Tag Archives: Wilfredo Tovar - Page 2

13 April 2014 – Binghamton Mets at New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Posted by on 14 April 2014 Comments Off on 13 April 2014 – Binghamton Mets at New Hampshire Fisher Cats

He’s the walking man, born to walk, walk on walking man

Matt Clark watches one of 20 balls he saw on Sunday

Matt Clark is not the fastest runner on this team.  Twice this series, Clark grounded out on plays with less than stellar fielding.  He also had two home runs, so that brisk jog is working rather well for him.  In the series finale though, Clark proved that the eye is mightier than the leg with five straight walks, two of which eventually brought him around to score.  All that walking pushed the game time past the three hour mark despite a lack of offense on the opposing side as the Mets finished off the series with a 6-0 win over the Fisher Cats.

Box Score

Hansel Robles hasn’t seen his prospect status rise since his playoff run two years ago on the all-star Brooklyn Cyclones rotation.  He hasn’t gone bust either, but this outing illustrated why he’s in prospect limbo.  At times, he was lights out, with six strikeouts over five shutout innings, two of which saw the Fisher Cats go down in order.  It took him 81 pitches to get through those five innings though, two of which ended with the bases loaded.  It was a mixed bag of an outing that left the B-Mets bullpen on the hook for another four innings.

Travis Taijeron frequently looked lost on the basepaths

New Hampshire pitcher Aaron Sanchez had a few problems of his own, but fastball speed sure wasn’t one of them.  At 92-95, Sanchez’s fastball was easily the fastest of the series.  Speed alone wasn’t enough though; the Mets put runners in scoring position in each of the first two innings but failed to score because of double plays and baserunning blunders like Travis Taijeron getting a late read on the stop sign after rounding second and getting caught with nowhere to go.  Taijeron would find himself in a similar situation later in the game when he rounded second on a fly ball that was caught and couldn’t get all the way back to first base in time.  The lane from second to third claimed another victim in the 8th when Wilfredo Tovar saw the runner ahead of him hold up at third and turned around to see second base occupied.  Tovar held perfectly still between second and third and went unnoticed for a short time before someone realized that the count of runners vs. bases was off.  Looks like Binghamton will be working on some baserunning drills…

Dustin Lawley follows Matt Clark’s walk with a HBP

After going down in order in the third, the B-Mets got on the board in the fourth inning without putting a ball in play.  After Matt Clark took his customary walk, Aaron Sanchez hit the next two batters to load the bases and then used a 95mph fastball to walk in the game’s first run.  After giving up a sac fly and an RBI single, Sanchez struck out Darrell Ceciliani to end his outing on a high note.

Brad Glenn strikes out to end the 5th inning

Robles got into his biggest jam in the 5th when Mike Crouse hit a ground ball down the right field line that veered into the New Hampshire bullpen and settled under a tarp.  Crouse reached third by the time Travis Taijeron was able to dig the ball out from under the tarp but the ball was never ruled dead.  Binghamton Manager Pedro Lopez came out to argue, to no avail.  Robles, clearly flustered by the situation, got the next batter to ground out and then hit Kenny Wilson with a pitch, drawing words from the home plate umpire.  A strikeout, stolen base, and walk loaded the bases with two outs, but Robles struck Brad Glenn out to end the inning with a smile.

Cody Satterwhite took over to pitch the 6th and 7th innings, giving up just one hit in that span.  John Church struck out the side in the 8th and Jon Velasquez pitched a perfect 9th to secure the shutout victory.  That side of the game went quickly, but the top half of each inning slowed the pace considerably.

Dustin Lawley finds a less painful way to get on base

While the Fisher Cats only managed a lone single over the final third of the game, the B-Mets put runners on second and third in three straight innings.  Darrell Ceciliani scored on a passed ball in the 7th, but that was the only Mets run in the final third until Dustin Lawley doubled in a run with nobody out in the 9th.  Cory Vaughn drove in the game’s final run with a pop fly before the B-Mets stranded Lawley at third.

This lopsided story left me nothing to say about Jon Velasquez.  So here he is, presented without comment.

Mike Crouse strikes out to end the game

The GIFs of 2013

Posted by on 15 December 2013 Comments Off on The GIFs of 2013

A few brief moments to remember in another lost year

Over at Notgraphs, they’re looking at the year’s best baseball GIFs.  All they have from the Mets though is that one fan falling down in the background.  I know what it was a dismal season, but there must be something worth GIFfing, right?  Unfortunately, I don’t have most of it.  Between being an out-of-market television viewer and Amazin’ Avenue’s Eric Simon going GIF-crazy this year, I’ve been off my GIF game.  The competition is downright cutthroat these days, with some people spending hours every day in front of a multi-screened custom GIFfing rig so they can catch every GIFfable moment.  So I don’t bother trying to get everything and just take what I can get.  What follows is the second installment in our series of GIF roundups.  If you missed it, here’s the first.

Read on for the rest.

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29 September 2013 – Milwaukee Brewers at New York Mets

Posted by on 1 October 2013 Comments Off on 29 September 2013 – Milwaukee Brewers at New York Mets

Unlikely heroes bunt out a win as the Mets celebrate Mike Piazza

This time last year, R.A. Dickey set out to earn his 20th win in front of an enthusiastic crowd.  This year, the big milestone on the line was Eric Young Jr’s pursuit of the NL stolen base lead as the Mets attempted to equal last year’s record of 74-88.  Backing them up was a sellout crowd that came to see Mike Piazza inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame and stayed to see the Mets close out the season with a 3-2 win.

Mike Piazza evokes memories of home runs, playoff appearances, and black uniforms.  There would be none of those for the Mets from here on out, but it’s fun to look back at better days.  Denied entrance to Cooperstown this year, the Mets made Piazza the newest member of the Mets Hall of Fame surrounded by his family and the family of Mets greats from years past.

And a whole lot of cameras.  Absent were Al Leiter, whose job with MLB Network was keeping him busy as the Indians, Rangers, and Rays fought for the last two playoff spots, and Tom Seaver, who was all but ignored aside from a brief first-name mention from Piazza.

This wasn’t the time to look back at the Mets’ lone representative in Cooperstown as Piazza looks poised to join him whenever the writers get their act together.  Piazza graciously accepted the award, spoke highly of his former teammates, and let the fans know how much their support has meant to him over the years.  It was a true class act from a Mets great who hasn’t had much to do with the team lately, so this could be a changing of the guard.  Next up: Cooperstown and the Citi Field wall of retired numbers.

Terry Collins, not especially beloved by the fans but respected by the players and the front office, entered the game with a two-year contract extension all but finalized.  A progression of injuries and a team straight out of Las Vegas certainly didn’t help his case, but it does give some context to three losing seasons with the Mets.  Collins does know how to work with people, in stark contrast to his previous managerial roles.  In this regard, it makes sense that he made a special trip to the outfield before the game to thank the fans for their support.  It was a simple gesture, but it shows that someone in charge of something understands that the team needs the support of the fans.  Now let’s see what he can do with some better players.

Eric Young Jr. has proven that the Mets’ lack of a leadoff hitter is a significant deficiency.  While I wouldn’t say that he’s proven that he deserves to be a starter in 2014, he should be a safe bet to make the team.  Tied for the NL lead in stolen bases, Young put himself in position to get the top spot for himself with a leadoff single in the bottom of the first.  To the surprise of nobody, he was off in advance of the first pitch and easily took second for his 45th steal of the season.

Would he stop there?  Of course not.  A few pitches later, he took third when Milwaukee catcher Jonathan Lucroy couldn’t get a good grip on the ball and threw far too late to catch Young.  With one out, David Wright popped out to shallow right field, too shallow for a runner to tag up at third and score.

Or so you would think.  This should have been an out.  Even with Young’s speed, the ball got to Lucroy in plenty of time.  Lucroy on the other hand couldn’t get to Young in time to make the tag, catching the ball well into the infield and needing to spin around 180 degrees for any chance at getting Young.  Young did his job as a leadoff hitter and put the Mets on the board first.  That should have been enough, but this wouldn’t be a Mets game if it were that easy.

Jon Niese, who cruised through the first three innings, started the fourth with three singles.  Jeff Bianchi tried to score on the third, but Eric Young Jr. didn’t want anyone else to take away his spotlight, so he fired a throw to Juan Centeno, who made the tag for the inning’s first out.  Niese walked Yuniesky Betancourt to load the bases, but he looked like he would escape the inning without incident when Sean Halton hit an easy double play ball.  Umpire CB Bucknor thought otherwise and a run scored on the blown call, tying the game at 1.

Terry Collins did his part by arguing the call, but nothing he could say would change the call or, apparently, get him ejected.  Logan Schafer followed with a dribbler that nobody could get to, driving in a run to give the Brewers a 2-1 lead.  Scooter Gennett hit the fifth single of the inning, but someone didn’t get the memo about not running on Juan Lagares.  Centeno tagged Halton to end the inning, for real this time.  With the Mets’ bats silent since Young’s leadoff single, that blown call could decide the game.

Vic Black is a contender for high leverage relief appearances next year, so it’s good to see how he reacts under pressure.  After an out and a four-pitch walk to Norichika Aoki, Black was determined to undo his mistake via pickoff.  A little too determined.  On the third consecutive pickoff attempt, Josh Satin couldn’t get a glove on the ball and Aoki took second.  With the pressure on (largely due to his own efforts), Black got the next two batters to fly out to end the inning.

Juan Lagares gunned down Sean Halton to end the Brewers’ scoring in the 4th and Lagares came out on top again when their roles were reversed leading off the bottom of the 8th.  On a ground ball to short, Lagares reached first safely when Halton couldn’t keep his foot on the bag and made no attempt at a tag.  Juan Centeno followed with a perfectly dropped bunt that he was able to turn into an infield single.  Milwaukee second baseman Scooter Gennett was caught off guard despite this being Centeno’s second bunt attempt and, after bumping into Bucknor, couldn’t get into a stable position to field the throw.  That opened the door for Lagares to score and tie the game at 2.

Juan Centeno, not David Wright or Daniel Murphy as had been rumored, would be the only Met to lifted for a pinch runner, though it wasn’t to give him an ovation.  Matt den Dekker took over as the runner at second, which apparently Lucroy didn’t pick up on when he fielded Wilfredo Tovar’s bunt and threw to third instead of first.  With the lead run on third and nobody out, most fans would expect a run here.  Between the Brewers’ inept defense and the Mets’ absent offense though, nothing was certain.  Josh Satin popped out for the first successfully recorded out of the inning, bringing the offense full circle to the player who started the day’s scoring and now had a chance to end it.

Eric Young Jr. didn’t need to do much.  A base hit or a deep fly ball would bring den Dekker home.  Instead, he smashed the ball into the ground just in front of home plate for a groundout that the Brewers executed without an error.  As den Dekker slid across home plate.  With the lead secured, Justin Turner and his beard came in to put the Mets’ offense to bed for the year.

Frank Francisco was brought in to be the Mets’ closer, but things didn’t exactly go as planned.  After a disappointing 2012, Francisco missed most of 2013 while rehabbing from injury.  With the Mets up 3-2 going into the 9th, Francisco was handed his first save opportunity of the year and an opportunity to end his Mets career back on track.  His first test would be former Met Carlos Gomez, who popped out to start the inning.  A strikeout brought in Aramis Ramirez as a pinch hitter and Milwaukee’s last chance.  Ramirez watched as Francisco sent strike three over the plate to end the game.  If you picked Frank Francisco to save Game 162 for the Mets, well, you must not follow baseball.  Still, that’s the way it happened as we say goodbye to Citi Field for 2013.

2013 Mets Debut Autographs

Posted by on 23 September 2013 Comments Off on 2013 Mets Debut Autographs

Auditions for 2014 are now open

It’s been a rough year for the Mets. Starting pitchers have been dropping all season long, with Johan Santana and Shaun Marcum unlikely to return, Jeremy Hefner out for all of 2014, and Matt Harvey due to be ready for Opening Day, either in 2014 or 2015. David Wright missed two months, Ike Davis and Ruben Tejada went down just when they were trying to make a case to come back in 2014 as more than AAA org filler, Bobby Parnell and Scott Rice saw their seasons end with surgery, Jeurys Familia and Frank Francisco missed most of the season… All of this does open doors for the prospects though, until they too suffer an injury like Wilmer Flores did and is still trying to recover from while also getting playing time (the opposite of recovery…). If you want a job in baseball in 2014, the Mets are the team for you.

Take starting pitchers Daisuke Matsuzaka and Aaron Harang, for instance. Both earned release from their previous teams and were quickly snatched up by the Mets. Both are aiming for a starting job in 2014, for another team. I’m not sure Mets fans could take much more of either of them, but I guess you need someone to pitch those innings with Montero, deGrom, and now Wheeler shut down. Lost amid the rotation shakeup is the outstanding job Dillon Gee has been doing; he should be getting a nice little contract in the offseason to keep him under team control at a reasonable price for the next few years. The bullpen has its share of 2014 candidates as well, with Vic Black and Sean Henn making their Mets debuts, Carlos Torres splitting time between starting and relief, and Jeurys Familia, Pedro Feliciano, and Tim Byrdak back after recovering from injuries. Frank Francisco is almost certainly not coming back next year, but fill-in closer LaTroy Hawkins wants to come back and the Mets want him back, so hopefully the Mets don’t go and screw this up like everyone expects them to.

The outfield is nothing but 2014 auditions with the departure of Marlon Byrd, but more playing time for Juan Lagares and recent call-up Matt den Dekker can’t be a bad thing. As for Eric Young Jr., well, there’s always a backup role to shoot for. Around the infield, Lucas Duda is at first trying to prove that he’s a first baseman, which is better than when he was an outfielder trying to prove that he’s a first baseman. Juan Centeno beat out Francisco Pena for the third catcher spot and, after Ruben Tejada’s freak injury, Wilfredo Tovar made his MLB debut after spending the season in AA. Barring another freak injury, that should be it for the 2013 Mets, leaving them with 28 new faces. That’s tied with 2006 for the 5th most new Mets in the club’s history, behind only 1962 (45), 1967 (35), and 2002 and 2004 (29). Interestingly, those 2002 and 2004 newcomers include one current Met in each year (Pedro Feliciano from 2002 and David Wright from 2004), while no current Mets debuted in 2006. Daniel Murphy in 2008 is the next oldest debut on the active roster behind Feliciano and Wright (next is Niese, then nothing until 2010). With such a young team, just about everything should be up for grabs next year.

John Buck Marlon Byrd Collin Cowgill Brandon Lyon
1 April 2013 1 April 2013 1 April 2013 1 April 2013
Scott Atchison Scott Rice* Greg Burke LaTroy Hawkins
1 April 2013 1 April 2013 3 April 2013 3 April 2013
Aaron Laffey Anthony Recker Juan Lagares* Shaun Marcum
7 April 2013 7 April 2013 23 April 2013 27 April 2013
Andrew Brown Rick Ankiel David Aardsma Carlos Torres
3 May 2013 13 May 2013 8 June 2013 16 June 2013
Zack Wheeler* Eric Young Jr. Gonzalez Germen* Wilmer Flores*
18 June 2013 19 June 2013 12 July 2013 6 August 2013
Travis d’Arnaud* Daisuke Matsuzaka Matt den Dekker* Vic Black
17 August 2013 23 August 2013 29 August 2013 2 September 2013
Sean Henn Aaron Harang Juan Centeno* Wilfredo Tovar*
9 September 2013 12 September 2013 18 September 2013 22 September 2013

*MLB Debut
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7 July 2013 – Binghamton Mets at New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Posted by on 8 July 2013 Comments Off on 7 July 2013 – Binghamton Mets at New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Dude, where’s my strike zone?

The Fisher Cats brought out the big guns for this game

Coming off a pair of close games and a blowout win, you might expect a decent performance in game 4.  Then again, your SAT prep class may have taught you how to complete this sequence: one-run win, one-run loss, 11-run win, …  Sometimes, life follows predictable patterns.

Box Score

One of the few breaks the B-Mets would catch in this game

Like last night, Daniel Muno started things off with a ground ball to the shortstop.  Unlike last night, the play was made without incident.  Josh Rodriguez managed to beat out the throw for an infield single, but that would be the last Binghamton baserunner until Muno came up again in the third.  Like Rodriguez, Muno would be stranded at first.

Erik Goeddel was never really expected to get this far.  Drafted out of college in the 24th round, Goeddel was a longshot to succeed as a starting pitcher into the high minors.  His performance, while not stellar, has been consistent at each level and has even gotten him a Bowman autograph card (something that Rafael Montero can’t boast, though Reese Havens and Brad Holt can and we’ve seen how they turned out).  If he continues like this though, he could be on a trajectory more like Brad Holt than Rafael Montero.

Tovar knows how to position himself

Goeddel made it through the first two innings without incident, largely due to getting balls put weakly into play, like a pair of pop flies to Wilfredo Tovar in the bottom of the first.  His fastball was steady at 92mph, but his command was erratic from the start.  The Fisher Cats could count on at least three balls in every at bat, a fact they took advantage of with two walks in the bottom of the second.  This continued into the bottom of the third when Goeddel loaded the bases on three more walks for Clint Robinson.  You may remember Robinson from his 3-run home run off Noah Syndergaard that accounted for all of New Hampshire’s scoring in their 14-3 loss.  Nobody was terribly surprised to see him hit a grand slam this time.  Goeddel escaped the inning on two strikeouts and a groundout to Tovar, but things were not looking good.

Allan Dykstra, after going 0-4 with 4 strikeouts the night before, put the B-Mets on the board with a solo shot in the 4th.  Travis Taijeron would do the same in the 7th, with 10 straight outs between them.  While not quite as bad as the 12 straight outs in the previous game, the lack of sustained offense on either end kept the Mets in a big hole.  One that kept getting deeper.

Wilfredo Tovar was removed from the game for unknown reasons in the 4th, with Daniel Muno shifting to shortstop, Josh Rodriguez taking over at second, and Richard Lucas entering the game at third.  Rodriguez’s range to the left was quickly tested by a ground ball he couldn’t get to, but the inning ended without incident.  Two walks in the 5th set up a big rally for the Fisher Cats, with an RBI single chasing Goeddel from the game.  Goeddel’s fastball was still sitting at 92, but he just couldn’t get it into the strike zone.  His 75mph curve had more success, but Goeddel kept going back to the fastball and paid the price.  Ryan Fraser picked up where Goeddel left off with two more hits driving in three more runs and the game starting to get out of hand.

And then the bottom of the 7th happened.  Taijeron’s home run in the top half cut New Hampshire’s lead to a mere 6 runs.  That’s a reasonable amount to negate in one inning, as the Fisher Cats would go on to demonstrate.  Two walks, a HBP, and two home runs was all it took to knock Fraser out of the game.  For the second night in a row, Adam Kolarek was called in for mop-up duty, though this time with a 10-run deficit instead of an 11-run lead.  A single and a home run later, we were back where we started.  Which was an Andy Burns solo home run.  Can’t anyone on this pitching staff give up fewer than 3 runs?

Meanwhile, the B-Mets offense wasn’t quite ready to give up.  A wild pitch followed by a single by Daniel Muno chipped away at the Fisher Cats’ lead in the top of the 8th.  It would all come down to the 9th, but the Mets would need three outs to get there.  The solution would come in the form of a familiar face from years past.

Pedro Feliciano: Arm still attached

Pedro Feliciano wanted the ball day in and day out.  In his days in the majors with the Mets, he set the team’s record for appearances in a season and then set out to break his own record.  He broke himself in the process, as the Yankees found out when they signed him to a two-year contract and gave the Mets a compensation pick that they turned into Michael Fulmer.  Feliciano never pitched for the Yankees; his overuse finally caught up to him once he changed uniforms.  With nothing to lose, the Mets brought Perpetual Pedro back on a minor league deal to see if he had anything left.  What he has is an 83mph offering that isn’t going to miss many bats but can result in outs on balls in play.  Feliciano retired the Fisher Cats in order in the 8th on 10 pitches.

Xorge Carrillo with the final RBI of the night

The Mets wasted little time in the 9th setting things up for a comeback.  Three singles loaded the bases with one out for Xorge Carrillo, who drove in a run with yet another single.  A passed ball on a swinging strike two to Richard Lucas advanced the runners and brought in another run.  Lucas would strike out, leaving it up to Daniel Muno.  With the score 16-5, Muno grounded out to leave the series even at two games and 31 runs apiece.

6 July 2013 – Binghamton Mets at New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Posted by on 7 July 2013 Comments Off on 6 July 2013 – Binghamton Mets at New Hampshire Fisher Cats

The B-Mets hold a home run derby on MLB All-Star selection day

Over, and over, and over, and over, and over…

The first few at-bats of a game can set the tone for the rest of the night. That was certainly the case last night when the B-Mets recorded two home runs before the Fisher Cats recorded the game’s first out. Noah Syndergaard, due to start next Sunday’s Futures Game for the USA team, made his Manchester debut against his former franchise in the Saturday night spotlight previously held by Rafael Montero. A two-out home run in the bottom of the 6th gave the Fisher Cats three runs and would have made this a close game, if the Fisher Cats had managed to retire 27 straight Mets batters after the opening act. They only managed to get 12 before the game got out of control.

Box Score

Runner on first? Big mistake.

While the Mets took almost half of the game off offensively after their first two home runs, the Fisher Cats didn’t fare much better against Syndergaard. The Fisher Cats singled off of Syndergaard in the first, third, and fourth, but Syndergaard answered back each time with either a pair of strikeouts or a double play. With a fastball that started at 95 and only got better as the game went on, the Fisher Cats just couldn’t keep up. Syndergaard almost seemed bored if there wasn’t a runner in play.

Wilfredo Tovar, power hitter?

The fifth inning would be Syndergaard’s first real test of the night. Well, the top of the fifth anyway, which went on long enough to make inactivity a concern. Blake Forsythe broke the streak of 12 straight Mets outs with a double off the outfield wall and Joe Bonfe drove him home with a single. Wilfredo Tovar, not known for his power, cleared the bases with his first home run as a B-Met. A walk and two singles loaded the bases with no outs, but somebody flipped the switch back to “outs” and three straight ended the inning.

With Syndergaard’s fastball cooled back down to 95, New Hampshire got a runner to second base for the first time of the night with a pair of singles in the bottom of the 5th. That was as far as they would get though, as Wilfredo Tovar tagged the lead runner out on the next play and Syndergaard ended the inning on a strikeout. He opened the bottom of the 7th with another strikeout, changing speeds from 79 to 96 and back down to 78. Wilfredo Tovar then misjudged a ground ball on the bounce to put Brett Lawrie on base, followed by an A.J. Jimenez single. Syndergaard went back into strikeout mode on Brad Glenn, but Clint Robinson was able to send an 80mph curveball over the right field wall for three unearned runs. Another strikeout ended the inning, but the B-Mets had lost half of their lead.

Until Darrell Ceciliani added a pair of runs on yet another home run in the 7th. The Fisher Cats tried to rally back in the bottom half with a single and Syndergaard’s first walk of the night, but we know how this one goes. A strikeout (Syndergaard’s 7th of the night) and a double play (3rd of the night, line drive straight to Wilfredo Tovar and a short toss to Muno to get the runner at second) ended the threat and Syndergaard’s night. But at 8-3 after 7 innings, this game was far from over.

A bit too far for many of the fans who were waiting for the postgame fireworks show. Part of the problem was the top of the 8th, which is when all hope for a Fisher Cats comeback was lost. Two pitchers, 5 walks, one strikeout, a home run, a triple, a single, and a sac fly. I probably lost your attention with just that sentence, imagine what it was like to be there in person. The next six outs went by quickly with just a HBP worth noting (erased on a double play). And we’re on to the bottom of the 9th.

Bottom of the 9th, two outs, bases loaded, down by 11. This is not exactly the situation you dream of when you’re a kid. With Adam Loewen facing Adam Kolarek, the Fisher Cats had done their best to deny their fans a short wait for fireworks. Loewen watched strike three from Kolarek and that was the game.