, 3 BB
  • Jake Simon (0-0, 4.37 ERA): 2.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 K, 2 BB
  • Danny Hrbek (1-0, 3.29 ERA): 3 IP, H, R, 1 ER, 4 K
  • Nelson Leon (0-0, 4.37 ERA): 2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 K

Megill had an uncharacteristically poor outing in his third start of the season. That can probably be attributed to how he was utilized. As a reliever, he’s pitched to a shiny 1.21 ERA compared to a 6.23 ERA pitching out of the rotation. Megill struggled with his command in his 0.2 IP; only 26 out of his 44 pitches were strikes and he walked more opponents than outs recorded. He also threw a wild pitch.

Charlotte (56-36) 2, St.Lucie (50-44) 1 Box

Quite the pitching matchup in this game. Szapucki was opposed by Tampa Bay’s 2018 first-rounder Shane McClanahan. McClanahan pitched like the ace that many predict he could develop into, shutting down St.Lucie’s lineup for 6.2 innings. He’s pitched to an incredible 0.50 ERA (not a typo) in six starts for Stone Crabs so far. He started the game off slow, giving up a Cortes RBI single in the first inning but, he quickly settled in rather quickly.

Facing a lineup anchored by baseball’s top prospect Wander Franco can be quite the daunting task, but Szapucki did just fine against it. Still working back from Tommy John Surgery, he pitched a season-high 4.2 innings. He also recorded his season-best in strikeouts, striking out seven Stone Crabs. His velocity, while not up to pre-surgery levels, sat in the low-to-mid-90s. Ramos has allowed two runs in 25.1 innings since being promoted to St.Lucie.

Kingsport Mets (14-13) 11, Greenville (11-16) 2 Box

Kingsport exploded for seven runs in the later innings. Baty kicked the scoring off early, driving in Cole Kleszcz to tie up in the game in the first inning. Kleszcz’s 13 RBIs ranks second among Mets draftees from 2019. Three innings later, a double from Gregory Guerrero and a two-run shot from Espino gave the Mets gave a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. It was Espino’s first homer of the season and first RBIs since June 23rd.

The Mets used a five-run eighth to put the game away. After Scott Ota hit a two-run double, the Mets loaded the bases with no outs. A Baty walk and two consecutive forceouts allowed the Mets to extend the lead.

Santos had an abbreviated outing that was effective, nevertheless. Despite lasting only 3.2 innings, he limited Greeneville to a single run. The towering 6’8″ 17-year-old is a guy to keep an eye on throughout the season. Escorcha has very quietly pitched to a 1.64 ERA with a 2.9 BB/9 since his debut in 2017.

GCL Mets(11-7) 16, GCL Astros (8-11) 7 Box

The Mets offense feasted off the Astros’ pitching, tallying 16 runs on 17 hits and eight walks. Seven out of the nine starting players recorded hits. In his second game with the rookie-level affiliate, Beracierta contributed four hits and three RBIs.  Peroza’s intriguing hot streak continued as the 19-year-old contributed a couple of extra-base hits in route to a blowout Mets victory. Rather shockingly, he leads all Mets farmhands in ISO and slugging percentage, albeit in just over 50 at-bats.

Lugo’s two-hit game was only the second of his career. Despite struggling out the game, the Mets can afford to be patient with the 17-year-old Lugo, who signed as an international free agent for $475k last year.

Ventura has found the transition from the Dominican Summer League quite challenging. In his four appearances since his promotion, he’s only had one scoreless outing. He’s combined to give up nine earned runs in only 8.1 innings in his other outings. Senger earned his first career win after hurling 1.1 scoreless frames.

DSL Mets 1 (19-15) 4, DSL Phillies 1 (23-11) 0 Box 

18-year-old Federico Polanco is a player to keep an eye on. His .333 average ranks first among all Mets minor leaguers.

Despite not recording a strikeout, Rincones blanked the Phillies by inducing nine groundball outs.

DSL Rangers 2 (19-19) 10, DSL Mets 2 (17-21) 3 Box

C Kevin Torres: 2-4, RBI |  .217/.328/.292

The Mets had plenty of opportunities to come back, but left 24 runners on base with 12 of them being in scoring position. Yesterday marked the ninth time in ten games that Cesar Berbasi drew a walk, a remarkable achievement for the 19-year-old

LHP Brandon Sanchez(L, 1-3, 4.50 ERA): 3 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, BB, K

The Mets pitching struggled as every pitcher allowed at least one run. Melvin Arteaga was the main culprit, allowing four runs in 1.2 innings of relief.

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Written by MMancuso

I'm a recent alum of TCNJ, where I graduated with degrees in business and technology. At MMO, I write data-driven player breakdowns, as well as, cover the Mets minor-league system. Follow me on at https://twitter.com/MattyCuso.

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