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MMN Recap: Junior Tilien Sets St. Lucie Record With Three Homers

By Daniel Muras

May 30, 2022 No comments

Junior Tilien, Photo by Ed Delany

AAA: Rochester Red Wings (31-17) 7, Syracuse Mets (15-31) 3  Box Score

The Mets’ offense had limited success against former Met pitcher Logan Verrett. They flashed some power with home runs by Rodriguez and Nick Dini but otherwise were held largely in check. Lee has a long way to go before his slash line becomes respectable, but he has looked much better since returning from a brief stint in St. Lucie. He is 7-for-22 with a home run and two doubles since his return to Syracuse. Despite the hitless outing snapping a five-game hitting streak, Vientos will end May with an outstanding .302/.380/.635 slash line and six home runs.

  • LHP Rob Zastryzny (L, 0-4, 4.55 ERA) 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER
  • RHP Eric Orze (0-2, 6.52 ERA) 2.0 IP, H, ER, 2 K
  • RHP Jake Reed (0-0, 7.04 ERA) 2.0 IP, H, ER, BB

Orze’s ERA is still quite high, due largely to his struggles with home runs in April, but he has looked much better in recent weeks. Orze’s 3.75 ERA is solid, but the real improvement can be seen in his peripheral numbers. In 12.0 May innings, he has a 19:3 K:BB ratio, with one of the three walks being intentional.

AA: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (16-28) 9, Reading Fightin’ Phils (19-26) 7  Box Score

The Rumble Ponies’ offense had a huge evening on Sunday: the lineup combined for 17 hits, including six doubles, and made the most of their many opportunities by going 8-for-17 with runners in scoring position. Six players in the lineup had multiple hits. Álvarez is 8-for-18 with three home runs in his last four games. Cortes has hit much better since his demotion from Syracuse, but he is actually striking out at a much higher rate than his did in Triple-A, albeit in a very small sample size. 10 of his 25 plate appearances in Double-A have ended in a strikeout.

Kisena started the game for Binghamton but only lasted two innings despite throwing just 38 pitches and allowing only one unearned run. Cobb has allowed only one earned run in 19 1/3 Double-A innings and has a 26:4 K:BB ratio with Binghamton. He did struggle after a brief promotion to Syracuse, however. Otanez gave up just his third earned run of the season and, despite walking one batter on Sunday, has been excellent at keeping his walks down this year. After walking 9.15 batters per nine innings a year ago, his walk rate is down to 3.6 BB/9 this year.

A+: Bowling Green Hot Rods (27-17) 6, Brooklyn Cyclones (19-23) 3  Box Score

McIlwain and Fryman provided the entirety of the Cyclones’ offense on Sunday, as they combined for three solo home runs. The rest of the lineup was limited to just two singles. McIlwain ended April in a bit of a slump but has been really heating up in May. He is hitting .327/.431/.491 this month. In the day’s first instance of a player having a surprise power surge (see below), Fryman hit two home runs after entering the day with just three in his entire career up to this point (422 PA).

  • RHP Mike Vasil (L, 0-1, 9.00 ERA) 4.0 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
  • RHP Jordan Yamamoto (0-0, 7.50 ERA) 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 K
  • RHP Cam Opp (0-0, 1.54 ERA) 2.0 IP, 2 H, BB, K

Vasil made his High-A debut on Sunday and did not have an easy time against the more advanced competition. He needed 87 pitches to get through four innings and gave up four runs, tied for the most he has given up this year. The big blow against him was a two-run home run in the third inning, the first home run (and extra base hit) he has allowed all season. Still, his seven strikeouts show that he was still able to miss bats at a solid rate, even though he faced some adversity. His fastball sat at 94-95 MPH and topped out at 97 MPH.

A: St. Lucie Mets (29-16) 11, Dunedin Blue Jays (20-25) 9  Box Score

On the strength of six home runs, the St. Lucie Mets out-slugged the Blue Jays on Sunday. Tilien was the big star of the game, becoming the first Met minor leaguer since Rene Rivera in 2019 to hit three home runs in a game. He entered the game with just two home runs in the first 161 plate appearances of his young professional career, so his career home run total more than doubled over the course of the game.

De Los Santos’ power output was just short of being equally prolific, as he had the first two home run game of his career and just missed a third on a deep fly ball that ended up being a triple. De Los Santos has had the best power-speed combination in the Mets minors: he has stolen 23 bases and 18 of his 42 hits have gone for extra bases. Dominguez’s 10 home runs are tied for second in the Florida State League. Alex Ramirez was 1-for-5 with three strikeouts.

Scott had his worst outing of the season: he had given up just three runs total coming into the game, but gave up twice that many in three innings on Sunday. He topped out at 96.4 MPH with his fastball.

David has struggled mightily with walks (15.58 BB/9), but threw nine of eleven pitches for strikes in Sunday’s appearance. His fastball average 94.8 MPH and his breaking pitches frequently had a spin rate topping 2900 RPM. The .040/.442/.040 line against David this year highlights his ability to limit hits and his high walk rate. Lavender has allowed just one run over 18 2/3 innings pitched this season and had a 71% whiff rate on Sunday.

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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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