New York Mets Minor League Report: Jack Wenninger Spins Gem For Syracuse

[Tom Gatto]

Jack Wenninger celebrated the Fourth of July by turning in his best outing of the season. The performance couldn't have come at a better time for him.

The right-hander allowed one hit and struck out five over seven scoreless innings to lead Syracuse to a 6-5 victory over Worcester. The performance ended a run of poor results that dated to early May. Wenninger allowed a first-inning single to Mickey Gasper, three walks, and a hit batsman in all. He retired his final seven hitters and threw 56 of his 93 pitches for strikes.

The next month will be a time of change in the Mets' organization. The parent club is expected to be sellers at the trade deadline, and a handful of prospects should get auditions over the final two months of the season. The 24-year-old Wenninger --- No. 5 in Grand Central Mets' prospect Top 20 --- can guarantee himself a promotion with more pitching lines like Saturday's.

Elsewhere in the system:

Binghamton fell to Chesapeake, 5-3. Matt Rudick homered for the Rumble Ponies in the loss. 

Brooklyn lost a wild one to Frederick, 10-8. The Cyclones erased an eight-run deficit and managed to tie the game in the eighth , but the Keys scored twice in the bottom of the inning for the final margin.

St. Lucie's losing streak is up to nine after a 10-3 defeat against Tampa. The Mets blew a 3-1 lead in the eighth, surrendering six runs, all of them unearned.

The FCL Mets rode big games from Anthony Probose (home run, three RBIs) and Yovanny Rodriguez (three hits, RBI) to a 7-1, six-inning victory the FCL Astros.

DSL Mets Blue lost a doubleheader to the DSL NYY Bombers, 10-2 and 12-11. Game 2 featured a nine-run inning by both teams, with the Bombers scoring their nine in the bottom of the seventh --- on two hits and seven walks --- for the walk-off win. 

DSL Mets Orange dropped a 9-8 decision to DSL Phillies in 11 innings. Jose Padilla homered, and Oscar Moreno and Alsy Torres combined for five scoreless innings to start the game.

Mets Transactions

• No Roster Moves

Wenninger, Big Inning Carry Syracuse Past Worcester

The offense gave Wenninger plenty of breathing room with a five-spot in the bottom of the fourth. MJ Melendez walked, Christian Arroyo singled, and Ryan Clifford lined an RBI single to left to plate Melendez for a 1-0 lead. Jihwan Bae then walked to load the bases, Hayden Senger singled home Arroyo, and Vidal Bruján cleared the bases with a triple to make it 5-0.

Melendez extended the lead to 6-0 in the seventh with a solo homer. He now has gone deep in three consecutive games and four of five since being optioned to Syracuse on June 26. 

The bullpen nearly wasted Wenninger's gem. Worcester scored four off Ofreidy Gómez and Ben Simon in the eighth, and Simon allowed a run in the ninth before Joe Jacques recorded the final out for his second save.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Nick Morabito	4	0	1	0	0	2
Luis Robert Jr.	4	0	0	0	0	0
MJ Melendez	3	2	1	1	1	2
Christian Arroyo	4	1	1	0	0	0
Ryan Clifford	3	1	1	1	1	1
Jihwan Bae	3	1	0	0	1	1
Christopher Morel	4	0	0	0	0	2
Hayden Senger	3	1	1	1	0	0
Vidal Bruján	2	0	1	3	0	0

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Jack Wenninger	7	1	0	0	3	5	0
Ofreidy Gómez	1/3	2	4	3	1	0	0
Ben Simon	1 1/3	2	1	1	1	1	0
Joe Jacques	1/3	0	0	0	0	0	0

Stratton Sharp As Binghamton Falls To Chesapeake

Garrett Stratton is not looking like a 20th-round draft pick. The right-hander out of Rice University in Houston turned in two scoreless innings of relief, striking out three, after coming on for starter Bryce Conley in the sixth on Saturday. That gave the 22-year-old five clean outings in six appearances since being promoted to Binghamton from High-A Brooklyn in mid-June.

Conley, a minor-league vet, was charged with four runs, three earned, on six hits over five innings. He walked five and stuck out five. 

Matt  Rudick homered, singled and scored twice for Binghamton. JT Schwartz and Kevin Villavicencio each drove in a run. Chris Suero walked twice and stole a base.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Chris Suero	3	0	0	0	2	1
Jose Ramos	5	0	1	0	0	2
Nick Lorusso	3	1	1	0	1	1
JT Schwartz	4	0	1	1	0	2
Vincent Perozo	4	0	0	0	0	0
Matt Rudick	4	2	2	1	0	0
Jaylen Palmer	4	0	0	0	0	2
Kevin Villavicencio	4	0	1	1	0	1
Nick Roselli	3	0	1	0	1	1

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Bryce Conley	5	6	4	3	5	5	0
Garrett Stratton	2	1	0	0	0	3	0
Brian Metoyer	1	2	1	1	0	1	0
Gabriel Rodriguez	1	0	0	0	0	2	0

Brooklyn Is Never Out Of It

The Cyclones are mastering the art of getting down big early and then coming back. They did it again on Saturday. Brooklyn trailed, 8-2, after five innings before scoring two in the sixth and four in the eighth to force an 8-8 tie. Frederick crushed the dream with two in the bottom of the eighth.

Brooklyn did, in fact, lead in this game. John Bay hit a two-run homer in the first for a 2-0 advantage. But starter Nicolas Carreno was hit hard and reliever Tanner Witt was erratic, and the Cyclones were hurtling toward the ground once again. But the coaster began moving up in the sixth. Colin Houck belted a two-run homer in the sixth to make it 8-4. The tying runs came on Trace Willhoite RBI single, a JT Benson two-run double and Ronald Hernandez fielder's choice grounder.

In the past three days, the Cyclones have trailed 8-2, 6-0 and 5-0, only to rally and make each game competitive. 

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Mitch Voit	4	1	1	0	2	0
John Bay	4	2	1	1	1	3
JT Benson	5	1	3	2	0	2
Ronald Hernandez	4	0	1	1	1	0
Daiverson Gutierrez	4	0	0	0	1	2
Jamari Baylor	4	1	0	0	0	2
Yohairo Cuevas	4	0	0	0	0	2
Colin Houck	4	2	2	2	1	2
Trace Willhoite	4	1	1	1	1	2

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Nicolas Carreno	2 1/3	2	4	4	5	2	1
Tanner Witt	1 1/3	1	3	3	4	3	1
Hoss Brewer	1 1/3	2	1	1	0	2	0
Hunter Hodges	1	0	0	0	1	1	0
Bryce Jenkins	1	0	0	0	1	1	0
Cristofer Gomez	1	3	2	2	0	2	2

St. Lucie's Lead Unravels In An Error-Filled Eighth Against Tampa

St. Lucie led three to one through six innings before the game unraveled. Ethan Lanthier gave the Mets a steady start, allowing one run on two hits over two and two-thirds innings with a walk and a strikeout, and Elwis Mijares followed with one and one-third scoreless innings and three strikeouts. Chase Meggers singled home a run in the fifth, and Simon Juan homered in the sixth to build the two-run cushion.

Everything came apart in the eighth. Tampa scored six times, with two throwing and fielding errors by Branny De Oleo prolonging the frame before a three-run home run broke it open. Conner Ware absorbed the damage over three and two-thirds innings, charged with five runs, none of them earned, and took the loss. Tampa tacked on three more in the ninth against Luis Alvarez. Meggers finished two for three with an RBI and a run, and Juan drove in two on his home run and added a stolen base. Elian Peña singled and walked atop the order, and Jack Scanlon reached twice with a single and a walk. St. Lucie left six on base.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Elian Peña	3	0	1	0	1	0
Antonio Jimenez	4	0	0	0	0	1
Chase Meggers	3	1	2	1	0	0
Julio Zayas	3	0	0	0	1	1
Branny De Oleo	3	0	0	0	1	0
Simon Juan	4	1	1	2	0	2
Jeremy Rodriguez	0	0	0	0	0	0
Taylor Darden	4	0	0	0	0	1
Jackson Hauge	4	0	0	0	0	2
Jack Scanlon	3	1	1	0	1	1

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Ethan Lanthier	2 2/3	2	1	1	1	1	0
Elwis Mijares	1 1/3	0	0	0	0	3	0
Conner Ware	3 2/3	5	5	0	3	3	1
Miguel Mejias	1/3	2	1	1	2	0	0
Luis Alvarez	1	1	3	3	1	2	1

Top-20 Prospect Performance

1. Carson Benge: MLB
2. A.J. Ewing: MLB
3. Jonah Tong: DNP
4. Elian Pena: 1-for-3, BB
5. Jack Wenninger: 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K, W
6. Ryan Clifford: 1-for-3, RBI, BB, SB, K
7. Jacob Reimer: DNP
8. Nick Morabito: 1-for-4, 2 K
9. Mitch Voit: 1-for-4, R, 2 BB
10. Jonathan Santucci: DNP
11. Chris Suero: 0-for-3, 2 BB, SB, K
12. Zach Thornton: DNP
13. Wandy Asigen: DNP
14. Will Watson: DNP
15. Eli Serrano III: DNP
16. Randy Guzman: DNP
17. Ryan Lambert: DNP
18. Dylan Ross: DNP
19. Antonio Jimenez: 0-for-4, K
20. R.J. Gordon: DNP

View full article