Update - 7:00PM EDT

Ike Davis, the Mets first base prospect, drove in six runs today for the Surprise Rafters in the Arizona Fall League opener. Davis had two doubles, a home run, and scored two runs in his 4 for six effort.

Another Mets prospect, Lucas Duda, drove in two runs with a 2 for 5 day that included a double. Shortstop prospect Ruben Tejada also went 2 for 5 and drove in a run. Yankee Ian Kennedy got the win for Surprise who defeated the Peoria Javelinas 17-4.

Original Post...

It’s opening day today for the Mets… well sort of.

Today marks the start of the Arizona Fall League’s (AFL) 2009 season.  The Mets have sent eight of their top prospects to the Surprise Rafters, one of six teams in the two division league.

The AFL is made up of three teams in each eastern and western division. The purpose of the league is to give some of the better prospects a chance to continue their growth prior to the next season.  Each team is made up of prospects from five Major League clubs. Every Major League club sends six to eight top players to one of the six teams. The Rafters’ roster is made up of players from the Mets, Yankees, Royals, Rangers, and Cardinals. Surprise is the spring training home of the Royals and Rangers and is also used during the summer by the Arizona Rookie League.

Each AFL team plays a 32 game schedule. There is an all star game, named the Rising Stars Game on November 7th played between east and west, and a single championship game played by the two division winners on November 23rd. Games are played six days a week but not on Sunday. All teams play in the greater Pheonix area where the weather remains baseball worthy through the fall and winter.

The Surprise Rafters play in the western division along with two other clubs that share facilities down the road at Peoria.  The teams in the eastern division include Mesa, Phoenix, and Scottsdale. All clubs play at Cactus League/Arizona Rookie League facilities and are within a 25 mile radius.  

Here are the seven Mets farmhands that will play on the Rafters…

Pitchers

Jenrry Mejia –Right Handed pitcher

The highly touted right hander spent 2009 playing in Port St. Lucie and Binghamton. At St. Lucie, Mejia compiled a 1.97 ERA with a record of 4-1. He struck out 44 in 50.1 innings while walking just 16. It was a different story at Binghamton however where Mejia did not win a game going 0-5 with a 4.47 ERA. His strike out to walk ratio still remained high however. He struck out 47 in 44.1 innings while walking just 23. He gave up two home runs in Binghamton and none in St. Lucie. It really was a good first year of professional ball for Mejia who turned twenty this past Sunday.

Scott Moviel – Right Handed Pitcher

After two games in the Gulf Coast League, Moviel moved up to St. Lucie. He compiled a 4-5 record with a 3.92 ERA at St. Lucie, 3.56 overall.  In 73.1 innings, Moviel struck out 56 while walking 24. Opposing batters hit .253 against the 21 year old hurler. One alarming stat is his ERA against right handed hitters. Against righties, Moviel is pitching at a 5.35 clip while just 2.35 against lefties. On a positive note, Moviel came on strong in the last half of the season winning all of his decisions after August 1st. Perhaps the most notable stat about Scott is his height. At 6’,11”, Moviel might consider starting for the Knicks if baseball does not work out for him.

Eric Neisen – Left Handed Pitcher

Eric, a 24 year old lefty, split time between St. Lucie and Binghamton. His combined record was 7-11, starting 16 games for a miserable B-Mets team. His combined ERA was 4.09. In 140.2 total innings, Neisen struck out 134 batters and walked 57. He gave up 11 home runs and 64 earned runs overall. Opposing hitters batted .242 against him.  

John Stinson – Right Handed Pitcher

John pitched in 50 games in 2009, splitting his season between Savannah and St. Lucie. At St. Lucie, a higher level than Savannah, Stinson had a 1.98 ERA in 25 games compared to a 3.61 ERA in the same number of games for Savannah.  Stinson pitched primarily in relief having started just one game. Stinson struck out 35 in 36.1 innings whiles walking 19. At St. Lucie, opposing hitters batted just .168 against Stinson.  His overall record was 5-3 with a 2.86 ERA.

Position Players

Ike Davis – Left Handed First Baseman

The son of former Yankee pitcher Ron Davis had a break out year at St. Lucie and Binghamton. The 22 year old first baseman batted a combined .298 in 429 at bats over 114 games in 2009. At AA Binghamton in 55 games, Davis batted .309, hit 13 homeruns and knocked in 71 RBI. His on base percentage was .386 and his slugging percentage was .565, excellent numbers.  Against right handed hitters, these percentages went up to .409 and .618 respectively. While everyone ponders if Daniel Murphy is the future first baseman for the Mets, Davis could be the power answer the Mets are looking for a couple of years down the road.

Reese Havens – Right Handed Shortstop, Bats Left

Havens, 23, spent the entire season at St. Lucie. He batted just .247 but does have some power. The left handed hitting shortstop hit 14 homeruns, 19 doubles and 1 triple while batting in 52 runs. His on base percentage was .361, room for improvement there. He walked 55 times in 360 at bats and struck out 73 times. Reese is not a speedster having only stolen 3 bases and was caught twice.

Ruben Tejada – Right Handed Shortstop

Could the slick fielding Tejada be heir apparent to Jose Reyes? It’s an interesting thought. Tejada batted .289 in 134 games entirely for Binghamton in 2009. In 488 at bats, Tejada scored 59 runs, had 24 doubles, 3 triples, and hit 5 homeruns. He batted in 46 runs, walked 37 times but struck out 59 times. Tejada is a good prospect but seriously must do better to approach what Reyes has done offensively prior to this season. He certainly does not have the speed of Reyes having stolen just 19 bases all season. I would bet Tejada will eventually be used in a trade since Reyes is still very young.

Lucas Duda – Right Handed Outfielder, Bats left

Like Tejada, Duda played the entire season at Binghamton. In 110 games, Duda batted .289. He hit 29 doubles, 1 triple, and 9 homers while driving in 53.  He walked 61 times and struck out 91 times. The 23 year old outfielder had a .380 on base percentage and a 428 slugging percentage. These are not the numbers that Ike Davis has shown but they are not bad either.  

Although I have not seen anything official, I would assume that the MLB network will show a game or two from the AFL. Last season, the championship game was streamed on the internet.

You can check out how the Mets prospects and others are doing at by clicking here.

It’s bad enough we must live through the winter with the knowledge that the 2008 World Series championship flag will hang over Citizen’s Bank Park. Yesterday, to add insult to injury, the Phillies somehow did it to the Mets again.

 

The Peo Sagueros and the Mesa Solar Sox were locked in a flat footed tie for the American Division of the Arizona Fall League. Mets prospects play for the Peo Sagueros, Phillies prospects play for Mesa. Peo Sagueros needed to win yesterday and today to capture the division and play in the single championship game this Saturday. Mesa only needed to win yesterday to tie. Because Mesa won the season series against Peo Sagueros, they would clinch the division with a single win.

 

The Peo Sagueros led the Solar Sox by a score of 4-3 after seven innings yesterday. Pinch hitter and Phillies prospect Jeremy Sleyden hit a grand slam to put Mesa ahead 7-4 in the eighth. The pitcher for the Peo Sagueros was Mets prospect Eddie Kunz. Oh the pain…the pain. The Mets pitching staff must be cursed. It’s the only possible explanation. Mesa won the game and will go on to Saturday’s one game championship. Mets players will go home…again.

 

In Hawaii, Mets players on the Honolulu Sharks were beaten out by the Waikiki Beach Boys. The Sharks finished second and last. You see, in the Hawaiian Winter Baseball League there are only two teams in each of the two divisions.

 

After today’s final AFL game and the championship game on Saturday, professional baseball ceases for the year in the United States. However, the four major Caribbean leagues will still be going. Professional baseball in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Mexico will continue through the winter, culminating with the Caribbean World Series in early February. Many major leaguers including Mets players participate in the Caribbean leagues. Check out MLB.com for information regarding baseball in the Caribbean.

 

MLB on TV

 

While many will be watching bowl games on January 1, baseball will be on the air. The MLB Network will debut on the first day of the new year in 50 million homes that have cable TV or satellite. The 24 hour a day station will have wall to wall baseball programming including regular season games, classic games, and other baseball related shows. The network has announced they will also broadcast 16 of the 2009 World Baseball Classic in March. The station will be offered on the family tier and not require an extra fee. Check with your local satellite or cable company to see if they will carry the MLB Network.

Mets prospects Daniel Murphy and Shawn Bowman are doing very well in the Arizona Fall League. Murphy is currently batting .571, third best in the league having gone 8 for 14 in four games. Bowman is sixth in the league with an average of .438 with a slugging percentage of .938. Bowman has two homers and Murphy has one.

 

Pitcher Tobi Stoner is 1-0 with an ERA of 1.93 in 4.2 innings pitched. Jason Vargas missed the entire 2008 campaign due to hip surgery. He’s pitching pretty well having given up no runs in four innings pitched.

 

Mets players in the AFL are with the Peoria Saguaros. The Saguaros are 6-0 going into tonight’s action.

 

Hawaiian League Mets players are doing pretty well too. Shortstop Ruben Tejada is batting .324 for the Honolulu Sharks. Tejada has batted in eight runs. Second baseman Greg Volez is batting .317.

 

Josh Stinson has an ERA of 0.87 in 10 innings pitched. His record is 2-0.

 

The Sharks are 10-3 leading the Northern Division having won five in a row.

In yesterday’s Peoria Saguaros’ season opener of the Arizona Fall League, Daniel Murphy played second base and went 2 for 4 with a run scored. He also batted in a run with a sacrifice fly while batting second in the Saguaros’ lineup. The Saguaros defeated Scottsdale by a score of 9-3.

 

Another Mets prospect, third baseman Shawn Bowman, went 2 for 3 with a walk also scoring a run. Mets pitcher, lefty Jason Vargas, gave up three hits but no runs scored in an inning of work. Jason picked off a runner at first to help get out of trouble.

 

Right hander Tobi Stoner gave up an earned run but struck out two in two innings pitched. Potential closer Eddie Kunz pitched the final inning allowing a hit and a walk but struck out two to secure the win. It was not a save situation.

 

Box Score

The Arizona Fall League kicks off their season tomorrow. This winter league, that was created to give premier prospects an outlet to continue their development, has been run for several years now and includes alumni such as Mike Piazza. The league is made up of six teams that play all within the Phoenix area.

 

Each team is made up of prospects from multiple teams. This season, the Mets will send their prospects to the Peoria Saguaros. The players the Mets are sending include Daniel Murphy (1B), Mets; Jason Vargas (LHP), New Orleans; Tobi Stoner (RHP), Binghamton; Bobby Parnell (RHP), Mets; Shawn Bowman (3B), Binghamton; Josh Thole (C), St. Lucie; and Eddie Kunz (RHP), Mets.

 

Each team plays 38 games in a season that ends a week before Thanksgiving. There is an all star game and a single championship game. The Mets want Daniel Murphy to get experience at second base as a possible replacement for Luis Castillo. However, Murphy is listed on the roster as a first baseman.

 

Believe it or not, some of these games are actually broadcast (audio only) on MLB.com, a virtual paradise for the true baseball diehard as the weather turns cold. For schedules, rosters, and stats for the AFL, visit the MLB Arizona Fall League Site.

The New York Daily News has a nice article today in regards to Mike Pelfrey who is pitching well in the Arizona Fall League. Nice to see a Mets article on a football Monday.

Check out the progess of some of the Mets youngters in the Arizona Fall League and the Hawiian Winter Baseball League...Click here for story.