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.

A+: @ St. Lucie Mets 4, Bradenton Marauders 0 (7 innings)

No rehabbing big leaguers in this one, but Erik Goeddel was really good: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K. His 1.57 ERA in 23 innings is awfully nice, but his peripherals (15 K/9 BB) no longer support top prospect status. The big issue is the strikeout rate of 5.9 K/9.

After homering in game one, SS Wilmer Flores was 2-for-4 with a double in game two to push his season line to .321/.358/.507 in 37 games. Also, the double kept his extra-base hit count (13) above his strikeouts (12). Dude can hit. He’s sixth in the FSL in AVG, sixth in slugging and OPS and doing so as the 19th youngest-player in the FSL. Stock, meet rebound.

After taking an 0-for-3 in game one, Robbie Shields was 2-for-2 with a double, a homer, a walk and a HBP in game two. The 24-year old 2B is hitting .273/.356/.414. Again, that’s close to four full years older than Flores, who will be 21 in August.

LHP Adam Kolarek struck out two more batters in the seventh. In 19.1 innings this year, he owns a K/BB ratio of 10 (30 K/3 BB). That will play.

A: @ Charleston RiverDogs (NYY) 14, Savannah Sand Gnats 5

The ‘Dogs lineup beat up Alex Panteliodis for eight runs in 3.1 IP and reliever Carlos Vazquez for five more in 1.2 innings of work, and the rout was on.

In terms of good news, 3B Aderlin Rodriguez (.223/.283/.373 – 35 games) lifted his fourth home run of the year in a 1-for-4 effort.

AAA: Buffalo Bisons (22-17) vs. Gwinnett Braves (ATL) (25-14) – 7:05
LHP Garrett Olson (0-3, 3.35) vs. RHP Jair Jurrjens (2-0, 2.05)

NL East foe Jair Jurrjens makes his 4^th AAA start tonight.  The way he’s pitching it won’t be long before he’s back with Atlanta’s big league club.

After allowing runs in four consecutive appearances, LHP Josh Edgin has now put in back-to-back scoreless efforts.  I really hope he figures it out because we all saw so much from him in the spring and I think he will eventually be an asset to the big league pen.

Scoreboard | Listen

AA:  Binghamton Mets (17-19) vs. Trenton Thunder (NYY) (19-16) – 6:35
RHP Collin McHugh (4-2, 2.40) vs. RHP Brett Marshall (4-1, 3.27)

McHugh has the 10^th best ERA in the league and he is holding opponents to a .205 batting average.

OF Juan Lagares is starting to see the ball.  Since batting .232 on May 4^th, Lagares has used an eight-game hit streak to raise his average 51 percentage points.  His overall line stands at a healthy .283/.345/.378.

What has happened to Reese Havens?  Since starting the season by going 5-10, Havens has gone 2-31 (.049) over his last 10 games with 14 strikeouts.  Ouch.

Scoreboard | Listen

@ St. Lucie Mets 6, Bradenton Marauders 3 (7 innings)

After a rainout Tuesday, Chris Young got the 10:30 AM start Wednesday. His line: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HBP, 1 BK. Of the outs he recorded, six came on fly-balls and just two on groundballs. It’s rehab and all so it’s not worth getting too hung up on results. The point is mostly that he’s pitching.

However, it’s not hard to hard to look at supposed rotation-savior Young’s line on Wednesday and recall that on Monday, in his rehab, supposedly bullpen-bound Jenrry Mejia did this: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 9 ground outs, 1 fly out. Again, these are results in a-ball in the second rehab outing for each pitcher. Young might have just been working on throwing all of his pitches even if it meant less of a focus on sequencing and producing outs. Mejia with the better fastball might have been doing the same, and a-ball hitters just could not handle his fastball. Both pitchers are scheduled to make two more rehab starts in AAA before the team makes a determination about how to handle them to help the big team most in 2012. Mejia just might be the better pitcher, and better starter right now.

With the chance that Mejia could provide value as a starter, any move to the bullpen now seems premature. Sure, the Mets’ major league bullpen has been bad recently. However, it is largely stocked with pitchers who have pitched better in 2009-2011 than they have in 2012. With the exception perhaps of DJ Carrasco, there’s little reason to think that the trio of Frank Francisco, Ramon Ramirez and Manny Acosta will not pitch better moving forward.

Moreover, even if Young does provide help in the rotation before Mejia, Young’s recent record of fragility also argues for keeping Mejia stretched out as a starter to provide backup to the backup. Finally there’s the argument around Mejia’s own development. As a starter, he will throw more pitches per week in game situations than he would out of a minor league bullpen. That strikes me as more valuable than learning how to pitch on back-to-back days in relief.

That picture of Chris Young wearing a Lake Elsinore Storm had was taken in 2008 when he was rehabbing with the Padres’ advanced-A affiliate in the California League.  It is presented: 1. as a salute to the Storm’s brilliant design sense, 2. a nod to comedy and 3. a reminder of Young’s trouble staying healthy in the last five years.

St. Lucie roughed up Pirates prospect Jameson Taillon for six runs in 5.2 innings thanks to a pair of home runs from 3B Wilmer Flores and LF Rafael Fernandez. It was Flores’ sixth of the year.

In 37 games, Flores who also walked in three plate appearance to go along with his homer, is now hitting .315/.354/.500 with six doubles and six homers as a 20-year old. That’s 12 extra-base hits, eight walks and 11 strikeouts so far for Flores. Flores had nine homers in 133 games in the FSL and a .111 isolated slugging percentage, so he’s just a wee bit ahead of last year’s power production.

1. At ESPN.com Keith Law has his first mock draft up, for insiders only.

Unlike last week’s mock draft from Jim Callis at Baseball America, Law places Lucas Giolito, who Callis excluded with the Mariners at #3. Law has the Mets selection Texas A&M RHP Michael Wacha. Law writes:

Wacha doesn’t have a ton of upside, but his advanced changeup and likelihood of reaching his ceiling make him appealing. Also hearing the Mets on Louisiana high school shortstop Gavin Cecchini and Hawkins or Fried if either should get here.

For what it’s worth, Law has 3B Courtney Hawkins (Carroll (TX) HS) and LHP Max Fried (Harvard-Westlake (CA) HS) off the board at picks #9 and #10 in front of the Mets and Toronto drafting Cecchini at #17. (Callis had the Mets selecting Cecchini last week.)

Wacha has demonstrated outstanding control at Texas A&M, an attribute the Mets clearly weighed heavily in their 2011 draft. With the Aggies this year, he’s run a 2.14 ERA and has walked just 16 batters in 92.1 IP for an obscenely low BB/9 of 1.56. In turn, that’s led to a healthy 5.9 K/BB ratio (95 K/16 BB).

2. Baseball America has scouting reports on their top 25 draft prospects. BA ranks Wacha as the #8 overall prospect in this year’s draft class, writing in part:

He owns the best changeup in the draft, a pitch that can be devastating when he sets it up with a 90-93 mph fastball that peaks at 96. His command also is as good as any pitcher in this crop, as is his competitiveness. He also has an athletic 6-foot-6, 200-pound frame and delivers his pitches on a tough angle to the plate. The only thing keeping him from being considered on the top tier of college arms is the lack of a plus breaking ball. Wacha made progress with a slider last summer … and he also throws a curveball. Wacha generally sticks with whichever breaking pitch is working best on a given day. Both pitches can get loose at times and project as no better than average at the big league level.

My Take
Wacha fits with what the Mets’ looked for under Sandy Alderson and Paul dePodesta in 2011 in collegiate arms in terms of his command. However, both Law and Baseball America emphasize his relative lack of ceiling. His scouting reports seem to top him out as a #3 starter.

At #12, my preference would be for the Mets to chase after a player with a higher ceiling as they did in 2011 with Nimmo. Whether that Cecchini, or someone who falls like Fried or Hawkins, the Mets would be advised to prioritize ceiling. One caveat is that with the new rules, with strict draft pools, if Wacha would sign for below slot, that would allow the Mets to draft for more ceiling later, when it could be relatively cheaper.

A+: St. Lucie Mets (29-8) vs. Bradenton Marauders (18-19) (PIT) – 10:30
Game 1:RHP Chris Young (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Jameson Taillon (2-2, 1.47)

Chris Young makes his second rehab start for St. Lucie this morning.  Young should head to Buffalo after his start today barring any set-backs and continue his march back to the big leagues with the Bisons.  He threw 5 shutout innings his last time out.

Taillon was the second overall pick in the 2010 draft and is off to a very strong start in 2012.  He’s struck out 36 and walked just 7 in 36 innings this season.  Should be a solid test for the St. Lucie hitters against the 6’6” righty

Scoreboard | Listen

A+: Brevard County Manatees @ St. Lucie Mets - ppd by rain

This was supposed to be Chris Young’s second rehab start. It was not.

A: Savannah Sand Gnats 4, @ Charleston River Dogs 3 

Is this the end of Aderlin Rodriguez’s early-season malaise? On the heels of a four-hit game Monday, he had two more singles on Tuesday. With hits in three straight games, he’s raised his batting average 37 points in three days to its current .222/.284/.356. The 20-year old is hitting .286/.333/.314 in May, so some single have started falling in exchange for his special power. In his case, perhaps that’s a worthwhile development as he learns to hit line drives as well as bombs.

RHP Jacob deGrom’s second outing was less dominating than his first, but still largely effective against a heralded Charleston lineup: 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. In 12.2 IP thus far in the SAL, he’s allowed 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB and fanned eight. That’s just really good.

The run deGrom allowed was unearned because 2B TJ Rivera committed a throwing error, his 10th in his 36th game. The 23-year old has hit .362/.455/.532 with an impressive 20/22 K/BB ratio, but his defensive issues will forestall any climb through the system.