Adopted: Nick Abel

[seawolf17]

I don't know what took me so long to do this, but since we have a Seawolf in the Mets' organization, I owe it to my campus to make sure to keep him in the family.



Nick Abel was an drafted signee this summer, after posting a 1.69 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 16 innings of work -- picking up three saves for a team that finished 25-29 -- as a senior. After starting the season in Brooklyn, he was promoted to Hagerstown in late July. He's 1-1, 1.35, with 17 K/5 BB in 20 innings with the Suns.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Word.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

Too bad he isn't a starter.

If he faced the Giants' Matt Cain it would be epic.

[Frayed Knot]

Yeah, but I think history would be against us in that matchup.

[seawolf17]

With six Stony Brook baseball players signing professional contracts in 2006 and a total of 14 alums playing professional baseball, it has been a busy summer for the Seawolves in the professional ranks.

Nick Abel, who signed with the New York Mets organization in May, pitched well for the Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York-Penn League and was promoted to the Hagerstown Suns, a class A affiliate of the New York Mets, midway through the summer. In his first game with the Suns, Abel threw three shutout innings and earned his first win at the single-A level. Abel ended the summer 1-1 with the Suns, striking out 17 batters in 20 innings of work with an impressive 1.35 ERA.

Kris Bakey became the second Stony Brook player in 2006 to sign with a Major League affiliated team, when Bakey signed with the St. Louis Cardinals. Bakey pitched for the Johnson City Cardinals of the Appalachian League, posting a 3.38 ERA over 34.2 innings of work with 20 strikeouts.

Joe Nathan, class of 1997, is in the middle of a pennant chase with the Minnesota Twins. Nathan is 6-0 on the season, ranks eighth in the American League with 33 saves and is boasting a 1.73 ERA. The two-time American League All-Star closer has struck out 86 batters in 62.1 innings this season.

Chris Flinn began his summer with the Montgomery Biscuits, the double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. After striking out 43 batters in 62.1 innings of work, Flinn was promoted to the triple-A Durham Bulls for the remainder of the summer. For the Bulls, Flinn posted a 3.86 ERA in 11.2 innings of work with nine strikeouts.

Andres Perez became the sixth player from the 2006 Stony Brook baseball team to sign a professional contract, when the five-tool player from New York, N.Y. signed with the New York Yankees. Over the summer, Perez played for the Torrington Twisters of the New England Collegiate League and hit .355 with eight doubles and six homeruns. For his outstanding summer, Perez was named as the number two prospect in the New England Collegiate Baseball League by Baseball America.

Matt Devins, Class of 2005, concluded his year with the Southwest Michigan Devil Rays, a class A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Devins fielded shortstop for the Devil Rays, hitting .227 with 22 runs batted in.

Andrew Larsen, class of 2005, was assigned to the High Desert Mavericks, the high-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. After a solid spring training, Larsen was sidelined with a season ending injury.

Matt Restivo and Tom Pennino, from the 2006 Stony Brook team, both helped lead the Evansville Otters to the Frontier League Championship. In the second to last regular season game, Pennino delivered the game-winning RBI double in the top of the 11th inning to clinch a playoff berth for Evansville. After falling down 0-2 in the opening round of the playoffs, Restivo got the nod on the hill and threw five solid innings as he picked up the win to keep Evansville in the playoffs. The Otters hung on to defeat the Rockford RiverHawks in the opening round and went on to swept the Chillicothe Paints for the championship. Restivo ended the year with a 5-5 record and a 3.16 ERA in 88.1 innings of work. Pennino drove in 8 runs on the year and blasted two homeruns.

Both Alex Trezza and Kevin Fitzgerald played for the North Shore Spirit of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball. Fitzgerald led the league in saves with 27 and Trezza led the league with 19 homers.

Ryan Claypool and Cole Cicatelli finished their summers with the Long Beach Armada of the Golden Baseball League. Cicatelli hit .290 over the summer with 31 hits and 15 runs driven in. Claypool finished the year 4-5 with a 3.39 ERA in 98.1 innings of work.

Finally, Jon Pasieka signed a professional contract in August with the Pensacola Pelicans of the American Association. In his brief stint with the Pelicans, the former Stony Brook catcher batted .286 with four runs driven in.

[seawolf17]

Nick's moving along the organizational ladder, filling a middle relief role in Binghamton. Two one-inning stints so far... one good (one scoreless inning), one bad (one four-run inning), both against Trenton.

I just sent an interview request to their PR folks; we'll see what happens.

[seawolf17]

Excellent! Interview granted. More news as it happens.

[Benjamin Grimm]

After you talk to him, please feel free to post something about him on this page:

http://leaptoad.com/mets/profile.php?PlayerCode=3B20

And here's a question for him: "What's your wife's name and what's she like?"

[seawolf17]

I heard back from Nick last week, but only for him to say he's "working on it." In the meantime, he was getting his ass kicked in Binghamton (5 IP, 11 H, 10 R, 6 BB, 2 K), so he got sent back to Port St. Lucie... where he promptly gave up three runs in his first inning there. That's a 19.50 ERA through six innings, folks. Ugly.

I'll follow up with him again to see how he's doing.

[seawolf17]

Part I of Nick's interview is up.

www.theadmissionsblog.com

[Guest themetfairy]

Great job Wolf!

[Guest AG/DC]

Wow, Rob Steinart, washed-out Blue Jay prospect to pitching guru.

[Benjamin Grimm]

By the end of the season I was getting calls from 12 different major league teams and eventually signed with the New York Mets.

I guess that means he was undrafted?

[seawolf17]

Yes. We had nobody drafted that year, but then six guys signed professionally after the draft. Nick was in that group.

[Guest AG/DC]

Yeah! Go, Evansville Otters!

[seawolf17]

Part two of my spring discussion with Nick is up. I realized this morning while clearing out my inbox that I forgot to put it up, so there you go. I sent him a few more questions as well.

http://www.theadmissionsblog.com

[Guest AG/DC]

Oooh, he straigtened you out but good.

Your response should have been, "Yeah, well, just to set the record straight with you, smart guy, Joe Hietpas was not a major league hitter."

[seawolf17]

Yeah, but that's really my bad for not doing my homework before I sent the question.

[seawolf17]

And Nick's been released after putting up a four-digit ERA so far with Binghamton.

Ah, Nick, we barely knew ye. I'm still counting you in my Mets autograph collection, though, kid.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

At least he's got a quality edumacation to fall back on.

[seawolf17]

Nick has landed on his feet, signing with the Lancaster Barnstormers, along with Antonio Alfonseca, who I remember being nicknamed "Pulpo," not "Seis Dedos," Mr. Atlantic League Press Release guy, and former Met farmhand Neil Musser.

Nick will be playing for former Met killers Von Hayes, who's managing the Barnstormers, and Tom Herr, his bench coach.

[Frayed Knot]

And Nick's been released after putting up a four-digit ERA so far with Binghamton.[/quote:3iwhxpy5]

So I guess Nick wasn't Abel, huh?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

So this guy appears to have been one of Rubin's sources in uncovering the whole Bernazard thing. Time for a followup interview!

[seawolf17]

Says where?

[Guest Edgy DC]

I hope his release wasn't related to animosity with the Bern.

[seawolf17]

I think his release was due to his animosity with getting outs.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Says where?

[Guest Edgy DC]

But it seemed like he was talking about, 'Here's the stats: There are X amount of guys. There's X amount of teams. Someone is getting fired.'

Well said, Tony.

Funny how this conflates with the Henry Louis Gates story.