September call-ups are the only thing worth watching for when your team is nearly 20 games out of first place. The Mets have only called up two players so far, in part since David Wright and Carlos Beltran have come off the disabled list since the month began. Of course, when you have the worst team in both the International League and the Eastern League, your minor league system isn't exactly brimming with major-league ready talent.
Josh Thole is the guy getting most of the attention, after a terrific season at Binghamton during which he put up a .328/.395/.422 line as a catcher. This is the second straight season in which he's posted a good batting average and shown patience at the plate - which in my book means it is time to start considering him a prospect.
He has started four games so far, all against right-handers, because Jerry Manuel inexplicably thinks that Thole needs to be protected from left-handed pitchers. Jesus Christ, why start turning a 22-year-old into a platoon player from the moment he hits the major leagues? Why not let Thole show whether or not he can hit left-handed pitching?
Thole isn't the next Matt Wieters by any stretch - he has just eight home runs in over 400 minor-league games and there are questions about his defense and throwing arm. That's fine; Thole needs to spend 2010 in Buffalo anyway. The Mets cannot make the same mistake they made with Daniel Murphy - it would be foolish and short-sighted to let Thole start next season with the big club.
We are talking about the Mets, of course, so Omar Minaya will probably annoint him the starting catcher on November 1 and fail to sign the one-year stopgap that the team needs instead.
The other call-up is Tobi Stoner, a guy I've kept an eye on for a few years. He dominated as a starter for Brooklyn in 2006 and has shown steady improvement across multiple levels over the past three seasons. Mack thinks that Stoner's future may be as a long reliever, and I like to defer to Mack when it comes to Mets' minor leaguers. He's not ready for the big leagues yet, either, but that's OK - he's another player who needs to be a Bison next season.
STARTING PITCHERS
Mike Pelfrey
Bobby Parnell
Pat Misch
Tim Redding
Nelson Figueroa
Johan Santana - DL
Oliver Perez - DL
John Maine - DL
Jon Niese - DL
Fernando Nieve - DL
RELIEF PITCHERS
Francisco Rodriguez (closer)
Pedro Feliciano
Brian Stokes
Sean Green
Ken Takahashi
Elmer Dessens
Lance Broadway
Tobi Stoner
JJ Putz - DL
CATCHERS
Josh Thole
Brian Schneider
Omir Santos
INFIELDERS
Daniel Murphy
Luis Castillo
David Wright
Fernando Tatis
Anderson Hernandez
Wilson Valdez
Carlos Delgado - DL
Jose Reyes - DL
Alex Cora - DL
Ramon Martinez - DL
OUTFIELDERS
Gary Sheffield
Angel Pagan
Jeff Francouer
Nick Evans
Cory Sullivan
Jeremy Reed
Carlos Beltran
Fernando Martinez - DL
1 comment:
While he's at it why doesn't he just play Thole against Righties that have an ERA over 5.00 that can't throw faster than 80mph? That should help the kids' confidence, huh? And Jerry can also tuck him in every night and tell him a bedtime story.
When did the coddling of young players get this absurd?
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