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MMN Recap: Alex Ramirez Hits First Home Run Of Season

By Daniel Muras

May 2, 2022 No comments

Alex Ramirez, Photo by Ed Delany of MMN

Alex Ramirez has impressed everyone early this season with his ability to pick up a hit or two in every game he plays, but his intriguing raw power had not manifested itself during April. That changed on the first day of May with a three-run blast that propelled the St. Lucie Mets to victory.

AAA: Rochester Red Wings (13-11) 8, Syracuse Mets (8-15) 3  Box Score

When the first two hitters in the lineup combine for seven hits in a game, the table is set for a big offensive day. Unfortunately, the other seven hitters in the lineup combined for just one hit among them, and the team as a whole went just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Young, who was drafted in the 15th round less than a year ago, has become a surprise story in the minors so far this year. Called up to Syracuse straight from Brooklyn, he has not only held his own but excelled.

It is unlikely that he will be able to maintain a .415 BABIP in the long term, but an even 9:9 K:BB ratio over 62 plate appearances shows that he is not being overwhelmed at all by the high-level competition. Vientos’ surprising struggles continued into May. While his 31.1% K% is a major part of the problem, he’s also just not hitting for much power, with his .143 ISO being well below his .300 mark from a year ago.

Montgomery had looked sharp through his first four starts of the season, not allowing more than two earned runs in any single appearance, but Sunday was clearly not his day. He only walked one batter (just his second walk of the season) but didn’t strike out any of the 18 batters he faced. The bullpen was solid in relief of Montgomery, but the game was already out of reach by that point.

AA: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (6-14) 6, Erie SeaWolves (12-9) 3  Box Score

Mauricio and Jeremy Vasquez – who went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI – led the Rumble Ponies to victory in Sunday’s game. Mauricio continues to impress during the first month of the season, especially in terms of his power: with two extra base hits in this game, he now has 11 total extra base hits in just 17 games. Álvarez and Baty got off to scorching hot starts and their overall numbers are still quite strong as a result, but they’ve both found themselves in a mini-slump over the last week or so. The former is hitless in his last three games, while the later has just four hits in his last 30 at bats. Baty made just his second start of the season in left field.

Fisher was flawless in his second start since being moved to the Rumble Ponies’ rotation. He needed just 32 pitches to make it through three perfect innings. After struggling in Syracuse, Cobb has performed much better with Binghamton, allowing just one run and recording a 7:1 K:BB ratio through 5.0 innings pitched. Montes de Oca continues to excel as the Rumble Ponies closer. His strikeout rate has increased to 15.58 K/9 early this year and his walk rate, while still high, has dropped from 7.15 to 5.19 BB/9.

A+: Bowling Green Hot Rods (14-7) 4, Brooklyn Cyclones (11-10) 0  Box Score

There is nothing good to speak of regarding this Cyclones offensive performance. The team had just three hits and, although two of them were doubles, they were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. They also struck out 14 times over the course of the game. As a whole, it was just an afternoon to forget.

Acosta continues to struggle in his return from Tommy John surgery. Through his first four starts back, this was actually the first time that he allowed fewer earned runs than innings pitched. Tavarez continues to be an intriguing but frustrating relief prospect. The hard-throwing righty is striking out two batters for every inning pitched so far this season, but he has also walked 10.8 batters per nine innings. Parsons has been nearly perfect so far this season; he has a 13:1 K:BB ratio over 8 1/3 scoreless innings.

Stanley Consuegra, Photo by Ed Delany of MMN

A: St. Lucie Mets (14-7) 9, Daytona Tortugas (9-12) 2  Box Score

The Mets started off May with a huge offensive performance, knocking in nine runs on 14 hits. Ramirez’s three-run homer to left field in the third and Newton’s fifth-inning two-run blast to center were the biggest at bats of the game for St. Lucie. After hitting five home runs last year, this was Ramirez’s first of the new season. Despite the lack of home runs in the early going, Ramirez has shown plenty of gap power with nine total extra base hits out of 25 total hits. He has also done a good job cutting down his strikeout rate from 31.1% to 19.5%. Newton continues to repair his prospect stock with a very strong start to the season: his .949 OPS leads the team and ranks sixth in the Florida State League this season.

After making just a one-inning start last week, Hamel was back to his normal workload on Sunday. He was uncharacteristically wild as he walked five batters in as many innings and threw just over half of his pitches (42 of 78) for strikes. Juarez allowed his first run of the season but has truly gotten off to a fantastic start this season. Always known as a big strikeout pitcher, he has taken his ability to miss bats to a new level as he has posted a career-high 14.34 K/9 this year.

Speaking of relievers dominating during  the first month of this season, the hard-throwing Hardy also has allowed just a single run this year. He has also struck out 17 batters in 8 1/3 innings pitched, good for an otherworldly 18.36 K/9.

 

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Written by Daniel Muras

I fell in love with the Mets during the 2006 playoff run and became obsessed with the Mets minor league system while looking for a brighter future during the 2009-2014 era. I hope to provide interesting analysis of the minors and am excited to have the opportunity to write for MMO and MMN.

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