MPH April Hot Sheet

Month of April Hot List:

AAA New Orleans

There are no prospects here, so I'll just do their statlines

OF Chris Aguila .341/.424/.600, 29 for 85, 19 runs, 5 2b, 3b, 5 HR, 13 RBI, 13/16 BB/K, 4/5 SBs

SP Ruddy Lugo 3-1, 2.40 era, 5 GS, 30 IP, 28 H, 12 R, 8 ER, 4 HR, 5/28 BB/K, 1.10 WHIP

SP Tony Armas 1-1, 2.51 era, 5 GS, 28.2 IP, 26 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 2 HR, 4/18 BB/K, 1.05 WHIP

RP Willie Collazo 1-0, 1.71 era, 10 G, 21 IP, 19 H, 4 ER, 3/8 BB/K, 1.05 WHIP

RP Carlos Muniz 1-0, 0.00 era, 7 G, 3 SVs, 7.1 IP, 3 H, 4/8 BB/K, 0.95 WHIP; MLB - 0-0, 0.00 era, 3 G, 4 IP, 2 H, 2 K, 0.50 WHIP

RP Tim McNab 1-0, 1.88 era, 10 G, 14.1 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 3 ER, 3 HR, 8/11 BB/K, 1.12 WHIP

AA Binghamton

1B Mike Carp L/R 6/30/86 21.75 years old

.356/.394/.604, 36 for 101, 16 runs, 7 2b, 6 HR, 20 RBI, 6/15 BB/K

Mike Carp started off tearing the cover off the ball and didn't stop until the last week of April, he's 2 for his last 24, dropping his average from the ridiculous (.442), to the great (.356). However, the reason we've been going gaga over Carp has been his ability to mash lefties (so far). So far this year, he's hitting better versus lefties (.368/.385/.632) then righties (.349/.400/.587). And a full 38% of his ABs are against southpaws, so it's a pretty good sample size. May should serve to show us whether it was just a hot streak.

3B Dan Murphy L/R 4/1/85 23 years old

.363/.404/.471, 37 for 102, 16 runs, 6 2b, 3b, HR, 18 RBI, 7/12 BB/K, 3/4 SBs

Murphy also started off insanely hot, and like the others in the Trinity, has cooled off, before yesterday's 3 for 3, he had been 8 for his last 38. Murphy hasn't shown the power of a Mike Carp, but he has shown a better eye, while also dominating lefties, to the tune of .432/.465/.676, and his lone homer and triple are off lefties. Murphy was drafted out of college, so is, or should be, a bit further along in his development. He may be the first of the Trinity to make it to AAA.

1B Nick Evans R/R 1/30/86 22.25 years old

.313/.352/.552/.904, 30 for 96, 16 runs, 7 2b, 3 2b, 4 HR, 21 RBI, 7/22 BB/K

Evans was the first of the Trinity to cool off, and therefore has the lowest numbers of the 3, but he is as good of a prospect as the other two, if not better. Evans is 9 for his last 38. Evans also has the inverted splits that the other two have, in that he is hitting better against righties (.328/.369/.603) then lefties (.289/.325/.474).

SP Jon Niese L/L 10/27/86 21.5 years old

2-2, 1.82 era, 6 GS, 29.2 IP, 23 H, 13 R, 6 ER, HR, 13/27 BB/K, 1.21 WHIP

Niese had an ERA bordering on the stupidly ridiculous prior to his last outing (2 earned in 25.1 innings, for a 0.71 era, and had thrown 4 shutout innings, lowering it to 0.61, before a troubling 5th befell him). Still, the lefty has put together a terrific first month of the season. His last start severely skews his WHIP, due to the 6 walks and 4 hits he gave up, but prior to his final inning, he'd walked only 9 in 29.1 innings, and given up 21 hits. Even with that inning, he's holding AA batters to a .204 BAA, and has a slightly over 1 ground ball ratio (1.18).

A+ St. Lucie

1B Lucas Duda L/R 2/3/86 22.25 years old

.330/.415/.447/.862, 34 for 103, 14 runs, 6 2b, 2 HR, 19 RBI, 14/25 BB/K

Duda was the Mets 7th round pick last year out of USC, and he's done nothing to make the Mets brass look stupid. He ripped apart short season Brooklyn last year, then torched the HWL, before being assigned to high A for his first full season. Duda's kept on hitting, but one of the negatives this year, as opposed to last, is his hitting (or lack thereof) versus lefties. Duda's only hitting .238 (5 for 21) versus lefties, as opposed to .354 (29 for 82) vs righties. He has drawn an even number of walks vs both, so it may be a matter of hitting into some bad luck vs lefties (at 21 ABs, 2 hits is the difference between .238 and .333).

OF Ezequiel Carrera L/L 6/11/87 20.75 years old

.257/.336/.404/.740, 28 for 109, 15 runs, 6 2b, 5 3b, 8 RBI, 10/16 BB/K, 7/9 SBs

I know what you're thinking. Why is someone batting .257 on a hot list? Well, he's 20 years old, and he was playing in the GCL for the majority of last season (only 70 ABs in short season Brooklyn). In addition, he had a .7142 BB/K ratio last season, and in April, that was only reduced to .625, very impressive indeed. In addition to that, he has shown surprising pop, with 6 2b and 5 3b already in 109 ABs, 11 XBH, when he only had 14 (10-3-1) in 249 last season. Like Duda, he needs to show a better average against lefties (.208, 5 for 24), but his OPS (.720) is not terrible.

A Savannah

C Jordan Abruzzo S/R 8/2/84 23.75 years old

.350/.426/.533/.960, 21 for 60, 8 runs, 3 2b, 3b, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 7/8 BB/K

Yeah, he's old for the level, but there's not much to pick from offensively for the Gnats. Abruzzo's a limited upside catcher picked in the 13th round last year out of the University of San Diego. He didn't play much after being drafted, due to a knee injury (only getting 61 ABs), so this is pretty much his rookie year. He needs to improve markedly from the left side (only hitting .219 vs RHP).

OF Raul Reyes L/L 12/30/86 21.33 years old

.298/.327/.468/.795, 14 for 47, 2 runs, 3 2b, 3b, HR, 5 RBI, 2/15 BB/K

Reyes suffered an ankle injury on the 16th, but he had been hitting well before then, with a hit in 9 of 10 games, and a .351 (13 for 37) average over that span after starting out 1 for 10. Reyes strikes out much too much (.372 clip last year, .320 this year), but he's got the power to somewhat compensate for that (26 XBH in 253 AB last year, 5 in 47 this). Reyes only had 3 ABs vs lefties this year before getting hurt, so no conclusions can be drawn from that small of a sample size (he was only 4 for 40 vs LHP last year).

SP Michael Antonini R/L 7/6/85 22.83 years old

2-1, 3.26 era, 6 GS, 30.1 IP, 24 H, 13 R, 11 ER, 2 HR, 11/25 BB/K, 1.15 WHIP

Antonini hit the ground running at superspeed, throwing 6 no hit innings in his first start. Indeed, he bookended April with phenominal performances, throwing 5.2 perfect innings in his last start before allowing a double. In between, he alternated good and bad starts, ending up at a 3.26 era. Antonini was drafted in the 18th round last year, and features 5 pitches, as we told you yesterday.

SP Angel Calero L/L 9/25/86 21.58 years old

0-4, 3.00 era, 5 GS, 24 IP, 23 H, 18 R, 8 ER, HR, 7/25 BB/K

Calero had massive control issues in 2006 while with the GCL Mets, walking 23 in 27.2 innings, for a ridiculous 7.61 bb/9. He calmed down significantly in 2007, only walking 22 in 63.1 innings, 3.13 per 9. This April, he's cut his walk rate even further, to 2.63 per 9. He has had 4 good starts, and 2 bad ones.