New York Mets Minor League Report: St. Lucie Pitchers Take A Piggyback Ride To Victory

[Tom Gatto]

Piggybacking, or having two pitchers work multiple innings back-to-back, is one of the ways clubs ease workloads and prevent hurlers from facing an opponent's lineup a third time. St. Lucie used the strategy to near perfection on Tuesday night.

Conner Ware and Emilio Obispo combined to throw seven innings of two-run ball as the Mets defeated Fort Myers 8-2. Ware started and went three scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out four. He faced 13 batters. Obispo worked the next four frames, allowing two runs on two hits, with three walks and three strikeouts. He faced 18 batters, exactly twice through the order.

Limiting both pitchers' innings is understandable based on where they are in their careers. Obispo, 19, missed all of last season with an injury. He has not gone more than five innings in a game in 2026, and has thrown 53 1/3 innings total. Ware, 22, is in his first professional season after being drafted in the 15th round by New York out of LSU last year. He leads the team with 57 2/3 innings pitched, with five also his single-game high.

Elsewhere on the farm:

Syracuse turned in an ugly performance in losing 13-5 to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The Mets committed six errors, walked eight batters, and allowed 12 hits. Despite all that, they only trailed 4-3 after 5½ innings.

Binghamton’s bullpen wasted a late-inning comeback in the club's 4-3 loss to Portland. Garrett Stratton served up a go-ahead home run in the top of the ninth after the Rumble Ponies had tied the game with three runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Brooklyn’s game vs. Jersey Shore was rained out. It will be made up as part of a twi-night doubleheader Friday beginning at 5:35 p.m.

The FCL Mets were blown out 15-3 by the FCL Astros. Wyatt Vincent had two hits and an RBI in the loss. DSL Mets Blue suffered a worse defeat, 20-4 to the DSL Marlins. Adrian La Rosa hit his first home run, a two-run shot in the seventh. DSL Mets Orange outlasted the DSL Phillies 7-5 in 10 innings. Two run-scoring wild pitches and then a two-run single by Cesar Acosta in the top of the 10^th were enough to withstand a Phils rally in the bottom of the half.

Mets Transactions

• New York Mets recalled RHP Daniel Duarte from Syracuse Mets.
• New York Mets optioned RHP Xzavion Curry to Syracuse Mets.

Syracuse Sloppy In Blowout Loss

The six errors look bad, but 11 of the 13 runs the Mets allowed were earned, so they weren't completely responsible for the lopsided result. One of the unearned runs scored against starter Jack Wenninger, who went the first three innings. He allowed five hits, three runs (two earned) and two walks. The other one was charged to Ofreidy Gomez, who worked the fourth. That run made it 4-0, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Syracuse answered with three runs in the top of the fifth. RBI singles by Ben Rortvedt and Vidal Brujan halved the deficit, and a bases-loaded walk by MJ Melendez made it a one-run game. Melendez walked three times in the contest.

Then, the bullpen let the game get away. Nate Lavender and Jonathan Pintaro combined to allow four runs in the sixth. After Lavender gave up a solo homer, Pintaro came on and added to the misery. He committed a throwing error on a bunt, which brought in a run, and later threw a wild pitch that brought in another run. After the Mets clawed back to 8-5 in the top of the eighth, Joey Gerber was charged with five runs in the bottom half while not recording an out. Matt Seelinger allowed his two inherited runners to score.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Ronny Mauricio	3	0	0	0	1	0
MJ Melendez	2	1	0	1	3	1
Christopher Morel	4	1	1	0	0	1
Ryan Clifford	3	0	0	0	1	1
Nick Morabito	4	1	2	1	0	0
Jihwan Bae	3	1	1	1	1	1
Christian Arroyo	4	0	0	0	0	1
Ben Rortvedt	4	1	1	1	0	1
Vidal Bruján	4	0	1	1	0	1

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Jack Wenninger	3	5	3	2	2	2	0
Ofreidy Gómez	1	1	1	0	0	1	0
Nate Lavender	1 1/3	1	1	1	1	1	1
Jonathan Pintaro	1/3	2	3	3	2	0	0
Dylan Ross	1/3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jefry Yan	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Joey Gerber	0	3	5	5	2	0	0
Matt Seelinger	1	0	0	0	1	0	0

Binghamton's Rally Goes To Waste

The Rumble Ponies came all the way back after being down 3-0 with two out and nobody on in the eighth. Chris Suero walked and then advanced to second on a passed ball. Jose Ramos doubled him home for Binghamton's first run. Nick Lorusso walked and Corey Collins reached on an infield hit to load the bases. John Bay was hit by a pitch to force in Ramos. Lorusso then scored from third on a wild pitch with Kevin Parada at bat to make it 3-3.

Stratton allowed the home run in the top of the ninth, and Binghamton went down in order in the bottom half. 

Bryce Conley turned in a quality start, He gave up three runs (all earned) on four hits over six innings. He struck out nine and walked none. Felipe De La Cruz and Saul Garcia followed with a scoreless inning each.

Mike Tauchman moved up to Double-A as his rehab from knee surgery continued. He went 2-for-4 with a walk while playing a full game in left field. Tauchman was competing for a major-league job in spring training when he suffered a meniscus tear in his left knee. 

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Mike Tauchman	4	0	2	0	1	2
Chris Suero	4	1	0	0	1	0
Jose Ramos	4	1	2	1	0	2
Nick Lorusso	2	1	0	0	2	1
Corey Collins	3	0	1	0	1	1
John Bay	3	0	0	1	0	1
Kevin Parada	4	0	0	0	0	0
Wyatt Young	4	0	0	0	0	0
Nick Lucky	4	0	0	0	0	3

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Bryce Conley	6	4	3	3	0	9	2
Felipe De La Cruz	1	0	0	0	0	2	0
Saul Garcia	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Garrett Stratton	1	1	1	1	0	1	1

Early Runs Put St. Luce in Control Vs. Fort Myers

The Mets' hitters made Obispo's task a lot less stressful. He came into the game with a 5-0 lead.

St. Lucie opened the scoring in the second inning when Randy Guzman, who reached on a hit by pitch, stole home on the front end of a double steal with two outs. It broke the game open in the third with four runs. Guzman drew a bases-loaded walk after a successful challenge, forcing in Julio Zayas. Trey Snyder followed with a two-run double, and then Antonio Jimenez singled, with Snyder scoring on a throwing error on the play.

Antonio Jimenez added a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Zayas led off the sixth with a solo home run. After Fort Myers scored twice in the seventh, Zayas answered with his second home run of the night in the eighth.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Elian Peña	4	1	0	0	1	2
D'Andre Smith	4	1	1	0	1	1
Marco Vargas	3	0	0	0	1	1
Randy Guzman	2	2	1	1	1	0
Trey Snyder	3	1	3	2	1	0
Antonio Jimenez	3	0	1	1	0	1
Branny De Oleo	3	0	0	0	1	0
Chase Meggers	4	0	0	0	0	1
Julio Zayas	4	3	3	2	0	0

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Conner Ware	3	2	0	0	1	4	0
Emilio Obispo	4	2	2	2	3	3	0
Zack Mack	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Elwis Mijares	1	0	0	0	1	1	0

Top-20 Prospect Performance

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

View full article