Rafael Montero by MMO Contributor and Photographer Gordon Donovan.
Last Night’s Quick Scores
- Las Vegas demolished Reno, 14-8.
- Binghamton got thrashed by Erie, 11-4.
- St. Lucie was beaten by Tampa, 7-3.
- Savannah defeated Kannapolis, 6-3.
Minors News
RHP Rainy Lara of the Savannah Sand Gnats was named the South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Week for the week ending April 28. Lara pitched a brilliant game tossing 7.1 shutout innings and allowing just five hits and walking none while striking out nine against the West Virginia Power.
For the season, Lara is now 3-1 with a 1.88 ERA in four starts spanning 24 innings. He has struck out 24 and walked three and has held the Sally League to a .231 batting average this season.
Prospect Pipeline
- Yeesh… Rafael Montero had a pretty rough go-around last night against Erie where he was lit up for ten runs, seven of them earned, over the course of six-and-two-thirds innings pitched. He still walked only one and allowed one home run, but that’s about the best of it. All prospects are allowed bad starts or bad games here and there – so we’ll just chalk this up to a bad hair day.
- Matthew Bowman went eight strong innings last night and allowed three earned runs as he continues to find himself in the midst of a strong campaign.
- After last night, Kevin Plawecki now has 15 doubles and four home runs in just 24 games, which is ridiculous. His slash line stands at .402/.462/.1.158 through 92 at-bats in 2013 as he does not seem to have hit a single wall yet. My first thought when he was drafted was to compare him to Paul Lo Duca – but irregardless of that, Plawecki seems to be developing very nicely.
- Juan Centeno had a superb day at the plate last night for Las Vegas, where he banged out four hits. Centeno was a young man known more for his defensive prowess over anything else – which leads me into the point that he should be starting more than Landon Powell at the moment. At the very least, I want him to catch Wheeler’s next start. Centeno has a solid baseball IQ and can definitely help assist Wheeler in staying on track.
- Our Minor League Analyst Teddy Klein (via Toby Hyde) told us that Brandon Nimmo has been nursing a minor hand injury and that perhaps it could explain his recent slump. He got the game off last night and it’s considered nothing serious.
- Andrew Brown went 3-for-5 last night with a HR, a 2B, and 3 RBI as he continued his “seriously, call me up to the MLB team” tour.
- Zack Wheeler‘s 36 strikeouts in April tied for third place among the Top 100 MLB prospects.
- SP Alex Panteliodis will make his season debut and be activated from the DL to start for St. Lucie on Thursday. Last season for Savannah, Pants went 5-8 with a 3.64 ERA in 22 starts for the Gnats last year. He’s more of an organizational type of guy, but Pants may have some value down the line.
- Matt Garrioch, minor league analyst, posted his GAPPER report yesterday for April which ranks the top five pitchers and position players in many leagues and per team itself. Wilmer Flores and Zack Wheeler were fourth in his PCL rankings, Montero ranked third in the AA, and Syndergaard and Tapia both made his list for A+ ball.
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Stat Line of the Day
Kevin Plawecki: 3-for-5, 3 2B, 1 RBI, 1 R
Transactions/Injuries
- As of this point, there has been no update on Hansel Robles, who was placed on the 7-day DL yesterday. Robert Gsellman took his spot in the rotation two days ago.
- Cory Vaughn just has some inflammation in his arm, and was advised to take it easy for about a week.
- Cory Mazzoni threw a side session pitching and is approaching his return date.
- Right-hander Michael Fulmer, returning from surgery to repair a meniscus tear, tossed two innings Monday in extended spring training.
- Wilfredo Tovar was removed from last night’s game purely as a precautionary measure because he was sick. There is no injury.
Quote of the Day
Rob Brender: You’ve gotten shots at the big league level in 2011 and 2012 and you’re doing so well offensively this season. Does it make you anxious to get back to the Mets?
Josh Satin: Absolutely, but there’s a fine line. You can’t feel sorry for yourself because there are lots of other people in professional baseball who feel the same way. Then again, sometimes I look around and I’m like ’damn, this guys in the big leagues with whatever team. I know I’m better then him.’ So it’s hard sometimes but, then again, it’s just the way it is. You can’t feel sorry for yourself. You just have to keep performing.
Photo of the Day
![cowgirl]()
Hey Plawecki, how about wrangling me up a shot of bourbon, oh and make sure it’s a double.
