- OF Javier Rodriguez (.325/.360/.523) left last night’s K-Mets game early.  Word is he was hit on hand by a pitch.

Manager Mike DiFelice was ejected in the third inning.  Word is he put on a good show.

Eric Campbell was 0-3 in his rehab game in the GCl, a 5-2 win.  Matt den Dekker was 1-4 with an RBI.  Akeel Morris gave up one run on two hits, walking three and fanning three in three innings.

Good grief.  Jeurys Familia (2-6, 6.38): 5.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, 1 HBP, 1 WP.  That’s 58 (!) walks, 20 wild pitches and 71 strikeouts in 73.1 innings for Familia.  He’s walked 7.1 batters per nine.
CF Juan Lagares was 2-4 and is now up to .317/.333/.512 in his last ten games.  Lagares is some plate discipline from becoming a guy I could be very excited about.  Seriously.  The 21-year old has drawn 2 walks in 110 AB over 27 games in St. Lucie.
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A: @ West Virginia Power 8, @ Savannah Sand Gnats 4
The Gnats lost their fourth straight, and second in a row in West Virginia.  However, the good story is the continued progress of the 19-year olds.
3B Jefry Marte (.262/.332/.401 – pictured) was 2-4 with two doubles and 2 RBI.  He’s hit safely in 13 of his last 15 games, going .439 (25-for-57) with six doubles, two triples and two home runs in that time while lifting his batting average from .228 to .262.  Marte’s sitting at .351/.383/.597 in 19 games in July.
RF Cesar Puello was 2-4, scored twice and stole two bases.  He’s now 33-for-40 stealing bases this year and hitting .319/.420/.377 in July.  Is Puello the best Mets’ farmhand no one’s talking about?  There’s been very little chatter on him (I think), but he’s made huge strides this year.
RHP Taylor Whitenton (5-5, 4.14) just didn’t have it: 2.2 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 K.

A: Greenville Drive 8, @ Savannah Sand Gnats 4
The Drive took advantage of Jimmy Fuller and some sloppy Gnats defense in a five-run second inning, but both Cesar Puello (2-4, 2B) and Jefry Marte (3-5) each had big nights.  The 19-year olds either drove in or scored every one of the Savannah’s four runs.

Puello (pictured) was 2-4 with two RBI to extend his hitting streak to eight straight games. In his last eight games, Puello is hitting .355 (11-for-31).

Marte, with his second-straight three hit night, raised his July batting line to .348/.384/.594 (AVG/OBP/SLG).

Fuller (7-3, 2.06) lasted three innings and gave up six runs, three of which were earned.  It was the most runs he’s allowed in any start this year, and his ties his shortest outing.

Cesar Puello photo courtesy Savannah Sand Gnats.

Why Ranked Here: His defense was ready for the big leagues, and his offensive game made major strides in 2009.

What Happened: Hitting almost .300 in AAA at age 20 is pretty nice.  Since, he’s hit .217/.298/.261 in 31 games in for the Mets while playing impressive defense. The glove is ahead of the bat, and his eventual ceiling is still hazy because of questions about his bat.

Stock: Pretty similar, actually.

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#12 3B Jefry Marte

Why Ranked Here: Despite his struggles in the SAL at age 17 and 18 last year, the Mets still believed in Marte’s bat and in his chance to stick at third base, which was reflected in this ranking.

What Happened: Just 19 for the second half of 2010, Marte’s defense had gotten better, even if the error total is still unsightly.  He makes the routine plays routinely now with improved footwork and now mixes in the extraordinary once in a while especially charging balls.  At the plate, he’s shown more patience and more power than he did a year ago.  As of today, he rides an eight-game hitting streak and is hitting Is his .333/.375/.667 start to July the beginning of a big surge or just a blip?

Stock: Holding

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#13 RHP Kyle Allen

Why Ranked Here: I liked Allen’s athleticism, feel on his secondary offerings and success in the SAL at age 19.

What Happened: His K/BB ratio is hovering near one.  That’s not good.  He’s been one of the big disappointments in the system.

Stock: Down

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#14 LHP Steven Matz

Why Ranked Here: The Mets signed their top pick from the 2009 draft for almost $900K.

What Happened: Matz had Tommy John Surgery this spring.

Stock: Down a tick, but only a tick.  TJ happens.  Most pitchers who do the work to rehab, come back fine.

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#15 RF Cesar Puello

Why Ranked Here: Coming off a strong season in the Appalachian League, the athletic Puello was the subject of some glowing scouting reviews on his all-around game.

What Happened: The 19-year old Puello was far rawer than I expected.  He’s a plus runner who’s already a shrewd base-stealer and a strong right fielder.  The SAL has learned not to challenge his strong throwing arm.  However, at the plate struggled through a .192/.259/.232 May while rebuilding his swing to shorten his hand path and get his front foot down earlier.  He improved to .303/.386/.382 in June.  The power is still largely about projection.  He’ll hit bombs during batting practice, but is still looking for his first one in a game this year.

Stock: Holding. If the power comes in the second half, it’ll be up.

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#16 LHP Juan Urbina

Why Ranked Here: The Mets top international signee in the summer of 2009, he’s a projectable left-hander with good feel for a breaking ball and changeup.

What Happened: He made his professional debut on June 22.  He’s had three really good outings, mixed around one eight-run mess in his third start.  He’s been touching 90 at age 17 and the Mets are really excited about Urbina, who already possesses a usable curveball and changeup.

Stock: Up

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#17 RHP Ryota Igarashi

Why Ranked Here: I thought he’d bring a plus fastball and plus split-fingered offering and be an immediate weapon in the New York bullpen.

What Happened: He’s been injured and largely ineffective.  Oops.

Stock: Off this list.  Will he be part of the problem or the solution in the Mets bullpen?

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#18 Eric Niesen

Why Ranked Here: I was very intrigued by Niesen’s velocity last summer and his apparently improving control.  Yeah, he walked 4.5 guys per nine innings last year, but he also struck out a batter an inning at AA.

What Happened: The 24-year old missed time after getting struck on the head, but with more walks than strikeouts this year, he’s regressed.

Stock: Down.

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#19 C Francisco Pena

Why Ranked Here: Still getting ranked in part on his bonus and bloodlines, and in part on his arm and potential power, he’ll get chances.

What Happened: The 20-year old Pena broke his foot in spring training and now is not expected back until the end of this month or early August.

Stock: Down.

SS Wilmer Flores extended his hitting streak to 15 straight games with a 1-4 Saturday night with a double.  He’s 31-67 (.463) with five doubles and a homer in the streak.  Oh, and he’s just 18.  Kid can hit.

Robert Carson (7-5, 4.17) was pretty good: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR.  That’s 12 strikeouts and two walks for Carson in his last 13 innings.

Michael Barrett DHed and was 2-4.

A: Savannah Sand Gnats, @ Asheville Tourists 3 (10 innings)
3B Jefry Marte’s best game of the year sent the Gnats to their fourth straight win.  Marte, who now owns a six-game hitting streak, homered twice, and tripled home the go-ahead run in the tenth.  He’s up to six homers in 72 games.  Last year, he had six bombs in 123 games.  Marte, hitting .247/.324/.389 for the year is up to .317/.364/.683 in July while playing much-improved defense.  He’s still just 19.  Can he maintain his recent hot streak?
1B Travis Ozga, the Mets’ 41st round pick in 2009, continues to hit well for Savannah.  He was 2-4 with a walk Saturday and is up to .395/.449/.581 in 14 games.

Bats/Throws:

Height/Weight: 6’1”/187 lbs

Acquired: NDFA (7/2/07)

Born: 6/21/91 (La Romana, DR)

2009 Rank: 8

Why Ranked Here: I was probably wildly exuberant about Marte to rank him at #8 last year coming off a strong GCL season as a 17-year old.  His drop four spots here doesn’t really reflect an underlying change in my evaluation of what he is/can be, as much as it’s about a refinement of my own processes.   Marte still has serious bat speed and some power, which places him among the upper echelon of Mets prospects.  He can yank a ball out to left, and drive one to center, but does not go the other way with any authority at this point because he frequently lunges at pitches.  He gets off-balance and chases breaking balls, but he’s still very young at age 18.  His 49 (!) errors led SAL third basemen, but the Mets think he has a chance to learn to play the position at an average level, and that evaluation counts for something.  Marte was not really ready for the SAL after a season in the GCL and really should repeat the level in 2010.

2009: Pre-ASB: .217/.257/.315, 7 2B, 4 3B, 4 HR

Post-ASB: .254/.307/.368, 14 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR

Hey, that’s some modest progress.  Progress is good.

Dr. Pangloss Says: Impact bat at 3B

Debbie Downer Says: Hacker who never holds down an MLB job on a winning team

Projected 2010 Start: Savannah.  Holding Marte back to repeat the SAL would most definitively signal an enormous shift in the Mets’ thinking with regard to the assignment of prospects and levels.  Of course, St. Lucie is an option too.

MLB Arrival: 2014

Bontemps’ scout didn’t like Flores at all:

“I was not impressed at all. . . . In fact, I was kind of shocked.  I was expecting an outstanding player, and I saw the exact opposite. I expected to go in there seeing a superstar player, like when I saw Jose Reyes playing in the minors.

“He’s a long way off, let me tell you. For me, when I watched him, he’s the fringiest of fringy prospects, and I’m not the only one thinking that. I thought I might not be looking at this kid right, but other people are thinking of him the same way.

“… from what I saw he was not the player he is hyped up to be.”

Couple of thoughts here. Of course he’s a long way away, he’s 17!

There’s no comparison between Reyes and Flores.  Reyes is an outstanding athlete whose tools (especially his speed) will immediately grab a scout’s attention.  Flores does not currently have a plus tool.  Lets review the five classic tools and Flores’ rough current grade in each:

Speed: Well below average;  Fielding (hands & range): well below average; Arm: average at best; Hitting: below average; Power: below average

Flores is just not a shortstop and is unlikely to play a premium defensive position.  However, if you believe in him, you believe in his ability to become an above average hitter and grow into above average power.  Of course he doesn’t have either of those tools fully developed yet, he’s 17.  Scouts generally don’t like guys who are all bat, but simple hitting ability is the most important skill.  And in this respect, hitting .269/.309/.347 at his age in the SAL is fairly outstanding.  Note too that Flores is in the midst of a slump, having gone just 7-for-41.  If the scout did see him recently, perhaps he’s seeing a tired kid.

Bontemps quotes Adam Wogan essentially to rebut the scout’s take on Flores

“The most impressive thing for him is his control of the strike zone (56 strikeouts in 394 at-bats). . . . Regardless of age, he’s a really difficult player to strike out.”

The unnamed scout did like 3B Jefry Marte and threw an Aramis Ramirez comp on him.  (Sidenote: Ramirez has been criminally underrated for years.  Did you know that he has an OPS+ above 126 in every season since 2004? He’s dope.  Go check his stats.)

On Marte:

“I liked his bat, and I liked the way he went about his business. He has a long swing, but he takes a good cut, and can go to all fields. His defense certainly needs work, but I do think he could stick there.

This is a disappointing group, statistically as three of its five members have struggled with injuries and the other two have been rushed.  Havens and Moviel are the guys to watch in St. Lucie in the season’s final two months.  Can Francisco Pena keep up his recent hot streak?

ALL STATS IN TABLES ARE AS OF JULY 14, 2009.

#6 SS Reese Havens

Stock: Down (injury)

Havens stock is down largely because he hasn’t been able to stay on the field.  He pulled his quad and missed three weeks, returned only to get plunked on his hand.  Baseball America reports that again, his quad is barking, keeping him off the field again.  Health is a skill, and it’s one that Havens has yet to master.  None of his other skills will improve until he learns how to play everyday.  Repeated injuries are a bad way to start a career.

#7 C Francisco Pena

Stock: Down

I could use this space for a rant regarding the Mets philosophy of rushing their young latin players, but really, why should I?  Pena has been rushed having started in the SAL at age 17 where he was exposed behind the plate and older pitchers took advantage of his propensity to chase pitches.  However, there may be glimmers of hope now after two and a half years in the system.  His strikeout rate of 16% is his lowest as a professional.  Pena has hit .273/.333/.667 in July with three walks against four strikeouts, more evidence that he’s beginning to control the strike zone.

On the other hand, Pena’s walk rate has decreased for the second straight year, but his extra base hit rate is up over his first professional season, and roughly similar to 2008.  He should repeat the FSL in 2010 as a 20-year old.

#8 3B Jefry Marte

Stock: Down

It’s not Marte’s fault that the Mets sent him to the SAL when he was 17 coming off a very good 2008 season in the GCL.  His walk and extra base hit rates are half of what they were a year ago, and his strikeout rate is up by 50%.  His troubles extend into the field too, where he’s committed 33 errors.

What does this say about his future prospect status?  Mostly just that he should repeat the SAL next year and shouldn’t have been there in the first place this season.

#9 RHP Scott Moviel

Stock: Down (injury)

It’s really hard to move up in the mid-season rankings when an injury wipes out the first two and a half months of a player’s season.  Moviel missed time with surgery on his knee.  There’s really not much to pick at in the FSL numbers from this year other than that Moviel’s throwing again, which is good, and throwing strikes, which is also good.

#10 RHP Dillon Gee

Stock: Down (injury)

It appears that Gee was never really healthy with Buffalo this year before he hit the disabled list in May with a labrum strain.  Adam Rubin erroneously reported that Gee had surgery.  According to a reader, Gee has started throwing this week and feels great.  That means he could make a few starts with Buffalo before year’s end.  Perhaps the Mets will send him out to the AFL to keep him pitching or permit him to go down to the Caribbean again.

A: SAVANNAH SAND GNATS (5) @ Augusta GreenJackets (1)
After scoring eighteen runs on Saturday, the Gnats bats stayed hot. SS Wilmer Flores (Pictured) was 3-for-4 as his average climped to .359 (14-for-39). 3B Jefry Marte was 2-for-4 with a run scored and a walk. Meanwhile on the mound RHP Eric Beaulac made his first start of the young season and was impressive. He went five shutout innings, yielding just two hits and a walk while fanning six. RHP Kyle Allen pitched the final four, allowing just one run, to pick up his first save.

Flores and Marte were both impressive today. … From his face to his body, Flores looks every bit like a player who didn’t turn 17 until the last month of the 2008 season—until he steps into the batter’s box. The righty-batting Flores stays quiet at the plate with little hand movement, showing natural hitting ability with excellent hands to drive the ball to all fields. In his first at-bat against 2008 Marlins’ second-rounder Brad Hand, Flores ripped a line drive over the third baseman’s head for a double, then hit the ball hard in the rest of his at-bats.

Flores played shortstop, but it’s hard to imagine him staying at the position given that he’s a below-average runner whose range will be even more limited once he fills out his 6-foot-3, 175-pound frame. Today, however, Flores fielded balls cleanly, showing a strong arm and a very quick release that could fit well at third base.

Marte tends to somehow get lost in the shuffle of international prospects, but he was one of the top 2007 international signings and hit .325/.398/.532 in 44 games in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League in 2008. At 6-foot-1, the righty-hitting Marte isn’t as tall as Flores, but he is thicker. He made loud contact all game, including on a double—based on my unofficial scorer’s discretion, since the ball bounced off the ranging right fielder’s glove—that he smashed to right field. Scouts have questioned Marte’s defense in the past, but he fielded cleanly each of several balls hit his way and showed a strong arm, though Flores’ arm strength is a tick better.

Marte doesn’t get lost around here…

Badler also saw Nick Carr shut down powerful Marlins prospect Mike Stanton.

Carr worked quickly and effectively mixed three pitches, an 88-92 mph fastball, a breaking ball and a changeup.

After a very poor 2008, Carr pulled things together with two dominant starts to end the year.  Badler’s observation on Carr that he was mixing three pitches is both surprising and … um excellent.  Carr had big time trouble throwing his slider for strikes last year and his changeup was not a factor.