MFS62

First game back tonight - gave up 3 R in 3 IP. Later

JCL - Mets Inside Pitch online has an article about your boy today. Unfortunately, I don't have a subscription. If you do, this is a heads-up. If not, maybe someone else here does. Anyone? Later

Don't give Yankee fans too much credit for creativity. B'sides, they probably wouldn't spend the money to buy a Mets uni. I'm guessing its a Mets fan trying for a treasured bullet of cool mention - and missing badly. (No, I was not involved in the production of that video.) Later

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Happy 18th birthday, kid. And happy ____ th birthday to my wife. (If I tell you, I'll have to kill you) Later

In those youth leagues, the best athlete, or at least the one with the best arm other than pitchers, usually plays shortstop. In the first post in this thread, I mentioned that they project him to weigh 240 pounds, definitely not a shortstop. But, about his speed, his last home run this year was an inside-the-parker. No reports if the outfielder needed medical attention. Later

http://www.baseballamerica.com...ospects/?p=5871 Mets shortstop Wilmer Flores won admirers last season for his impressive showing in the Rookie-level Appalachian League, in which he participated as a 16-year-old. A year older and wiser, the young Venezuelan hasn�t received quite the same fanfare this season as he competes in the low Class A South Atlantic League. Let�s view them side by side: WILMER FLORES, SS, METS YR TEAM LGE LVL PA AVG OBP SLG HR 2B BB SO CT% ISO BB/K �08 Kingsport Appy R 265 .310 .352 .490 8 12 12 28 88.6 .163 .36 �09 Savannah SAL LoA 375 .280 .317 .360 3 15 15 44 87.3 .075 .34 Flores, 17, has maintained his lofty contact rate and his mediocre walk-to-strikeout ratio even as he�s moved up a grade. His average and power production, though, have trailed off significantly as he grinds through his first full season of pro ball. He signed with the Mets for the ninth-highest bonus, $700,000, of the �07 international signing period. A scout for an AL club took note of those hitting qualities while seeing Flores in action this season. "Flores grew on me. He can hit," the scout said. "I don�t know how much power he�s going to have�and he�s a legit 25 runner with well below-average athleticism�but he has a knack for putting the barrel on the ball. And he shows plate discipline and pitch recognition at a young age. "His hands are really good and they allow him to manipulate the barrel and adjust to pitches in all parts of the zone. They help his defense, too. But he�s not a good athlete and he can�t run at all." Viewers of the Futures Game already have some familiarity with Flores� lack of footspeed. It seemed to take him days to run out an infield grounder during that prospect showcase, and he again showed well below-average speed in Sunday�s Sand Gnats game at Greensboro, a contest attended by a number of BA staffers. Flores went 1-for-4 with a double, but twice he grounded out sharply to third, the second time as part of a game-ending double play. In each at-bat, Flores worked the count to his favor, and of the 15 pitches he saw in four at-bats, he swung and missed only once, at an 86 mph fastball on the inner half. He fouled off one other pitch, but in every instance he was working ahead of the pitcher�2-1, 3-1, 1-0 and 2-1. In the first inning, Flores lined a 89 mph fastball, middle-in, from righthander Tom Koehler over the center fielder�s head for a double. The defense had been playing him slightly to pull. As Flores fills out his lanky 6-foot-3, 175-pound frame, scouts will be looking for increased power production from the righthanded hitter. "I think learning when he gets his pitch to really attack it will help him (hit for more power)," the scout said. "But now, he just lays the barrel on the ball and throws it in the alley or in front of a outfielder for a single or double. I think as he gets more experience, he�ll learn to really attack it when he gets his pitch. "He�s a big leaguer, I think, but not a shortstop for sure. And the approach has to improve, and he has to develop a lot more power if he�s going to be everyday on a corner." But Flores is a unique case. Not many prospects, not even those from Latin America, compete in full-season minor leagues at age 17-18. Later

A second baseman who can hit? http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=harris002alo Welcome to the family, kid. Later

I saw Ruckle pitch yesterday for Bingy against New Britain. He doesn't throw hard - mostly 84 on the stadium gun with one pitch at 87. His off speed pitch was consistently at 74. He tries to get batters out with a herky-jerky motion. He reminded me of ex-Senator pitcher Marty Kutyna. (Probably too far back for most folks to remember) Later

The lefty hitting first baseman was drafted last year by the Mets. He was slow to adapt to wood bats, and didn't show the power last yearthat the Mets had expected. This year, he hit seven homers at A ball and was promoted to Binghamton, where he has hit three more. I saw Davis play yesterday in the Binghamton, New Britain game. He got three hits, put the ball in play to get a runner home from third (Which puts him ahead of anyone now on the Mets roster), and made some really nice plays at first. Welcome to the family, kid. Later

I had heard that he left the game last night after 1 AB. Didn't know the nature of the injury. What's the prognosis? Side note: I'm going to take the grandkids to see Binghamton play at New Britain on Sunday , July 12. I was looking forward to see Thole in action. Hope he's back by then. Later

A note on Tejada from the B-Mets yesterday: Yesterday, Ruben Tejada managed a 2-3 day at the plate to raise his average to .285. The performance upped his hitting streak to 10 games, which is the longest current streak in the Eastern League. He is hitting .353 (12-34) during the stretch of 10 games and has raised his batting average 15 points. Last year, Tejada batted just .229 in 131 games with St. Lucie (High-A). He has already equaled his home run total from a year ago with two. Later

According to Yahoo, The movie has earned $400 million since its release, making it the highest grossing movie in the world this year. And I'm the only CPF-er who has voted? Later

From the administrator of a pay-fer website (Mets Inside Pitch), Brad was promoted to Binghamton today. Later

Maybe he's unsing International format with the day before the month. That, or dyslexia. Or a typo. Maybe we'll find out. Later

The prequel book that they made into a sequel movie. Later

He may be in extended spring training like my boy Jordan. Later

Jordan is still in extended ST, recovering from an injury. If Josh Thole gets promoted to AAA, maybe my kid will start in AA when ready. Later

The 1939 version was on tv last night, so it got me thinking about posting this. These are the only two versions I've seen, and I liked the 1939 version much better. It starts off with saying that "Pasha" Gordon was in trouble in the Sudan, the story of which is the basis for the movie Khartoum. That's why the British Army is marshalling its forces - to try to come to his rescue. And Gunga Din is one of my most favorite movies - ever. Charge didn't really do it for me. But if you like to see British soldiers of that era valliantly dying, I do recommend Zulu. Later

If you've seen both versions of The Four Feathers, which one do you think was better? The 2002 version had Heath Ledger. The 1939 version had Sir Ralph Richardson. Later

Kong76 wrote: Nice long piece in the NY Times this morning on Wilmer ... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/sports/baseball/15flores.html?_r=1&ref=sports Thanks. I just learned that my kid and my wife have the same birthday. Later

He went 1-4 with an RBI double in his first ST action with the "big club" weakened by the absence of WBC players. He's supposed to get another start today. Welcome, kid. Later

Spotted this guy in the new edition of the BaseballAmerica Almanac. You have to like a switch hitting catcher who can actually hit. http://minors.baseball-reference.com/players.cgi?pid=32455 Here's what a guy at Mets Inside Pitch (pay to read service) said about him:He's got good pop for his size, better from the left, very sound tools behind the plate but nothing that really stands out. Good plate coverage allows him to put a lot of balls in play. He does not strikeout much, but is not very patient either--doesn't work deep into counts. This was not in the piece, but warrants being mentioned: Even though he missed almost all of his first season, don't look at his time in Brooklyn this summer merely as a "demotion" or a dig at his value. It was more important that Abruzzo get consistent time behind the plate and Brooklyn was the only place that really afforded that. He was in the long-season leagues for the first half of the year and showed he can hit there by posting .300 average in 70-odd games. He shared time at St. Lucie early, but more so DH'ed in Savannah because of the need to get Pena behind the plate every day and Thole's ascension took playing time away from him in St. Lucie later on. Now he'll likely run into similar issues again in 2009 with Pena likely going to St. Lucie and Thole to Bingo, but there is a fairly good chance he goes to Bingo right out of camp. But the onus is on him to make the most out of his playing time. If you want me to tag him, he's just outside the Top 50." Later

And I'm right wid' 'dat. Later