Adopted - Joe Hietpas

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

I adopted Joe last year after watching him play for the B-Mets. He's an excellent defensive catcher, although the knock against him is that his hitting has been poor in the past. However, he has improved tremendously this year, and I will post articles about his progress in this thread.

My son recently told Joe that we adopted him on the Crane Pool. He seemed to take the news with a grain of salt.

[MFS62]

Well, I have to admit that's not quite as bad as telling him that you saw his name and picture on the Post Office wall.
Or is it?

Later

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Joe's College Bio

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Gary Carter Says Joe Calls a Great Game

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

A More Recent Bio

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Joe's moving on up -

Notes: Tides C Fernando Lunar, who was batting .170, was released after Friday’s game. The Tides are calling up C Joe Hietpas from Double-A Binghamton, where he was hitting .218.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

After Friday night's game at Bowie, the New York Mets sent Binghamton Mets catcher Joe Hietpas to Triple-A Norfolk. Catcher Zac Clements takes Hietpas' spot on the roster, rejoining the B-Mets from High-A St. Lucie.

Hietpas, who walked twice and scored a run in Binghamton's 4-2 win over the Baysox Friday, will be playing at the Triple-A level for the first time. The Appleton, WI native hit .216 with five home runs and 24 RBI in 65 games with Binghamton, playing 13 games at first base and 54 behind the plate. The fifth-year pro was a non-roster invitee to the Mets' Major League spring training camp this year and caught one inning in the Mets' regular-season finale last year. Hietpas, who has played for Binghamton in each of the last three seasons, was drafted in the 16th round by the Mets in 2001 out of Northwestern (IL) University. He's expected to be in uniform for Norfolk's game tonight vs. Richmond.

Clements returns to Binghamton after being sent down to St. Lucie on July 14th. The Memphis, TN native hit .174 with five RBI in seven games with St. Lucie after batting .214 with two RBI in 25 games with the B-Mets. The fourth-year pro got off to a slow start, but had 12 hits in his last 12 games with the B-Mets, hitting .363 over that stretch. Clements, the Mets' 16th-round pick out of Christian Brothers (TN) University in 2002, played nine games for Binghamton last season.

Tonight, the B-Mets play the second game of their seven-game road trip, taking on the Bowie Baysox at 7:05. After another game against Bowie Sunday night, the B-Mets head to Altoona for four against the Curve beginning Monday. The B-Mets return to NYSEG Stadium Friday for a three-game series against the Akron Aeros.

[Diamond Dad]

I love the idea that the Mets release a guy batting .178 in order to call up a guy batting .218 on level lower!

But we love Joe, so great for him.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Joe is a Hall of Famer

At least he's one in Appleton, Wisconsin.

[Willets Point]

This one still looks like a keeper.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

The Star Ledger reports -

Catcher Joe Hietpas will be with the team today in Jupiter, where the Mets will meet St. Louis in their final exhibition game, but he will be reassigned after the game.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

In an emergency, Joe can pitch!

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

More about Joe's pitching performance -

Unexpected Relief Norfolk manager Tony Tijerina had to turn to two unexpected sources in Thursday’s 8-2 loss to Toledo. Burdened by an overtaxed bullpen, the Tides called on two position players to pitch the game’s final three innings. Perhaps the most unexpected of it all was catcher Joe Hietpas and infielder Ray Navarrete gave up just one run. Hietpas pitched consistently in the 90s and even hit 93 mph on the stadium’s speed gun. “Everything that happened today was odd,�

MFS62 Jun 30 2006 11:08 AM

I watched the end of the Norfolk - Columbus game last night. He got two hits and the Columbus announcers joked that his average was now "alllll the way up to .180" I saw Joe behind the plate. He looked terrible, not only for someone with the reputation for being a good defensive catcher, but for just about any catcher you've ever seen. There was one bad pased ball, another pitch that he missed, but the runner didn't advance, and a marginal pitch that hit the dirt in front of him that he didn't block. It was scored a wild pitch, but seemed very stoppable. Scarlett, things aren't looking too good for your kid. Later

ScarletKnight41 Jun 30 2006 11:35 AM

You must have caught him on a bad night - any time I've seen him catch, he's been great. And those weren't just hits - they were RBI singles. Plus he homered the other night. Go talk trash about someone else's prospect - Joe's doing just fine.

MFS62 Jun 30 2006 11:38 AM

Not talking trash. Just a two inning observation. Later

ScarletKnight41 Jul 15 2006 05:58 AM

Joe is Doing Well in Norfolk - Joe Hietpas has also been hot at the plate lately, hitting safely in ten of his last 13 games. Hietpas had a career-high tying nine game hitting streak during that stretch, and the 27-year-old has hit .316 (12-38) with two home runs and six RBI over his 13-game stretch.

dgwphotography Jul 15 2006 06:44 AM

[quote="ScarletKnight41"]Joe is Doing Well in Norfolk - Joe Hietpas has also been hot at the plate lately, hitting safely in ten of his last 13 games. Hietpas had a career-high tying nine game hitting streak during that stretch, and the 27-year-old has hit .316 (12-38) with two home runs and six RBI over his 13-game stretch.

Doing well? He's hitting .184 for the season, and before this "hot streak", he had all of one rbi for the season. Considering that he hit .194 in 26 games in AAA, last year, I think it's glue factory time for him.

[MFS62]

I watched the end of the Norfolk - Columbus game last night.
He got two hits and the Columbus announcers joked that his average was now "alllll the way up to .180"
I saw Joe behind the plate. He looked terrible, not only for someone with the reputation for being a good defensive catcher, but for just about any catcher you've ever seen.
There was one bad pased ball, another pitch that he missed, but the runner didn't advance, and a marginal pitch that hit the dirt in front of him that he didn't block. It was scored a wild pitch, but seemed very stoppable.

Scarlett, things aren't looking too good for your kid.

Later

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

You must have caught him on a bad night - any time I've seen him catch, he's been great.

And those weren't just hits - they were RBI singles. Plus he homered the other night.

Go talk trash about someone else's prospect - Joe's doing just fine.

[MFS62]

Not talking trash.
Just a two inning observation.

Later

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Joe is Doing Well in Norfolk -

Joe Hietpas has also been hot at the plate lately, hitting safely in ten of his last 13 games. Hietpas had a career-high tying nine game hitting streak during that stretch, and the 27-year-old has hit .316 (12-38) with two home runs and six RBI over his 13-game stretch.

[dgwphotography]

[quote="ScarletKnight41"]Joe is Doing Well in Norfolk -

Joe Hietpas has also been hot at the plate lately, hitting safely in ten of his last 13 games. Hietpas had a career-high tying nine game hitting streak during that stretch, and the 27-year-old has hit .316 (12-38) with two home runs and six RBI over his 13-game stretch.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Sure - get rid of the organization's best defensive catcher right when his bat is coming around.

You'd make a great GM

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

.

[Guest Edgy DC]

He's probably no longer considered the organization's best defensive catcher within the organization.

Speaking to an earlier point, pretty much as a rule, all pitches in the dirt are scored as wild pitches if the runner advances.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Five Questions with Joe Hietpas

Hietpas was a fifth-round pick in 2001 and has proven to be a solid defensive catcher. But after hitting .208 in 1,300 Minor League at-bats, Bernazard thought it was time to make a switch. He said the fact that Hietpas pitched a scoreless inning last year at Triple-A Norfolk and reached the low 90s on the gun helped make the decision.

MiLB: How did the switch from catching to pitching come about?

JH: I had a discussion with Tony Bernazard in the offseason and we decided it was worth trying. I came into Spring Training as a catcher and that was kind of my priority. But when it became clear that I would not be catching for the Mets, pitching seemed like my best opportunity to make it to the big leagues.

MiLB.com: Was it hard to walk away from catching?

JH: It was very hard to walk away because I take a lot of pride in what I'm did behind the plate. I took a lot of pride in being an extension of the pitching staff. The pitchers responded to what I was doing, so walking away was difficult.

MiLB.com: How tough will it be to work with a catcher and not think about what he's doing behind the plate?

JH: I hold the catcher to very high standards. I have high expectations of him, but now that I'm on the other side of the battery I want to trust the guy I'm pitching to. If I disagree with his approach and his effort down there, that might be hard for me.

MiLB.com: How's it been working out so far?

JH: It's been going well so far, and my arm feels good. I'm 27 so I might be a little older than guys like [former Met] Henry Owens who have done this. But my arm hasn't been worked like that. I was a little nervous going in, but I feel as if I've made progress.

MiLB.com: What's it like not having to carry that big bag of equipment around all the time?

JH: That's a serious adjustment. I'm used to being one of the toughest guys on the field, carrying around that big heavy bag. Now all I have to carry around is a little duffel bag and some running shoes.

[MFS62]

He is currently listed on the extended spring training roster as a pitcher.
Later

[Guest Edgy DC]

Season is under way for Joe Hietpas, debuting in St. Lucie with two earnies allowed in his first four and a third.

[MFS62]

I noticed he had his first "hold" of the season last week.
They're throwing him right into the fray, not just using him as a mop up man.
Later

[Guest themetfairy]

Joe's pitching stats don't provide much hope that he'll be back with the big league team in his new role. In 32 innings so far this year he's given up 36 earned runs, 9 home runs, 23 walks and has an ERA of 6.99.

[MFS62]

[quote="themetfairy"]Joe's pitching stats don't provide much hope that he'll be back with the big league team in his new role. In 32 innings so far this year he's given up 36 earned runs, 9 home runs, 23 walks and has an ERA of 6.99.

[Guest themetfairy]

Make that 46.1 innings, 32 games.

[MFS62]

www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=3076

New York Mets

Released: RHP Joe Hietpas,

Later