Tuesday, the Mets traded minor league 3B Jefry Marte to the Oakland A’s for OF Collin Cowgill.
Cowgill, who will be 27 in May 2013, obviously fills a need for the Mets: he can play the outfield and bat right-handed becoming the first Met in 2013 who can do both of those things. In a whopping 95 MLB plate appearances, he’s hit .298/.379/.405 with five extra-base hits and 11 walks against 23 strikeouts against lefthanded pitching. He’s also hit a pathetic .223/.273/.241 in 121 PA against RHP.
His splits are not nearly so dramatic for the last two years in the minors where he hit .281/.330/.536 in 207 PA vs. LHP and .327/.402/.456 in 538 PA vs. RHP. In case you were wondering, in the minors he had a .376 BABIP versus righties and .306 vs. LHP. In the majors, he had a .389 BABIP vs. LHP and a .309 average vs. RHP. Head spinning a little? His high BABIP against righties in the minors disguised a player with a significant platoon split, while his BABIP luck probably exaggerate the extent of his platoon split in the big leagues. That doesn’t make sense.
Marte was a frustrating prospect. In the last three years, I had him ranked #12, #31 and #25 last year. He was going to move up a few spots, but remain outside the top 20 this year coming off a .251/.322/.366 season in double-A in the season in which he turned 21 in June. He got off to a crazy start in April, hitting .358/.421/.478 in May, but then did not hit .265 again in any full month in 2012. However, dig a little deeper, however, and Marte’s numbers continue to show incremental improvement over his previous campaigns. His 2012 strikeout rate of 14.8 was his lowest in a full-season down from a high of 22.2% back in 2009 in the South Atlantic League, and had dropped every season since. His 1.8% HR rate was his highest ever, up from 1.1% in 2009. His 2012 walk rate of 8.4% was similarly, his best ever and he’s been above 7.6% in every season since 2010 in the SAL. That’s the good statistically.
He’s a strong, thickly built kid. That’s neither good nor bad. Strength is good for hitting. Bulk is bad for running and trying to play third base – a position that requires an incredible degree of agility.
And lets talk about Marte’s work at third base. It has never been pretty. He committed 49 errors in Savannah in 2009 and 25 in 2010. He was better, although not ready to play major league defense at third. He dropped down to 15 errors in 2012, his lowest number in any full season. He also played a quintet of rough games at first. Note that his range factor (the number of plays he actually made per game) of 2.15 was less than in his two seasons in Savannah. I’m just not sold on the idea of Jefry Marte ever playing an MLB caliber third base. His arm is weak for the position and neither his hands nor feet are anything better ok.
Can the 21-year old Marte’s bat continue to develop to the point that he can support a move to first base? Can his defense improve to the point where it’s just below average instead of completely unacceptable? These are worthwhile risks for the A’s to take. And strong enough questions to allow the Mets to make an improvement to their outfield, especially against LHP in 2013.
So, I started to do this as a mid-season prospect review, then got derailed by a few other projects. Instead this will become a piece of the post-season wrap of 2012 around here.
Part three, on players 26-30 is here, part two on players 31-35 is here, part one, on players #36-41 is here.
#21 – Philip Evans
What I Thought: After the Mets signed him for the third-largest bonus in their 2011 draft class, he was a worthwhile middle infield prospect.
Reality: He’s a worthwhile middle infield prospect. Evans clearly made use of his winter, and spring, by the time he reported to Brooklyn, the 19-year old’s arms were huge by minor league or middle-infielder standards anywhere. I saw him make solid contact, but nearly everything was yanked in the direction of left-center field. He’s already patient for a young hitter. However, he’ll need to learn to go the other way at least a little bit to keep his average up at higher levels. I’m not sold that Evans’ has the range to play shortstop everyday (see also: only two stolen bases in 73 games in Brooklyn), or the arm.
Stock: Similar
On the Next Top 41? Yup.
Basic
|
|
G |
AB |
H |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
SO |
AVG |
OBP |
SLG |
| 2011 Total |
9 |
34 |
10 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
.294 |
.351 |
.412 |
| 2012 NYP |
73 |
294 |
74 |
8 |
1 |
5 |
31 |
48 |
.252 |
.328 |
.337 |
Advanced
|
|
XBH% |
SO% |
BB% |
HR% |
BABIP |
ISO |
| 2011 TOT |
10.8 |
13.5 |
8.1 |
0.0 |
.345 |
.118 |
| 2012 NYP |
4.3 |
14.6 |
9.4 |
1.5 |
.285 |
.085 |
#22 – LHP Juan Urbina
What I Thought: He was a projectable left-hander.
Reality: He’s a rail-thin 6’2″ with little strength and no stuff. The night I saw him in Brooklyn, he topped out at 86 mph with his fastball that he had trouble locating, and mixed in a lousy, slurvy breaking ball.
Stock: Gone. (As an aside, ranking him at #14 two years ago looks awful.)
On the Next Top 41? No chance.
Basic
|
ERA |
G/GS |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
HR |
BB |
SO |
| 10 GCL |
5.03 |
11/11 |
48.33 |
54 |
32 |
27 |
5 |
14 |
38 |
| 11 APP |
5.95 |
12/12 |
56 |
68 |
43 |
37 |
9 |
20 |
49 |
| 12 NYP |
3.60 |
3/0 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
| 12 APP |
5.11 |
9/0 |
12.33 |
9 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
16 |
18 |
#23 – RHP Chris Schwinden
What I Thought: He had a chance as a fifth starter/long man type.
Reality: He was designated for assignment and claimed four different times in a month, passing from the Mets to the Jays to the Yankees, to the Indians and back to the Mets. That’s pretty funny. Certainly funnier than his 0-1 record and 12.46 ERA with 13 runs on 15 hits allowed in 8.2 innings in the big leagues this year. Returned to AAA, he was a capable AAA starter.
Stock: Nearly zero.
On the Next Top 41? No
#24 – INF Josh Satin
What I Thought: He was going to be a big league utility guy.
Reality: Satin picked up one big league plate appearance, was designated for assignment, cleared waivers and then served as a everyday guy in AAA, rotating between first base (79 games), second (36) and third (9) over the course of 131 games.
Stock: Priced at only a penny
On the Next Top 41? Nope. He’ll be 28 by Opening Day 2013. He’ll play in AAA for a few more years but will never be a valuable big league roster piece.
Basic
|
G |
AB |
H |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
SO |
SF |
SAC |
HBP |
AVG |
OBP |
SLG |
| 2011 AA |
94 |
338 |
110 |
35 |
2 |
11 |
57 |
91 |
5 |
0 |
4 |
.325 |
.423 |
.538 |
| 2011 AAA |
38 |
145 |
46 |
8 |
0 |
1 |
14 |
33 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.317 |
.381 |
.393 |
| 2011 Minors |
132 |
483 |
156 |
43 |
2 |
12 |
71 |
124 |
5 |
0 |
5 |
.323 |
.411 |
.495 |
| 2011 MLB |
15 |
25 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.200 |
.259 |
.240 |
| 2012 AAA |
131 |
441 |
126 |
25 |
1 |
14 |
77 |
109 |
6 |
0 |
3 |
.286 |
.391 |
.442 |
#25 – 3B Jefry Marte
What I Thought: Marte’s walk and strikeout rates showed improvement in an otherwise quiet 2011 in St. Lucie. Concerns about his defense and eventual ceiling kept him down the list.
Reality: More of the same, but just a little bit better all the way across the board at a higher level in the season in which he turned 21. His strikeout rate ticked down, his walk rate and extra-base hit rates ticked up, and his isolated slugging all rose. His 16 errors were his fewest over a full season.
Stock: Quietly, up.
On the Next Top 41? Yes.
Basic
|
G |
AB |
H |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
SO |
SF |
SAC |
HBP |
AVG |
OBP |
SLG |
OPS |
| 2011 FSL |
131 |
483 |
120 |
22 |
2 |
7 |
41 |
86 |
6 |
0 |
7 |
.248 |
.313 |
.346 |
.659 |
| 2012 EL |
129 |
462 |
116 |
20 |
3 |
9 |
43 |
76 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
.251 |
.322 |
.366 |
.687 |
Advanced
|
XBH% |
SO% |
BB% |
HR% |
BABIP |
ISO |
| 2011 FSL |
5.8 |
16.0 |
7.6 |
1.3 |
.285 |
.097 |
| 2012 EL |
6.2 |
14.8 |
8.4 |
1.8 |
.282 |
.115 |
Last night, in a 3-2 loss, the Binghamton Mets lined up with Wilmer Flores at third, Reese Havens at second and Jefry Marte (pictured) at first. It was only Marte’s fifth game at first. The B-Mets used this configuration four other times: July 2, 21, 31, and August 4.
I’m surprised that we have not seen this lineup more. While he’s still learning both positions, I think Flores has a better chance to play third than second in the big leagues. The same range issues that forced him off short will be a problem at second. He has the hands and arm for third, as long as he can handle the quick reactions. I like Flores’ hands and arm at third better than Marte’s.
The reason to keep Marte at third as long as possible is simply that I’m not sure that Marte’s bat (.255/.326/.375 – 117 games) can support a move to first. It certainly can’t support a move to first hitting like that. Sure, he’s only 21 in AA, and he’s always been young for his level, but at some point, he’ll have to produce. Still, I figured it would make sense to get him a little more exposure to first.
By contrast, Flores (.289/.340/.421 – 52 games) has played six games at first, 18 at second and 21 at third. Flores has seen so much time at second in part because Reese Havens missed over a week with a recent back strain, and even in his healthy periods, the Mets have managed his playing time carefully. The other thing that I think might have led to Flores seeing a little more time at first relative to Marte early in his AA tenure is that the bat is better. Thus, if they think Flores’ bat can help sooner, finding him a place to play, or at least, making him useful enough to stand at every infield position becomes a bigger priority.
An 0-for-3 dropped Havens, at age 25 to .230/.362/.368 with103 strikeouts in 87 games.
Of course, Wilfredo Tovar (.214/.269/.279) played short as he has done in all of his 46 games in AA. A gifted defender, the question has been whether he will hit enough to hold an everyday job in the big leagues. At 21 in the Eastern League, the answer is still no, for now.
On the mound, LHP Darin Gorski (3.81 ERA, 2.2 K/BB) did this: 7 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 9 K. One of the walks was intentional, but he also hit a batter. In each of his last nine starts, he’s either walked three batters or more, or given up a homerun. These facts are related. If a pitcher cannot miss bats and his command is ordinary or worse, either he is forced to nibble and give up free bases, or come into the zone too fat and give up homers.
Who plays where in AA? This became a question last week, when the Mets promoted Wilmer Flores, who had been playing thirdbase at advanced-A St. Lucie all year, and SS Wilfredo Tovar, the system’s best defensive shortstop, to join Binghamton incumbents 3B Jefry Marte and 2B Reese Havens.
Tovar’s easy. He plays short, as he did Thursday through Saturday before he got a day off Sunday in favor of back up Sean Kazmar.
And everyone else?
|
Flores |
Marte |
Havens |
| Thursday |
3B |
DH |
2B |
| Friday |
DH |
3B |
2B |
| Saturday |
2B |
3B |
DH |
| Sunday |
3B |
DH |
2B |
This all looks reasonable. Flores played third base twice, second once and DH’ed once. Marte played third twice and DH’ed twice while Reese Havens played three games at second and DH’ed once. Scouts who saw the 20-year old Flores at third in St. Lucie generally did not speak well of his defense in his first year at the position. More than one said, “he’s not a quick-twitch guy,” or some very close variant of the phrase, to describe why they were not fond of his work. Flores took an 0-for on Saturday, but bounced back with four hits and two doubles Sunday and is off to an 8-for-17 (.471) start with three doubles in his first four games at AA.
Havens picked up two hits and two walks Saturday and homered and walked on Sunday and struck out twice. The 25-year old is now up to .197/.332/.318 with 30 walks and 53 strikeouts in 48 games in AA this year. His days as the Mets’ “second baseman of the future” are just about over.
After a hitless weekend with a pair of walks Saturday, Marte is sitting at .269/.336/.401 in 66 games of AA.
The one thing that has not happened yet that I figured would be part of this rotation is that Marte has not played first base. In the Arizona Fall League in 2011, he played 11 games at first and 10 at third. I would wager it will happen soon enough for Binghamton, although he has never played first in a regular season minor league game.
One of the reasons that Marte has not yet played first has been the resurgent Eric Campbell. The 25-year old played first for Binghamton each of the last four games. He’s enjoyed a terrific bounce-back year in his third go-round in the Eastern League, hitting .330/.440/.503 with 33 walks against just 29 strikeouts in 54 games. He’s third in the Eastern League in batting and first in on-base percentage. Originally a thirdbaseman at Boston College, the right-handed hitting Campbell has also played 15-25 games in leftfield annually since he was drafted in the 8th round in 2008.
Campbell actually had two different 2011 campaigns with a markedly better second half than first half. He hit .210/.334/.272 in 257 AB before the AA All-Star Break in last year and .311/.364/.466 after. Anyway, it’s probably time for Campbell, who has played just three games in leftfield this year, to mix in some starts out there. That, and then see what he can do in Buffalo as a 1B/LF/3B, for a Bisons’ team that could use a little help.
If you want to do your own box-score diving, here’s Saturday and Sunday.
AA: Binghamton Mets 9, @ Trenton Thunder (NYY) 7
Lets talk hitting prospects.
CF
Matt den Dekker was 5-for-5 with two doubles to lift his season line to .336/.395/.563 in 56 games. The 24-year old is ripping righties at .341/.396/.606 in 170 AB, but more than holding his own against lefties at .322/.394/.441 in 59 AB. His on-base percentage against lefties is supported by four HBP, (He’s drawn one vs. RHP), but hey, anything that works, right? Den Dekker is up to second in the Eastern League in batting average, fifth in on-base percentage, leading the league in slugging, doubles (20) and extra-base hits (32). Combine that offensive production with strong defense in centerfield and he’s looking more and more like a valuable big leaguer. There’s no harm in keeping him in AAA for a few more weeks if the Mets want to reward him with an Eastern League All-Star game appearance, but at this point, he has earned a shot at AAA.
In a related note, CF Andres Torres is hitting .216/.333/.324 overall, and an anemic .171/.273/.263 in 76 AB vs. right-handed pitching in 2012.
Don’t ignore the work of 3B
Jefry Marte, who was 3-for-4 with a home run, his fifth, and a walk to climb back to .301/.367/.446 in 52 games as a 20-year old in AA. The fact that he’s four years younger than den Dekker, is awfully important. Marte has struck out just 25 times to den Dekker’s 62 whiffs while drawing one fewer walk (19 to 20).
Gonzalez Germen was pretty good: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 1 HR to lower his ERA to 4.50.
1. 1B/3B/OF/C Vinny Rottino is back and RHP Chris Schwinden is headed back to AAA Buffalo.
Things that make the 32-year old Rottino an attractive fit on the May 2012 Mets roster:
- He’s on the 40-man roster.
- He bats right-handed.
- He can hit. He’s after a three-homer game Saturday, he’s up to .307/.361/.479 in 36 games in Buffalo in 2012. That’s no small-sample size aberration; he’s a career .294/.360/.436 hitter in seven seasons in AAA.
- He abuses lefties. He was hitting .333/.361/.606 in 33 AB vs. lefties in the Internal League this year. Last year, in 119 AB it was .353/.394/.454 for New Orleans. In 2010 in AA he smoked ‘em at a .323/.428/.511 clip in 133 AB.
- He owns lots of different baseball gloves. Here are his minor league games played by position: C – 303, 1B – 164, LF – 197, RF – 87, OF – 70, 3B – 223, SS – 3, 2B – 1, P – 1. Versatility is a good thing.
- Can he really catch? Right now, he’s the Mets’ third catcher. Can he be a backup? The most he ever worked behind the plate were the 2007 and 2008 seasons in AAA with Nashville when he caught 57 and 101 games respectively and threw out 35% and 28% of attempted thieves against him, two of his four best three career marks. He nailed 33% of runners against him in New Orleans in 2011 in 39 games.
2. In the New York Post, Tim Bontemps catches up on the progress of Jefry Marte. Said B-Mets manager Pedro Lopez: “We have a philosophy that we’re trying to execute, and having a kid like Jefry, at 20 years old, being able to buy into our hitting philosophy, I think it’s paid big dividends for him.”
3. Baseball America place Binghamton CF Matt den Dekker at #13 on their weekly Prospect Hot Sheet and recognized Jefry Marte “in the team photo.” About den Dekker, they wrote in part, “The center fielder out of Florida still has a high strikeout rate, but his improving average and power numbers show signs of promise.”
AAA: Indianapolis Indians (PIT) 4, @ Buffalo Bisons 1
On a bullpen day for both teams, former Marlin Rick VandenHurk and two Indians held the Bisons to just two singles all day.
2B Jordany Valdespin, who hit a pinch-hit home run in his return to AAA Saturday had a rough Sunday: 0-for-3 with two errors.
AA: Binghamton Mets 11, @ Portland Sea Dogs (BOS) 7
Portland could not stop the B-Mets offense Sunday. Binghamton scored in eight of the nine innings, rapped out 12 hits and drew seven walks.
The three hitters, all of whom are good prospects, 3B Jefry Marte, CF Matt den Dekker and RF Juan Lagares, who have been carrying the Binghamton attack, had good days.
- den Dekker (pictured) was 3-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to 15 straight games. He’s hitting .353 (23 H/63 AB) over his streak with 10 extra-base hits. Overall, the 24-year old is up to .309/.369/.527 in 40 games.
- Marte was 1-3 with the B-Mets’ only home run in the game. After going the first 29 games of the season with a homerun, the 20-year old Marte now has three jacks in his last seven games and is up to .326/.396/.462 overall in 36 games.
- Lagares was 3-for-5 with a double, his eighth of the year. In the midst of a .344/.373/.453 line in 16 games in May, the 23-year old is up to .296/.359/.401 overall in 38 games; it’s the closest he’s been to a .300 batting average all year.
2B Reese Havens was 1-for-5. After going hitless for six straight games, he had a single hit in both Saturday and Sunday’s games and is sitting at .148/.268/.246 in 18 games in AA this year.
Greg Peavey was hittable, but hung around long enough to get the win: 5 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 HR, 3 BB, 2 K. He’s allowed 51 hits and has just 26 strikeouts against 10 walks in 39.2 IP this year.
Matt den Dekker photo courtesy Michael Baron.
AA: @ Binghamton Mets 12, Trenton Thunder (NYY) 3
Zack Wheeler yielded a two-run homer in the first inning, but it was quickly buried by a nine-run second inning from the B-Mets’ offense and Wheeler’s own solid work over the subsequent six innings. His final line: 7 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 8 K. He threw 66% of his pitches (62 of 93) for strikes. I’m a broken record on this, but Wheeler’s control is the thing keeping him from AAA. He’s working with a plus fastball and a plus slider, but as the four walks Thursday illustrate, his location can come and go. He’s walked 12% of the batters he’s seen (4.5 BB/9).
Lots of hitting stars in this one as seven different B-Mets had at least two hits.
At the top of the order, 24 year old CF Mat den Dekker (.305/.363/.543) was 3-for-4 with two more doubles.
Juan Lagares, who was 2-for-5, is making up for his slow start by continuing his steady assault on .300 and is up to .291/.354/.396 in 36 games as a 23-year old.
Jefry Marte was 2-for-4 (.311/.370/.434 – 33 games) with a double, a homer, his second of the year, and a walk. The 20-year old had slowed down in May after a hot start, but the six total bases are a season single-game high.
Who did not have two hits? 2B Reese Havens was 0-for-2 before he was ejecting arguing balls and strikes.
AAA: @ Buffalo Bisons 4, Gwinnett Braves 2
Braves’ top prospect Julio Teheran walked five Bisons in four innings. On back-to-back nights the Bisons handed losses to Jair Jurrgens and Teheran, but somewhat remarkably, it did not matter to the big Braves, who won to reclaim first place in the NL East in large part on the strength of an offense that has scored 207 runs, tied with the Cardinals for best in the NL.
Meanwhile, Chris Schwinden was 2-for-2 at the plate and effective on the mound, yielding just two runs on six hits in his six innings. He fanned four and walked two while lowering his ERA to 2.54.
The closest MLB help for the Mets probably came out of the bullpen where Elvin Ramirez gave up just one hit and struck out two more batters in his 1.1 innings. He has not walked a batter in seven innings in AAA, while fanning eight. Between AA and AAA his K/BB is now 3.4 (24 K/7 BB) in 20 IP. … Coming soon to a bullpen near you!
AA: @ Binghamton Mets 1, Trenton Thunder 0
CF Matt den Dekker led off the bottom of the ninth in a 0-0 game with a double, and then after Josh Rodriguez bunted for a base hit and Reese Havens walked to load the bases, 3B Jefry Marte delivered a line drive into right field to bring home den Dekker with the winning run. Den Dekker now is part of a three-way tie for first place in the Eastern League with 13 doubles and is alone in first with 21 extra-base hits while bopping .293/.355/.524 in 36 games. Perhaps even more importantly, he’s trimmed his strikeout rate from 29% in AA in 2011 to 23.6% in 106 PA April to 18% in 61 PA in May.
Despite the walk in the ninth inning, Reese Havens was 0-for-2. He’s hitless in his last four games and is sitting at .146/.255/.250 (7-for-48) with seven walks in 14 games thus far.
Marte had slowed down after a hot April, and has just one extra base hit in the month of May. However, he drove two balls to the warning track Wednesday and is still hitting .305/.362/.398 overall in 32 games as a 20-year old in AA where he is the fourth-youngest player.
Meanwhile on the hill, Collin McHugh scattered six singles in seven scoreless innings to drop his ERA to 2.05. He struck out six and walked one to move his K/BB ratio to 2.8 (42 K/15 BB) in 48.1 innings of work for the B-Mets. McHugh has earned his way to AAA, now he’s just waiting for an injury or opening in the AAA rotation.
AAA: @ Buffalo Bisons 14, Gwinnett Braves 7
The Bisons outhit Gwinett 17-15 and out-homered them 2-1 to win a slugfest. The Bisons touched Jair Jurrjens for 11 runs, 10 earned on 12 hits and two walks in 4.2 innings. When the Braves sent Jurrjens down to AAA, I doubt that’s what they had in mind.
OF/C Vinny Rottino was 2-for-4 with a walk to extend his hitting streak to 19 straight games. He is one away from tying Toledo’s Brad Eldred for the longest streak in the IL this year. Since April 18, he has hit .338 (25-74) with eight extra-base hits with the Bisons sandwiched around an 0-for-4 in the big leagues.
None of the Bisons’ pitchers (Garrett Olson, Jack Egbert, Chuck James or Justin Hampson) were particularly effective. It was the first action in 15 days for James who had been sidelined with a back strain.
AA: Binghamton Mets 7, @ New Hampshire Fisher Cats 6
3B Jefry Marte broke a 5-5 tie with a two-run homerun in the seventh to put the B-Mets up two. It was his first homerun of the year, and his first extra-base hit in a dozen games. After a hot April (.358/.421/.478 – 19 games) the 20-year old cooled down considerably in May (.256/.304/.326 – 11 games) and committed a pair of costly errors this week. He’s still hitting .318/.377/.418 overall.
CF Matt den Dekker was 2-for-5 with a two-run double and a solo home run. Now hitting .295/.361/.525, 19 of the 24-year old’s 41 hits have gone for extra-bases which helps explain his .356 BABIP. Even with 36 strikeouts in 34 games, he’s trimmed his strikeout rate from 29% in AA in 2011 to 22.6% in 2012. He’s abused righties at a .324/.377/.602 rate in 108 AB while hitting .194/.306/.258 against lefties in 31 AB. The Mets’ current lefty-heavy lineup and outfield now present an interesting problem for den Dekker.
RHP Greg Peavey was not really sharp: 5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 HR. He’s been hurt in the zone as his 4 HR and 43 H in 34.2 IP attest. He’s not walking guys (1.8 BB/9), but his strikeout rate (6.2 K/9) is a close match for advanced-A in 2011 (6.4).
LHP Robert Carson picked up the save while allowed a run in 1.2 innings. It was the first earned run he had allowed since April 10th, interrupting a run of nine straight appearances without yielding an earned run. The move to the bullpen has been kind to Carson. His strikeout rate is up to 20%, his best at any level since 2010 and his walk rate is down to 6%, also his best since 2010. He’s not ready yet, but store hims away as a hard-throwing left-handed bullpen piece.
No A-ball games Sunday. St. Lucie was scheduled for an off-day and the Gnats were rained out in Hickory.
