Arizona Stink Weed

[Guest Edgy DC]

Nymr83 wrote: ="Edgy DC"]Why aren't we talking about that isolated power average of .364 that Michel Abreu is posting? sample size. if he puts that up next season i'll be talking about it more than any of you would like to hear also, isn't he a bit old for the AFL or even AA?

He's more than a bit old.

But talking about it how he sure can hit (.935 OPS at Bingo) sure beats carrying on the endless blahblah talk about overhyped prospects.

[MFS62]

Abreu is a Cuban defector. This was his first (or second) year in organized US ball. Minorleaguebaseball.com list his year of birth as 1979, but I recall stories when he signed that he may be 1-3 years older than that.
Hey, compared to Julio Franco, he's just a kid.
He's also listed at 6'0", 220 pounds, so it sounds like first base/ PH is where we might see him.

Later

[metirish]

quote]

Pelfrey has own October

Met rookie rises in Fall League

BY ADAM RUBIN
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER



MESA, Ariz. - The night of Steve Trachsel's short-lived outing in St. Louis during Game 3 of the NLCS, Mike Pelfrey also took the mound.
The 2005 first-round pick, who once figured to be a contributor to the Mets' postseason, instead was tossing a scoreless inning against the Peoria Saguaros at Hohokam Park in his Arizona Fall League debut.

Of course, he still had one eye on the television throughout the Mets' playoff run.

"When we didn't have a game, when we weren't playing, then we were watching on TV at home," said Pelfrey, who is living with Mets farmhands and Mesa Solar Sox teammates Bobby Malek and Blake McGinley during the AFL season.

Pelfrey took extra pleasure from Oliver Perez's and John Maine's postseason performances - particularly Maine's, as a fellow rookie. He called Maine after the Mets' elimination to offer congratulations on his showing. Maine, a teammate of Pelfrey's at Triple-A Norfolk and with the Mets during in '06, went 1-0 with a 2.63 ERA in three October starts, including a huge Game6 win in the NLCS, when he tossed 5-1/3 scoreless innings against eventual-champion St. Louis with the Mets facing elimination.

"The main thing is they went out and they put the team in position to win," Pelfrey said. "Especially when it's a younger guy, and he's contributing, you feel awesome."

As he watched, Pelfrey couldn't help but feel that maybe he could have been part of the Mets' first postseason in six years. He went 2-1 with a 5.48 ERA in four major-league starts. But he suffered a lat muscle strain late in the season with Triple-A Norfolk and made only one appearance with the Tides after Aug. 6. His back was still sore when he returned to the Mets on Sept. 13, and Pelfrey never made any appearances the rest of the season. He still labels the injury 90%.

"If I didn't get hurt I thought there was a possibility I could have been there throwing," Pelfrey said. "Everything happens for a reason. Now I'm working on things and trying to get better so the next time they're in the postseason I'm there."

In September, Pelfrey worked with Rick Peterson on a slider. The pitching coach instructed him to stop throwing the curveball he brought from Wichita State, which actually resembled a slurve. The curveball ranged from 78-82 mph, while the slider is thrown harder.

"It looks like a fastball and then has late movement," Pelfrey said. "I'm throwing it more and more, and I think it's going to be a better pitch for me in the long run. So far I've been throwing it in the game a lot and I'm getting more consistent with it. I think it will be there for that extra pitch. Peterson said for my game - my fastball and my changeup - I needed something that looks kind of the same that goes the opposite direction (away from righties)."

Pelfrey remains a work in progress, though he can foresee a scenario in which he joins Maine and Perez in the '07 rotation out of spring training, while Pedro Martinez recovers from rotator-cuff surgery. He walked 12 in 21-1/3 innings with the Mets.

On Friday, in an AFL all-star game, he loaded the bases in the first inning with none out. Then he struck out three straight prospects swinging - Cleveland's Kevin Kouzmanoff, Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury and St. Louis' Amaury Marti - while relying on his fastball.

"I'm just really trying to go out here and get better so in spring training I put them in a tough spot where they say, 'Hey, we don't want to send you to Triple-A' - or wherever they're going to send me," Pelfrey said. "I just want to go out there and prove that I belong, that I can pitch at that level, and get the opportunity."

FREE: Jose Valentin and Michael Tucker filed for free agency yesterday, joining Cliff Floyd, Orlando Hernandez, Ricky Ledee, Steve Trachsel and Chris Woodward on the list of Mets who have submitted their paperwork.

Originally published on October 30, 2006

[Guest Edgy DC]

They're missing the best part of Pelfrey's AFL tour:

Pitchers rule day in Rising Stars Showcase

Heavy-hitting AFL quieted by some of game's top pitching prospects

By Jim Street / MLB.com

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- All it takes is a short memory to recall the days when the Arizona Fall League was considered a hitters' haven.

Last season comes to mind.

AFL teams combined to score more runs than ever, the league batting average was a record high, there were more home runs hit per game and the league ERA was the highest in the AFL's 14-year history.

But in Friday night's inaugural Rising Stars Showcase, the pitchers stole the show.

There were more strikeouts (23) than hits (15) and walks were minimal (five) as the East handed the West a 3-1 setback before 2,373 fans at Surprise Stadium.

"I thought it was going to be an offensive game, but it definitely was a pitchers' game," East manager Tony DeFrancesco said. "When you put a group like this together, the top pitchers in the league, they can impress a lot of people."

And impress, they did.

The deciding runs came with two outs in the seventh inning. Catcher Curtis Thigpen reached on a walk and scored on a double to right field by Jamie D'Antona.

Eighteen-year-old Fernando Martinez, the youngest player in the AFL this season, delivered a run-scoring single up the middle.

"There has been a lot of offense in the league this year, but that was a well-pitched game -- by both sides," West manager Randy Ready said. "Some of the best pitchers in the league were out there tonight, and it showed."

The first three strikeouts of the game just might have been the most important ones all night.

Right-hander Mike Pelfrey, one of the Mets' top pitching prospects, found himself in a bases-loaded, no-out predicament in the first inning. After gathering his composure, he proceeded to strike out the next three batters.

"It would have been nice to scratch one across right there," Ready said, "but Pelfrey turned it up a notch and got out of it with no damage at all. We could have blown it open right there."

Francesco agreed.

"That was the game right there," he said. "I'm sure he was a little nervous when he first went out there. But he got his composure back and made some quality pitches."

The East scored the game's first run in the second inning, and was lucky to get it.

Center fielder Hunter Pence walked with one out and broke for second base an instant before left-handed Gio Gonzalez threw to first. Pence was caught in a rundown, but made it back to first base safely when the East team botched the rundown.

Pence stole second on the next pitch, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball. Gonzalez ended up with two strikeouts in the inning, but still surrendered a run.

But his team pulled even in the third when Amaury Marti singled, went to second on a walk and scored when shortstop Michael Garciparra bounced into a forceout at second base.

The West left the bases loaded in the first and seventh innings, stranding 12 overall.

"We just lacked the timely hit," Ready said.

The most timely hit came off D'Antona's bat in the seventh inning. He had replaced Scott Moore at first base in the sixth inning and came to bat with two outs and Thigpen on first via a walk.

"I was still a little cool coming off the bench and just wanted to make good contact," D'Antona said. "I didn't make good contact, but the ball went over his (first baseman Joe Koshansky's) head."

DeFrancesco had Thigpen running on the 1-and-2 pitch and the runner scored easily to put the East ahead to stay.

"Thiggy runs well for a catcher and with two strikes, I decided to put him in motion. That was a big play for us," DeFrancesco added.

And so was the ball Martinez slapped up the middle, driving in an insurance run off lefty reliever Tony Sipp, who had just replaced right-hander Devin Perrin, the losing pitcher.

"We had the matchup we wanted and the ball scoots under his (Sipp) glove for their third run," Ready said. "They pitched well, but we pitched well too. Everybody had good location and zip on their pitches.

"They made good pitches when they had to."

Right-hander Marcus McBeth pitched the ninth inning for the save. He struck out two.

It was that kind of a night.

--Jim Street/MLB.com

Jim Street is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.

[MFS62]

I think Martinez' hit was as a pinch hitter.
And the fact that he hit it off a lefty makes me feel all tingly.

Later

[Guest Edgy DC]

Final Numbers:

Player	POS	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	E
Michel Abreu	1B	22	93	16	26	7	0	6	25	51	12	11	1	0	.280	.362	.548	.910	2
Bobby Malek	OF	25	88	9	20	6	1	1	12	31	9	17	0	1	.227	.306	.352	.658	0
Fernando Martinez	OF	25	87	16	22	5	0	2	7	33	5	17	1	3	.253	.305	.379	.685	5

Player	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	HB	BB	SO	WHIP	HLD	GF
Philip Humber	0	0	4.50	1	1	0	0	0	2.0	2	1	1	0	0	1	3	1.50	0	0
Kevin Mulvey	0	2	6.00	5	5	0	0	0	15.0	17	12	10	1	2	8	7	1.67	0	0
Mike Pelfrey	0	0	0.00	2	1	0	0	0	4.0	1	0	0	0	0	2	2	0.75	0	0
Blake McGinley	1	1	2.70	6	1	0	0	0	10.0	6	3	3	2	0	4	12	1.00	1	1
Brandon Nall	1	0	0.00	2	0	0	0	0	2.0	1	0	0	0	2	1	0	1.00	0	0

What stands out are the crappy stolen-base numbers for our fleet young outfielders (their teammate Eric Patterson [Cubs]) had 15) and those 5 errors of Martinez's, seemingly all in the second half of the season.

Oh, yeah, Abreu's power is a curiosity also.

[Vic Sage]

Can Abreu play LF?
Is McGinley going to get a legitimate look next Spring?

[Guest Edgy DC]

It sure would be nice if Abreu could make the team backing up outfield as well as first, because we already have two guys pretty well nailed to first.

I can't find out if the Mets have tried him there. I found a snarky critique at a roto site:

Michel Abreu (1B, NYM, AA)

� Slower than Javier Lopez with David Ortiz strapped to his back. I celebrated two birthdays while he was trying to run out a ground ball. On a play at the plate, the catcher remembered he had left an iron on, caught a bus back to his apartment, turned off the iron, made a cup of coffee, waited for it to cool down, drank it, couldn�t catch a bus so walked back to the stadium, took the throw from the outfield, and still found that he had to run up the line to get Abreu who had tagged from third. Abreu has what scouts call �calendar speed.� Carlos Delgado + glacial speed + 27 years old in AA = fuggedabouddit.

But consider the source there.

If McGinley beats the Rule V again, I can't imagine the Mets wouldn't look at him. You get three pitchers in the whole organization to send to Arizona. You don't waste those spots on guys you don't want to look at.

[metirish]

A truely awful cliche driven critique from that person.

[nymr83]

yeah, if you're gonna trash his speed you can stop after "lopez carrying ortiz on his back" we didn't need the rest. all that tells us is that he's slow, ok so what? mike piazza, john olerud, and robin ventura were slow too. i wish they'd have devoted some time to his positives.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

Javing Julio under contract for this season sucks for Abreu. I would like to see him get a chance, his numbers in AA were excellent and even if he is 27, we aren't looking for an everyday player here. His bat has to have more life in it than Franco's did last, where he actually started to look kinda old.