Wednesday in Syracuse
The Syracuse Mets swept a doubleheader from the Yankees' Scranton Wilkes Barre farmhands. There were plenty of interesting takeaways:
J.P. Sears looks ready to graduate to the majors. The 5'11 lefty -- who came to the Yankees in a 2018 trade for minor leaguer Nick Rumbelow and caught considerable attention a year ago, held the Mets to a run and two hits in five innings of the opener (while using just 73 pitches). More effective than dominant, he produced several outs on grounders. Oswald Peraza looks lost. Last year's impressive season where he hit .297 with 18 homers (and a .356 on base percentage) between three Yankee farm teams seems like a distant memory. So does opening night 2022, when he smoked a homer off Mets prospect Thomas Szapucki. Last night combined, he went 0 for 7, striking out twice in each game. While he struggles (as does his Somerset counterpart Anthony Volpe), Brian Cashman's trade for Isiah Kiner-Falefa looks even more astute.
I will plead guilty to being the unofficial president of the Estevan Florial Fan Club. Whenever I see him in person, he reminds me of a young Bernie Williams. Whenever the Yankee front office see him, they think "Greg Golson."
In Wednesday's nightcap, his booming double off Tommy Hunter broke up a combined no-hitter bid by Syracuse.
Miguel Andujar says he's doing OK. Chatting with him briefly before the game, he was calm and relaxed and getting his "game face" on. There was no outward anger, no need to discuss the trade request following his most recent demotion.
He DH'd in the opener and played 3rd base in the nightcap. And his bat still makes that special sound when he makes contact.
Speaking of that second game:
Look up Tim Adelman and you might find the term "journeyman" next to him. The Staten Island, NY native, whose pro career has spanned Kentucky to Korea and nearly everywhere in between, went a combined 9-15 with the Reds in 2016 and '17. He hadn't done much since joining the Mets organization earlier this year.
But during Wednesday's nightcap, in what amounted to an "emergency start," he put it all together for four terrific innings, no-hitting the Yankee farmhands. The only baserunner reaching on an error. Odds are that Adleman won't make it back to the majors. So give him credit for putting it all together, the effort it took for a 34 year old arm to freeze out a lineup with a top Yankee prospect and several who've seen time in the majors.
Daniel Palka, whose 27 homers for the 2018 White Sox helped make him the runner-up for AL Rookie of the Year, is calling Syracuse home this season. His three-run homer in the nightcap was the only scoring -- but more than enough as Adleman and reliever Tommy Hunter kept the Railriders off the boards.
In the opener... Travis Blankenhorn, who played a couple of dozen games for the 2021 Mets, delivered the walkoff win in the bottom of the 9th with this swing -- which immediately set off this on-field celebration:
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