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AA – Eastern League
New Hampshire Fisher Cats 10, Binghamton Mets 1
It drizzled at first pitch, and other than Bra
d Holt and Shawn Bowman, the B-Mets largely fizzled on Thursday night.
Holt started strong, retiring the Fisher Cats 1-2-3 in the first innings with two strikeouts. He mixed one curveball with a fastball that sat at 93 mph. B-Mets manager Mako Oliveras was impressed, with the beginning to Holt’s outing, “that first inning, he was outstanding.”
Holt explained that his first inning game plan was simple, I “just tried locating the fastball and go from there.” In his last outing, be had lasted only one third of an inning while giving up five runs, so even this time, he “wasn’t quite sure what to expect…. my last outing [I was] rusty being off two weeks and had no command of any pitches.”
Holt ran into immediate trouble in the second inning. After a single and a walk, he fought back from 3-0 count to strike out the left-handed Brian Jeroloman and then induced a soft fly-ball from the following batter. So, with two on, and two out, he was one out from escaping trouble. However, he grooved fastball that Al Quintana crushed to the centerfield wall for a two-run double. Holt thought he was almost too relaxed, “I got a little comfortable, and wasn’t concentrating as much” he said, “and the ball was just getting away from me a little bit.”
The only other two runs Holt allowed were on a bomb to firstbaseman Brian Dopirak in the third on another high heater. (As an aside, I saw Dopirak take Dillon Gee deep last year in the Florida State League, so maybe I’m his lucky charm. Or maybe it’s that Dopirak, who leads the Eastern League with 19 jacks has finally figured out to use his tremendous raw power that made him a former top prospect.)
Oliveras was pleased with Holt’s progress. As he said after the game, ” Iwas excited with the way he threw the ball.” In this respect, Holt agreed with his skipper, saying of his outing, “it was a step in the right direction.”
When I saw Holt last year, he hit 96. I didn’t see that Thursday night, but he sat 93 and was hit 94. However, his curve is now a real weapon. He induced both a swinging strike three and a called third strike with his hook. He struck out a hitter on a high fastball that was set up by a curveball on the previous offering. I’m going to post video of Holt’s curveball in the coming days. Oliveras, who can be effusive in his praise called the offering, “another plus pitch.”
Holt still is clearly not fully comfortable with his curveball as he gave himself a nod after throwing a good one. Moreover, his patterns became a little consistent. After starting a batter with a curve and then going fastball on the next pitch, he repeated he sequence to the next hitter (first pitch curve, second pitch fastball) and got hurt on his heater. When he learns to throw his deuce in a wider variety of counts, he’ll become very, very tough.
After the game, I was talking to a friend, and a monster Mets fan, about the evening’s action. I explained that Holt had made tremendous progress in the last year, but was still a long way from the big leagues. One of the things the conversation reinforced, is the purpose and need for minor league baseball.
The B-Mets only run of the night came on a solo homer from rightfielder Caleb Stewart to begin the second inning.
After Holt left the game, the B-Mets bullpen pitched at varying levels of effectiveness from Edgar Ramirez (ok), Stephen Clyne (ghastly – giving up eight straight hard hit balls in the seventh) and Roy Merritt (very hittable).
At the plate, 3B Shawn Bowman was 4-4 with three singles between third and short, and a double down the leftfield line. Bowman also started a very fine double play with a diving stab and strong throw to second. Oliveras was pleased with Bowman’s getting out front and pulling fastballs. “We talked to him because there was a stage where I think he was just feeling the ball the other way. I told him, “he’s gotta produce. He’s gotta be a run producer if he wants to get out of here… His glove, there’s no doubt in my mind that he can play in the big leagues right now,” said Oliveras.
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Its nice to hear good things about Holt.. its even better to hear his curveball is really developing; we all know his fastball is there. Im also not worried about his mistakes with when to throw certain pitches (ie: the patterns), he’ll learn with experience.
Bowman is hitting .293/.344/.456 with 7 HR, 34 RBI .. hes crushing LHP (1.095 ops in 76 at bats) .. is there any inkling of bumping him to AAA? And is there any other position he could play besides 3rd that would make him useful to the Mets eventually? He doesn’t seem like he has enough power for 1B (assuming he could even play there).. sounds like a solid trade chip since theres no future at 3B with Wright there.
Another option, of course, is to move Wright to 1st as I’ve heard Bowman is very natural at 3B (heard comparisons to Rolen defensively). This only makes sense if Bowman really turns it up a notch or two, and he is truly as good defensively as I’ve heard. I like him, but he has to start dominating for there to be any real discussion of that.
Toby,
First, did the ankle injury seem to be lingering at all? Did he look at all tentative on the mound, particularly when pushing off or landing (forget which ankle it was)?
Second, can you amplify on why you feel that Holt is still a long way from the major leagues? I agree with you that there is a purpose and need for minor league ball, and do not think that Holt should be pushed. On the other hand, looking at his progress throughout this year (“tremendous progress” you said) and how he was able to develop his curve ball into a “real weapon”, it seems like he could realistically be ready some time next year. Of course, this all depends upon whether he continues to improve. From reading your scouting on him from last night (which it must be noted was only his second start since missing several stars with an ankle injury, and could account for some of the results – I think the next few games he pitches will be a real litmus test for where he currently stands), it sounds like he has to work on four things:
1. mixing up his pitches better – i.e., becoming more of a pitcher than just a thrower;
2. continue working on his curve so it becomes a pitch he can throw comfortably more often (preferably at any time in the count);
3. location on his fastball, which I think is pretty good, but it sounds like he left some balls up last night; and
4. working on developing a change up.
Is it really unrealistic to believe that he can show sufficient improvement in nos. 1-3 to be able to pitch effectively in the bigs by next year? I have not heard much about his change up, so that one may take more time to develop. But considering his progress so far this year, it strikes me that he could be ready sooner rather than later.