July Edition - Hotsheet

1. AA LHSP Jon Niese L/L 10/27/86

Before July: 5-5, 3.14 era, 17 GS, CG, 91.2 IP, 82 H, 3 HR, 34/79 BB/K, 1.27 WHIP, .240 BAA

July AA/AAA: 2-2, 2.50 era, 6 GS, CG, 39.2 IP, 39 H, 11 ER, 3 HR, 12/40 BB/K

Season: 7-7, 2.95 era, 23 GS, 2 CG, CGSO, 131.1 IP, 121 H, 54/43 R/ER, 6 HR, 46/119 BB/K, 1.27 WHIP, .246 BAA

Niese spent most of the month with AA Binghamton, posting a 1-2, 2.76 era line, before earning a promotion to AAA New Orleans, where he utterly dominated the Tucson Sidewinders, firing 7 innings of 3 hit 1 run ball to run his monthly record to 2-2, 2.50. Niese had his best month stamina wise, and struck out a batter per inning. It's good to see Niese shaking that "6 inning pitcher" routine he had going for most of the season, too.

2. RHRP Eddie Kunz 4/8/86 R/R

Before July: 1-4, 3.79 era, 33 G, 21 SVs, 35.2 IP, 33 H, 22/33 BB/K, 1.54 WHIP

July: 0-0, 0.00 era, 10 G, 5 SVs, 11.1 IP, 5 H, 1/8 BB/K, .135 BAA, 5.50 GO/FO, 0.53 WHIP

Season: 1-4, 2.87 era, 43 G, 26 SVs, 47 IP, 38 H, 23/41 BB/K, .227 BAA, 1.30 WHIP
Eddie Kunz hasn't given up an earned run since June 18th, when he surrendered 3 hits and 2 runs in an appearance. Spanning the 15.2 innings since then, he's allowed 0 runs on 12 hits and 4 walks, while striking out 14. His GO/FO on the season is a ridiculously absurd 3.45, and he's holding EL batters to a .222 BAA. He is walking (or was) too many, although he only walked 1 batter in 11.1 innings in July. He also has some trouble with LHB, they are hitting .274 off him in 18 innings (54 outs + 20 hits + 11 walks = 85 + some reaching on HBP, errors = ~93 LHB faced). Still, he has not allowed a HR in his minor league career.

3. A+ OF Ezequiel Carrera L/L 6/11/87

Before July: 68 for 259, 36 runs, 10 2b, 9 3b, 2 HR, 19 RBI, 20/48 BB/K, 17/21 SBs, .263/.331/.394/.725

July: 23 for 70, 15 runs, 2b, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 9/19 BB/K, 4/7 SBs, .329/.405/.429/.834

Season: 91 for 329, 51 runs, 11 2b, 9 3b, 4 HR, 24 RBI, 21/28 SBs, 29/67 BB/K, .277/.347/.401/.748

Carrera makes his third hotsheet (really shouldn't have made April's, but I was impressed with his .257/.336/.404/.740 line after playing the majority of 2007 in the GCL). Well, his performance the last 2 months has been totally legit, he's ripping up the league to the tune of .311/.383/.447/.830 from May 31st (50 for 161, 30 runs, 2 2b, 4 3b, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 11/15 SBs, 15/36 BB/K. And, in July, he improved his BB/K ratio from .3529 to .4737, although there was an increase in both walks and Ks, and he was less efficent stealing bases. However, those are both minor nitpicks, the real story here is his rapid adjustment to very advanced pitching, and his improvement vs LHP. After hitting just .208 (5 for 24) vs them in April, he is now hitting .318/.408/.412/.820 (27 for 85, 22 for 61 (.361) since May 1st).

4. A+ C Josh Thole L/R 10/28/86

Before July: 59 for 202, 32 runs, 14 2b, 3b, 3 HR, 32 RBI, 28/22 BB/K, .292/.385/.416/.800

July: 25 for 75, 9 runs, 8 2b, HR, 12 RBI, 8/5 BB/K, .333/.388/.480/.868

Season: 84 for 277, 41 runs, 22 2b, 3b, 4 HR, 44 RBI, 36/27 BB/K, .303/.386/.433/.819

Josh Thole makes his third consecutive hotsheet with his third consecutive month batting over .315. Thole set season highs in AVG, SLG and OPS, and has taken over the #1 catchers role with the St. Lucie Mets. His season totals are nothing to sneeze at, but they include a terrible month of April (.228/.323/.386/.709). Factoring April out of the equation, Thole has ripped up the FSL to the tune of a .323/.402/.445/.847 line (71 for 220, 34 runs, 18 2b, 3 HR, 34 RBI, 29/19 BB/K). Did I mention he's 21, right in line with age/level. The 2005 draft is yielding a good number of these late round gems, with Parnell and now Thole headlining that list.

5. Greg Veloz

Before July: 81 for 314, 44 runs, 17 2b, 3 3b, 3 HR, 30 RBI, 24/31 SBs, 18/65 BB/K, .258/.308/.360/.668

July: 39 for 106, 20 runs, 8 2b, 2 3b, 3 HR, 19 RBI, 2/7 SBs, 10/18 BB/K, .368/.427/.566/.993

Season: 120 for 420, 64 runs, 25 2b, 5 3b, 6 HR, 49 RBI, 26/38 SBs, 28/83 BB/K, .286/.338/.412/.750

Greg Veloz has very quietly been putting together a good season, but his prior two months (May .287/.314/.383/.697), and June (.275/.333/.392/.725) have obviously been quiet, with OPS' in the .690-.730 range. Well, Veloz put it all together in July, having his best pro month ever. Only a late month 0 for 9 (7/27, 7/28), kept him from posting a .400/1.000 month (AVG/OPS). Still, Veloz posted his best BB/K ratio, and best power month of his career, though oddly he only stole 2 bases in 7 attempts. Veloz has stark splits L/R, he's batting just .238/.278/.373/.651 vs LHP, and .306/.361/.429/.790 vs RHP, but he's more efficent (10/11 vs 16/27) stealing bases vs LHP. This late season surge should put him on track to open 2009 in St. Lucie, but with the Mets, one never knows, and a repeat of these numbers in August might cause Met brass to have him skip St. Lucie and proceed to Binghamton (that would be a mistake, obviously).

6. R GCL 3B Jefry Marte 6/21/91 R/R

July: 28 for 79, 15 runs, 8 2b, 3b, 3 HR, 14 RBI, 7/15 BB/K, .354/.435/.595/1.030

Marte's from the same class of IFA as Wilmer Flores, and he turned 17 first, not that that matters at all, considering he is torching the GCL. One wouldn't be surprised to see him in Savannah next year, and then Kingsport if he struggles.

7. R OF Rafael Fernandez L/L 8/3/88

July: 36 for 105, 24 runs, 7 2b, 3 3b, 3 HR, 18 RBI, 13/33 BB/K, .343/.420/.552/.973

Season: 45 for 144, 28 runs, 8 2b, 3 3b, 3 HR, 19 RBI, 16/42 BB/K, 3/5 SBs, .313/.385/.472/.857

An excellent month for the 20 year old (happy birthday, by the way) outfielder. Fernandez began getting 4 hits a night in mid July, which really helps your average. For a while there, you could not get him out at all, he routinely went 4 for 5 and 5 for 5. Still, even with the torrid month, he's hitting just .190/.227/.286/.513 vs LHP, 4 for 21 with 8 Ks.

Not hot

1. A+ 1B/OF Lucas Duda L/R 2/3/86

Before July: 81 for 304, 30 runs, 19 2b, 3b, 5 HR, 44 RBI, 40/77 BB/K, .266/.356/.385/.741

July: 18 for 81, 12 runs, 3 2b, 2 3b, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 14/24 BB/K, 2 SBs, .222/.351/.383/.733

Season: 99 for 385, 42 runs, 22 2b, 3 3b, 7 HR, 52 RBI, 54/101 BB/K, .257/.355/.384/.739

Duda's numbers improved across the board from June. That's about the only thing that went right for the lefty slugger in July, he posted his second straight sub .230 month, and his third straight sub .260 month. Since a rip roaring start to his FSL career (.330/.415/.447/.862 in April), Duda's gone straight into the tank, posting a putrid line of .230/.333/.362/.695 from May 1st to July 31st. Here's hoping he can manage to have himself a bounceback August.

2. A+ SS Ruben Tejada R/R 9/1/89

Before July: 77 for 307, 35 runs, 11 2b, 2 3b, 2 HR, 26 RBI, 28/44 BB/K, 4/8 SBs, .251/.315/.319/.634

July: 16 for 91, 6 runs, 5 2b, 3b, 7 RBI, 3/13 BB/K, SB, .176/.200/.253/.453

Season: 93 for 398, 41 runs, 16 2b, 3 3b, 2 HR, 33 RBI, 5/9 SBs, 31/57 BB/K, .234/.290/.304/.594

After a great month of June (.333/.393/.427/.820), 18 year old Ruben Tejada proceeded directly into the tank with his worst month of the season, posting season lows in AVG, OBP, SLG and OPS. It would do well for people to remember Tejada is still just 18 years old, and was massively rushed (some would call it irresponsible, they wouldn't be wrong) to the FSL.

3. A OF Richard Pena R/R 8/15/87

Before July: 45 for 203, 28 runs, 8 2b, 12 RBI, 30/58 BB/K, 14/18 SBs, .222/.328/.261/.589

July: 5 for 41, 2 2b, 2 RBI, 17 Ks, .122/.143/.171/.314

Season: 50 for 244, 28 runs, 10 2b, 14 RBI, 14/18 SBs, 30/75 BB/K, .205/.300/.246/.546

Wow. Not much else to say. Coming off a .162/.297/.162/.459 line in June, Pena was hard pressed to do much worse in July, but he managed to anyway. Yikes.

4. A- Brooklyn 1b/OF Ike Davis L/L 3/22/87

July: 23 for 101, 7 runs, 6 2b, 6 RBI, 5/20 BB/K, .228/.262/.287/.549

Early returns for the 18th pick in the draft: bad. Keep in mind, however, that Keyspan Park (home of the Cyclones) is death to lefty power hitters, so much so that Mike Carp skipped it in 2005, jumping from the GCL to Hagerstown (Sally League). A good sign for Davis is that he's handling LHP (11 for 34, .324/.378), but remember Lucas Duda tore up LHP in Brooklyn last year, and he's hitting to a .500 OPS this year vs them in St. Lucie. Not very many conclusions can be drawn by a player's first half season adjusting to wood, anyway, it is way too premature to call him a bust, which I have seen some people do on message boards.

5. R 3b/1b Stefan Welch L/R 8/12/88

July: 28 for 118, 11 runs, 5 2b, 2 3b, HR, 13 RBI, 2/23 BB/K, 3 SBs, .237/.250/.339/.589

Rough month for the about-to-turn 20 year old Aussie. After a roaring start to his Kingsport career (18 for 45 June), Welch has fallen into a deep 8 for 41 slump, and is striking out a ton. Still, he's age appropriate for the league, and there is still a month to go, where he can right his season once again.