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MMN Recap: Lucchesi Makes Rehab Start, Vientos Collects 4 Hits

By Daniel Muras

August 22, 2022 No comments

Mark Vientos, Photo by Richard Nelson

Just over a year after having Tommy John surgery, Joey Lucchesi returned to a professional mound on Sunday afternoon. In his first rehab start, Lucchesi threw 15 pitches and gave up one unearned run over one inning of work.

AAA: Charlotte Knights (47-70) 10, Syracuse Mets (50-67) 8  Box Score

Syracuse’s offense had a strong performance on Sunday, scoring eight runs on 13 hits (including five extra base hits). Álvarez continues to struggle in nearly every facet of his offensive game: he is hitting just .161/.277/.268, he has just three hits over his last 31 at bats, and he has a high 29.4% strikeout rate since his promotion to Triple-A. At just 20 years old, however, some growing pains are expected and there is little reason to believe that he won’t adjust sooner rather than later. Vientos, on the other hand, has been completely on fire for a while now. He has an eight-game hitting streak and is hitting .404/.436/.654 in August.

Yamamoto made his first Triple-A start on Sunday after struggling in his first Triple-A appearance of the season his previous time on the mound. After giving up four runs in 2 2/3 innings last time out, this appearance was even worse, even if he did manage to punch out five batters. Walker’s rehab over the last month has gone much better than Yamamoto’s: across three levels, Walker has a 1.50 ERA and 16.5 K/9. Montes de Oca has not allowed a run in any of his last five appearances.

AA: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (43-70) 6, Richmond Flying Squirrels (55-58) 5  Box Score

The Rumble Ponies pushed across six run on seven hits in this game. Cortes’ eighth-inning two-run homer would end up being the hit that gave Binghamton the lead they needed in order to win the game. Mauricio was slumping earlier in August, but, even though he still has not drawn a walk this month, he has started to heat up by having multiple hits in five of his last seven games. Young extended his on-base streak to an incredible 27 games with his double.

Vargas got off to a terrible start in Binghamton, but he now has tossed 13 2/3 scoreless innings with a 14:1 K:BB ratio so far in August. Bryant failed to record a strikeout in an appearance for the first time since August of 2017. Hartwig has a 63:17 K:BB ratio in 44 1/3 innings pitched this season.

A+: Hudson Valley Renegades (61-52) 9, Brooklyn Cyclones (56-58) 3  Box Score

The Cyclones had 13 hits in Sunday’s game, but, due to a 3-for-19 performance with runners in scoring position, could score just three runs. Ramirez has just a .520 OPS in August but has looked a bit better recently, recording at least one hit in each of his last four games. Peroza has increased his OPS from a woeful .554 to a quite respectable .718 since the end of June.

  • RHP Dominic Hamel (4-1, 3.16 ERA) 2.1 IP, H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
  • LHP Nathan Lavender (1-1, 3.04 ERA) 2.0 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, 2 K
  • RHP Dylan Hall (L, 0-1, 4.58 ERA) 1.2 IP, 4 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, K

Hammel was not terrible in his start on Sunday, but he did struggle quite a bit with his control and was pulled from the game with the bases loaded after his pitch count eclipsed 50 in third inning. Just 28 of his 52 pitches were strikes. After posting an ERA of 1.04 or lower in each of the first four months of the season, Lavender has proven human in August and now has a 5.11 ERA for the month. Hall imploded in the tenth inning and gave up six runs, raising his ERA from 1.69 to 4.58 in the process.

A: St. Lucie Mets (66-47) 8, Lakeland Flying Tigers (55-57) 4  Box Score

Three home runs drove in six runs and propelled the Mets to victory on Sunday afternoon. Estep got the offense going with a two-run shot in the first inning. Estep has been the hottest member of the 2022 draft class: six of his first eleven professional hits have gone for extra bases and he has more walks than strikeouts (7 walks to 6 strikeouts). Murphy’s home run was the hardest and furthest hit ball by the Mets this afternoon, at 102 MPH and 387 feet, respectively.

  • LHP Joey Lucchesi (0-0, 0.00 ERA) 1.0 IP, H, R, BB, K
  • RHP Joel Diaz (W, 3-1, 6.08 ERA) 5.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
  • RHP Raimon Gomez (4-5, 4.08 ERA) 3.0 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 K

Lucchesi pitched one inning and threw 15 pitches in the first rehab appearance in his return from Tommy John surgery. He averaged 90 MPH on his fastball, just about one MPH less than he averaged a year ago.

Diaz averaged 93.5 MPH and topped out at 96.4 MPH on his fastball. His curveball was his most thrown pitch and also his best: averaging 2550 RPM, it had a 50% whiff rate.

Gomez had given up multiple runs in his last four appearances (and at least one run in six straight) but got back on track with three shutout innings of work on Sunday. His blazing fastball topped out at 98.9 MPH.

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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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