SSA: @ Brooklyn Cyclones 3, Vermont Lake Monsters 1

Collin McHugh held Vermont to one run on three hits in six innings to improve to 8-2 with a 2.84 ERA.  He fanned five and walked two.  He worked off a fastball in the upper 80s and a soft curveball around 71 that gives NYP League hitters trouble.

Jordany Valdespin (pictured) was 2-4 with a double up the rightcenter field gap, an infield single and a run scored.  He made a very impressive throw on a rely from rightfield where his ball appeared to pick up speed before hopping into 3B Richard Lucas’s glove.  One scout was impressed; he “handles the bat well,” the veteran talent evaluator said.  After the game, Valdespin asked for a translator before doing an interview, but demonstrated enough command of the English language to answer questions.  As to what happened in Savannah, he explained that he hurt his ankle.  His favorite professional baseball players: Jose Reyes and Luis Castillo.

Lucas lined a hard single to rightfield on a 2-0 count in the first inning in a 1-4 evening.  During BP before the game, he had the opportunity to work with David Wright at third.  Wright offered a very useful piece of advice, noticing that Lucas stood up too quickly on his throws across the diamond, something his coaches worked with him on back in 2007.  “He told me to stay down on my throws,” Lucas said, noting that the coaching paid immediate dividends.  On the game’s final play, on a bouncer down the thirdbase line which he fielded near the thirdbase bag before unloading a strong throw across the diamond, Lucas made a good strong throw, and pointed out the applicability of Wright’s teaching, “on the last play, I had to throw from down the line.  If I woulda stood up, I might not have had him.  I stayed down and followed my throw,” the 20 year old said.

Lucas was impressed by Wright on the field, noting that Wright “made everything look real easy.  He had a concussion and everything, but was still smooth.”

Wright will take BP again with the Cyclones on Wednesday at 3 PM and any fan with a ticket to Wednesday’s game can watch him get his work in.

Rookie (APP): Kingsports Mets 13, @ Bristol White Sox 5

23-year old 1B Jeff Flagg was 3-3 with three doubles and two walks raising his season line to .304/.376/.485 in 52 games.  The 27th rounder from Mississippi State a year ago, is too experience for the Appy League .  RF Cesar Puello (.277/.352/.405) was 3-4 with a walk (his eighth) and two stolen bases (his 13th and 14th).  CF RJ Harris (.305/.401/.425), the Mets’ 14th round pick this year, was 2-4 with a double and a walk.  The 22-year old has drawn 23 walks in 44 games while whiffing 58 times.

Rookie (GCL): GCL Nationals 6, @ GCL Mets 2

17-year old 3B Aderlin Rodriguez was 0-3, but drew his 9th walk in 13 games.