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MMN Recap: Ramirez And Newton Continue Hot Starts With St. Lucie

By Daniel Muras

April 16, 2022 No comments

Columbus Clippers (6-3) 15, Syracuse Mets (1-7) 12  Box Score

Syracuse’s offense had a huge night as pushed across 12 runs on 14 hits, including five extra base hits. Palka recorded two of the big hits in the first third of the game, and his two-run home run to right field gave Syracuse what felt like a commanding 6-0 lead.

Palka’s bat has been huge for the Mets during the first week of the season: five of his six hits have gone for extra bases and he has driven in seven runs in five games. The early lead would quickly fade away, but Blankenhorn would give the Mets a three-run lead in the eighth with his three-run blast to center field, a lead which would immediately be blown again by the bullpen.

Vientos had another nice game and back-to-back two-hit games have pushed his OPS above .800 after a slow first week to the season.

Strong as the Mets’ offense looked in Friday’s game, it was outweighed by how poor the Syracuse pitching staff was. Grey, a 2021 free agent signing from Indy ball who had a nice season in the organization last year, struggled with his control in his second start of the year.

Despite only striking out one batter, he could not keep his pitch count low and was up to 77 pitches when he was pulled in the fourth inning.

Santos had his first scoreless appearance of the season and was the only Met pitcher not to allow a run. Diaz’s first appearance of the season did not go as planned as just about half of his pitches (10 of 21) were outside the strike zone and he gave up twice as many runs as the number of outs he recorded.

Bowie Baysox (4-3) 6, Binghamton Rumble Ponies (2-5) 2  Box Score

With Álvarez as the only of the trio of top Binghamton prospects in the lineup on Friday, it is little surprise that Binghamton’s offense struggled in this game.

Although the lineup lacked much of its usual thump and only recorded nine hits, they did have more opportunities to score than a cursory glance at the box score would indicate: Binghamton was just 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base. Álvarez has been hitless in his last two games after homering in his first three of the season.

Renteria had his second straight miserable start to open up the season. A week after allowing eight runs in less than three innings, he was only marginally better on Friday, throwing 75 laborious pitches and allowing nine batters to reach base before escaping the third inning.

Used solely as a reliever since 2019, Renteria was an unexpected member of the Binghamton rotation to start the season and, if these results continue, it may not be long before he returns to a relief role. Lasko struggled in his first appearance of the season, but worked around trouble to limit the damage against him during his four innings on Friday.

This is now Zanghi’s fourth season pitching in Binghamton, and he has gotten off to his best start there yet. He has allowed just three baserunners and has struck out eight batters over four and one-third innings pitched.

Brooklyn Cyclones (3-3) 4, Jersey Shore BlueClaws (1-5) 1  Box Score

The Cyclones only had six hits in Friday’s game, but they were able to score four runs with some help from the opposing defense. Two BlueClaw errors in the eighth inning brought home two runs for the Cyclones.

Beyond those two errors, the Cyclones struggled mightily with runners in scoring position as they went just 2-for-13 in those situations. The other two runs scored on Gaddis’ double in the fifth inning; it was certainly an opportune time for his first hit of the season.

Santos, the top pitching prospect on the Cyclones, returned to form after a rough first start with the Cyclones. He still struggled a bit with control, throwing just 36 of his 61 pitches for strikes, but left the game in the fourth without a run having crossed the plate (the next batter would bring home an inherited runner from third on a single with two outs). Vargas and Courtney were both excellent in relief, locking down the game with little drama.

Clearwater Threshers (1-5) 6, St. Lucie Mets (5-2) 5  Box Score

The Mets offense had a solid night at the plate, scoring five runs on ten hits, and several of the top prospects on the team continued their hot starts to the season. Ramirez remains scorching hot as he racked up two more hits, including his second triple of the season.

It has only been one week, but Ramirez leads the league in average and ranks fourth in OPS. A quick promotion should be coming if he keeps this up over the next couple of weeks.

Newton has gotten off to a similarly hot start, and his was much needed given his struggles and injuries in recent years. Perhaps most impressive, while keeping in mind the small sample, is that Newton has only stuck out twice in his first 23 plate appearances of the season (he has walked three teams). Maintaining a sub-10% strikeout rate, even if only for a week, is a welcome sight from a player who has struck out more than 30% of the time in every season since 2017.

Vasil wasn’t quite as sharp in the second start of the season as he was in his first, but still limited Clearwater to just two runs over four innings and pushed his pitch count up to 70 in the young season. He topped out at 96 MPH for the night.

Cornielly, on the other hand, was much improved in comparison to his first appearance back from shoulder surgery. He struck out five of the eight batters he faced, and has struck out eight of the fifteen batters that he has faced so far this season.

David, one of the many intriguing arms picked up in the 2021 draft, tossed his third straight scoreless appearance. His fastball was up to 97 MPH and his slider had a spin rate of nearly 3000 RPM.

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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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