; ;

Pitching Shines At All Levels

By Matt Mongin

May 28, 2025 No comments

Brendan Girton. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

While rain washed out Triple-A action in Syracuse, along with Paul Blackburn’s final rehab appearance, there was no shortage of elite pitching performances across the Mets’ minor league system on Tuesday. In his Double-A debut, Irving Cota dazzled, earning the win in Binghamton’s matchup against Chesapeake. In Brooklyn, Brendan Girton struck out nine in a combined shutout as the Cyclones beat Aberdeen. And down in St. Lucie, 20-year-old Wellington Aracena lit up the radar gun in a dominant 10-strikeout outing.

Triple-A

Syracuse Mets (22-29), Iowa Cubs (27-21) Postponed

Tuesday’s Syracuse Mets game vs. the Iowa Cubs was postponed due to weather. It will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Wednesday, May 28th. First pitch is at 12:08 PM.

Double-A

Binghamton Rumble Ponies (28-17) 4 vs. Chesapeake Baysox (23-22) 1

BOX SCORE

Powered by a Kevin Parada home run, the Rumble Ponies cruised to a 4–1 victory over the Chesapeake Baysox on Tuesday. Parada, a former first-round pick, has struggled in his third season with Binghamton, slashing .161/.312/.383 with a .695 OPS.

  • RHP Joshua Cornielly 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (4.22 ERA)
  • RHP Irving Cota 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K

Cota made the first Double-A outing of his career, entering the game in relief of Cornielly in the third inning. Cota has been impressive in his outings this season, posting a 1.34 ERA with 31 strikeouts over 33.2 innings pitched.  Interestingly, the 21-year-old has jumped from Low-A St. Lucie to Double-A Binghamton, skipping High-A Brooklyn altogether.

High-A

Brooklyn Cyclones (31-15) 2 vs. Aberdeen IronsBirds (19-27) 0

BOX SCORE

The Cyclones blanked the Aberdeen IronBirds in the series opener Tuesday night. Fueled by a dominant performance from the pitching staff, the high-scoring Brooklyn offense was kept quiet for most of the night, aside from a two-RBI single by Marco Vargas in the sixth inning. Vargas (.579 OPS) has reached base in all 34 games he has played this season.

  • RHP Brendan Girton  4.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K (3.27 ERA)
  • RHP Ryan Ammons 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 K
  • RHP Brian Metoyer 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

Girton showed off his elite stuff again on Tuesday night, tossing his first scoreless outing of the season. He finishes the month of May with a 2.57 ERA, 29 strikeouts, and 9 walks over five starts (21 IP), while lowering his cumulative season ERA to 3.27.

Low-A

St. Lucie Mets (25-21) 6, Palm Beach Cardinals (22-24) 2

BOX SCORE

Gutierrez continued his hot month of May, extending his hitting streak to six games. Over his last 10 games, the 19-year-old backstop has collected 12 hits, including three for extra bases.

  • RHP Wellington Aracena 5 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 10 K (3.77 ERA)
  • RHP Hoss Brewer 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K

Aracena was dominant on Tuesday, striking out 10 batters over five innings. While the 20-year-old right-hander struggles with command at times (5.97 BB/9), he’s electric when he has a feel for his pitches – especially considering his fastball sits at 96–98 mph and touched 99 mph on Tuesday.

Florida Complex League

FCL Cardinals (8-8) 12, FCL Mets (6-10) 4

BOX SCORE

Tuesday marked Lantigua’s fourth multi-hit game of the season, though the 18-year-old has collected only two extra-base hits in 38 at-bats.