Category: Baseball

Mets Draft Florida Pitcher in 9th Round

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Mets 2011 9th round draftee

In the ninth round of the 2011 MLB draft, the Mets selected Alex Panteliodis, a pitcher from the University of Florida. He was the second lefthanded pitcher the Mets drafted, one of seven.

After being the Friday night starter for his first two seasons, he was demoted this season to being the midweek starter.

Hip surgery last July contributed to his demotion to the #4 spot in the rotation. He didn’t resume pitching until January 2011.

This season, on the Florida staff he had the seventh-highest ERA (3.76), starting 10 games and relieving in six. In 52.2 innings, he walked only nine batters while striking out 44, so he seems to have good control.

More information about him is available here.

NCAA Div. 1’s Top Hitter Falls to 31st Round

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On June 17, the Brooklyn Cyclone’s 2011 season begins and, since Monday, the Mets have been drafting players, many of whom could be playing for the Cyclones.

Though there’s no way to no for sure which of the draftees will ever wear a Mets uniform — and most won’t — a few have caught my interest. One is the Mets first draft choice, Brandon Nimmo, an outfielder who never played high school baseball. If he’s signed, I’m really curious how he’ll do against minor league pitching. Another draftee is Chad Zurcher, a shortstop whom the Mets drafted with their first pick today, the draft’s final day. This season in NCAA Division I baseball, Zurcher had the highest average, .443. His OBP was #1 at .547. He was one of the toughest to strike out in Div. I baseball, ranking 39th, and he made the was named to the 2011 Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball All-America team, so why wasn’t he drafted until the 31st round?

Why is Jose Reyes batting lead-off?

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In yesterday’s Sun-Ledger, Conor Orr quotes the Mets Jose Reyes as saying that “I don’t go to home plate looking for a walk, I go there looking to swing the bat.” Given that Reyes is batting lead-off for the Mets, he should be going to the plate to get on base. The fact that he’s not doing that explains why his on-base percentage (OBP) last season was only .321. That stat placed him in a three-way tie for the 110th spot in the MLB OBP rankings. Even Carlos Pena, who hit only .196, had a higher OBP than Reyes.

Mets Add Middle Infielder

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The Mets latest addition, middle infielder Chin-lung Hu, can hit — in the minor leagues. In eight Minor League seasons with six different teams in the Dodger organization, Hue averaged .299. Last season, in Triple-A, he hit .317 with only 16 strikeouts in 223 plate appearances. Unfortunately, with the Dodgers he only hit .191 during four trials with the team. As the Mets only gave up a minor league pitcher who was unlikely to make the Mets roster to get Hu, the trade is a low-risk transaction, another move by Alderson that further adds to the glut of middle infielders that the Mets have been accumulating.