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MMN Recap: Vientos Hits 18th Homer, DeGrom Has Mixed Results

By Steve Sica

July 28, 2022 No comments

Mark Vientos, Photo by James Farrance

Rehab assignment was the theme of the day as three Met pitchers were working their way back up from injuries. Jacob deGrom made another appearance in Syracuse and despite a rough four-run second inning would still strike out six in four innings. Meanwhile, Mark Vientos would take over the MiLB Met organizational lead in home runs and Brett Baty would stay hot in Binghamton.

Omaha (48-46) 10 vs. Syracuse Mets (42-53) 4   BOX SCORE

  • 3B Kramer Robertson: 3-for-4, BB, SB, .240/.399/.360
  • C Francisco Álvarez: 1-for-4, R, 2B, BB, .258/.363/.519
  • DH Mark Vientos: 2-for-4, R, HR (18), 3 RBI, .261/.340/.506

Syracuse would outhit Omaha 13-10, but in the category that counts on the scoreboard, they were blown out 10-4. After only scoring one run all game in their previous contest with Omaha, the Mets got off to a similarly poor offensive start in this one as they were shut out through their first six innings of play. Syracuse would rally with a run in the seventh and eighth innings and cut the Omaha lead to 5-2, but a five-run ninth would all but put the game and the loss away for the Mets. Mark Vientos would hit his 18th home run of the season in the bottom half of the ninth, a two-run shot as he passed Daniel Palka for the team lead in long balls.

  • RHP Jacob deGrom: (L, 0-1), 4 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO, 4.50 ERA
  • RHP Trey Cobb: 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, 3 SO, 5.79 ERA
  • RHP Trevor May: 1 IP, H, R, ER, 0 BB, SO, 9.00 ERA
  • LHP Sam Clay: 1.2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO, 4.32 ERA

In what many across the Met organization hope will be his last rehab start, Jacob deGrom got a bit of a rough send-off by Omaha. The Storm Chasers clearly weren’t intimated facing deGrom as Brewer Hicklen and Drew Waters would each take the two-time Cy Young award winner deep and put up a four spot in the second inning. Things would settle down after that for deGrom, who after the Waters home run, would retire the next seven batters he faced, which included a dominant seven-pitch fourth inning to end his start on a high note. Despite looking shaky in the second inning, deGrom would still tally six strikeouts in four innings.

The most notable takeaway from this rehab start for deGrom was his fastball velocity. After previously setting radar guns ablaze with 100 mph fastballs, deGrom’s fastball in this game would average 95-98 mph. His slider also registered in the 90s with an average of 90-92 mph. In his four innings of work, deGrom threw 67 pitches and 41 for strikes. Trey Cobb would come in relief of deGrom and turned in an impressive two scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Trevor May was also rehabbing in this game and would throw an inning of relief, allowing one run and striking out one in an inning of work.

New Hampshire (41-51) 6 vs. Binghamton Rumble Ponies (34-57) 1   BOX SCORE

  • 2B Wyatt Young: 1-for-3, BB, .265/.344/.359
  • 3B Brett Baty: 2-for-3, BB, .301/.394/.498
  • LF Carlos Cortes: 0-for-2, RBI, BB, .225/.297/.356

Over the last two weeks, Brett Baty has made hitting Double-A pitching seem like he’s playing a video game in beginner mode. That’s because, over his last 41 plate appearances, he’s batting at an unreal .514 average. In fact, Baty has owned the whole month of July with a .359 average and an OPS of 1.060. He continued to stay scorching hot in this game going 2-for-3, extending his hitting streak to ten games and driving up his season average to over the .300 mark.

Unfortunately, the rest of the Binghamton offense would struggle mightily in this one as the rest of the team had only two hits combined. The Rumble Ponies kept the score tied into the ninth inning, but after New Hampshire exploded for a five-run ninth, Binghamton found themselves on the wrong side of a 6-1 loss.

  • RHP Brooks Hall: 5 IP, H, R, ER, 3 BB, 5 SO, 2.57 ERA
  • RHP Willy Taveras: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, 2 SO, 5.05 ERA
  • RHP Josh Hejka: (L, 4-2) 1.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, SO, 4.25 ERA

Brooks Hall would make his first start with Binghamton after being signed as a minor league free agent a couple of weeks prior. Hall would impress over five innings as he allowed just one hit and one run and struck out five. Hall, a 32-year-old journeyman pitcher who was drafted in the fourth round of the MLB Amateur Draft in 2009, has seen time with the Brewers and Diamondbacks organizations, along with a stint in Independent ball.

After Hall’s day was done, Willy Taveras put up the most impressive pitching performance of the afternoon, going two near-perfect innings while striking out two. Josh Hejka, however, would follow that up with perhaps his worst performance of the season. With the score tied at one in the ninth inning, the usually reliable Hejka would surrender four runs to let New Hampshire run away with the game, 6-1.

Brooklyn Cyclones (45-47) 6 vs Hudson Valley (49-42) 2   BOX SCORE

Major League Baseball has the Subway Series, but the South Atlantic League has the Metro-North Series. After losing the previous night in a 10-2 blowout, the Cyclones offense wouldn’t be denied in this one. The two teams matched zeros through the first five innings before the Cyclones broke the ice with a Rowdey Jordan RBI single. Later in the inning, JT Schwartz would clear the bases with a grand slam to put Brooklyn up 5-0. Alex Ramirez would also have an RBI in this one, as the 19-year-old has gotten a hit in six of his last seven games.

https://twitter.com/BKCyclones/status/1552461048711610368

  • RHP Luis Moreno: (W, 1-4), 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, 7 SO, 2.90 ERA
  • RHP Daison Acosta: (SV, 4), 3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, BB, 4 SO, 6.57 ERA

Luis Moreno not only picked up his first win in High-A, but he arguably had his best start of the season at any level. Moreno would earn his win by dominating Hudson Valley hitters all night to the tune of six scoreless innings where he would only allow two hits. The most impressive note from Moreno’s evening was that he only walked one batter and struck out seven, as his control was impeccable. Moreno struck out Yankees’ prospect Jasson Dominguez twice.

Daison Acosta would come in in relief of Moreno and pick up the unconventional three-inning save as the Cyclones cruised in Hudson Valley 6-2.

Raul Bericerta, Photo by Ed Delany of MMN

Palm Beach (45-45) 6 vs. St Lucie Mets (53-38) 4   BOX SCORE

St Lucie would play a back-and-forth game with Palm Beach all night and just came out on the losing end of a 6-4 score. William Lugo has been red hot since the mid-season break, going 8-for-20 for a .400 average. Raul Beracierta would supply the power as he had his first multi-home run game of the season with two dingers.

Jacob deGrom wasn’t the only Met pitcher making a rehab assignment on this day. Mike Montgomery was also on the mend in the Sunshine State as he took to the mound against the Cardinals. Montgomery’s tune-up went very smoothly as through 2 1/3 innings he wouldn’t allow a run and struck out four Cardinal batters. The game turned into a bullpen session as six St Lucie relievers would combine to finish the game. Christian Scott and Trey McLoughlin would combine to toss three scoreless innings, but Harol González and Saul Gonzalez would be tagged for a combined six runs in their 2 1/3 innings of work that sent the Mets to an eventual 6-4 loss.

 

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Written by Steve Sica

Steve is originally from Central New Jersey and a Met fan since 2000. He became a fan of the Minor League Mets going to Trenton every time the Binghamton Mets came to town. Now living in Arizona and watching Met prospects all around the Fall League. Follow Steve on Twitter: @HatMan92

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