Mets Sign First 11 2015 Draft Picks

The Mets have now signed their first 11 draft picks with one pick whom I expected to be assigned to the Brooklyn Cyclones surprisingly assigned to the Kingsport Mets: Kevin Kaczmarski, their ninth-round pick. 

It was surprising because in 2015 the 23-year-old redshirt senior received these honors:

• 2015 Louisville Slugger First Team All-American
• 2015 NCBWA First Team All-American
• 2015 ABCA / Rawlings Second Team All-American
• 2015 Baseball America Second Team All-American

In his final season at the University of Evansville, he hit .465 (the highest in Division 1 baseball by 43 points) with a .543 on-base percentage (second highest in Div. 1), a .746 slugging percentage (second highest in Div. 1), and nine triples (tied for first in Div. 1).

Kingsport's season starts tonight as should Kaczmarki's.

Huchingson Joins Kingsport Mets

New Mets signee, Chase Huchingson, did something last season while playing for the University of Central Arkansas that few players have done. He was both the game's starting pitcher and his team's leadoff hitter. And though he pitched only one inning, he was credited with the win. (He remained in the game as the team's DH.)

The Mets have assigned Huchingson to the Kingsport Mets. That team's roster erroneously lists the lefty as a catcher and even misspells his last name.

Here's what Baseball America had to say about Huchingson in 2007:

Lefthander Chase Huchingson figured to be the first high school player drafted in the state, as a projectable 6-foot-5, 190-pound lefthander who could touch 90 mph this spring. But his mechanics got out of whack and he spent much of the spring working in the low 80s. He could be a premium pick three years down the road because it's unlikely a team will draft him high enough this year to divert him from Arizona State.

This past season at Central Arkansas, Huchingson did poorly as a hitter and even worse as a pitcher. As a hitter, he batted .236; as a pitcher, his ERA was 8.36. Yet, the Mets signed him.

Before he joined the Central Arkansas Bears, he played for two seasons at University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, a junior college, where he had much more success than with the Bears. Here are his JC stats for 2008 and 2009.

MLB teams drafted Huchingson twice: in 2007 the Rangers selected him in the 34th round; in 2008, the Astros selected him in the 23rd round.

Quick Hits

☛ Lucas Duda: Remember the name. Yesterday he accomplished something only five other Buffalo Bisons have ever done.

☛ The Cyclones lost to the Yankees 2-1 in 10. Leftfielder Will Cherry might not be with the team much longer if he continues striking out so much. Yesterday, in five at bats, he struck out four times. In 40 at bats he's struck out a team-leading 15 times. He's hitting .200. In contrast, in 2009, Cherry's final season playing for the Florida Southern Moccasins, he hit .370. In 154 at bats he struck out only 33 times. There, his slugging percentage of .727 plus his on-base percentage of .465 gave him an OPS of 1.192, more than double his current OPS with the Cyclones of .588. Is playing in the NY-Penn League that much harder than playing in the Sunshine State Conference?

☛ The Mets pulled out a victory yesterday thanks to Ruben Tejada's smarts. Closer Francisco Rodriguez was struggling to end the game. Luckily, with two outs and a runner on second, shortstop Tejada signaled for a pickoff play. The play worked. Game over. Mets won.

2010 Topps Baseball Card # 416 Ruben Tejada RC - TBD ( RC - Rookie Card ) MLB Trading Card in Protective Screwdown Case!

☛ The Kingsport Mets accumulated 22 hits, shellacking Pulaski 13-1. Outfielder ZeErika McQueen led the hit parade, going 5 for 5. He's now hitting .400 with an OPS of .914. The Mets drafted McQueen in the 29th round in 2009's June draft.

Minor League Baseball Cap - Kingsport Mets Home Cap by New Era (6 7/8)

☛ Bobby Parnell's comeback continues. In yesterday's Nats game, he had another successful outing, pitching another hitless inning. Since his promotion from the minors, he has pitched in seven games, allowing only one earned run while striking out nine.

Brad Burns up-and-coming

Most Mets fans probably don't know who Brad Burns is, but that will change if he keeps on pitching as he has for the Kingsport Mets. On Friday night, in an away game against the Princeton Devil Rays, a game the Mets won 2-1, Burns pitched five innings of four-hit ball.

This Princeton, by the way, is not in New Jersey. It's in West Virginia.

In the seven games in which he's pitched in his first season of pro ball, righty Burns gave up two runs once, one run twice, and no runs four times. His ERA now stands at 1.71, the fourth lowest in the Appalachian League.

He's been particularly effective in home games and against lefties. His ERA in both situations is 0.00, which is also what his ERA is when the bases are empty. Thus he hasn't given up any solo shots. In fact, he hasn't given up a homerun.

The Mets selected Burns in the 26th round of the 2007 MLB Draft out of the University of Oklahoma. This was the second time they selected him. In the 2004 MLB Draft, the Mets selected him in the 37th Round.

In 2007 Burns was one of five Sooners drafted; he was the third highest one.

After a decent first season at Oklahoma, Burns didn't have an outstanding second season, pitching in only seven games in which he gave up nine runs in 9.2 innings for an 8.38 ERA. In his first season he had a 2-1 record with a 4.50 ERA in 16 games.

However, the Mets must have seen enough during Burns two seasons at Oklahoma to be willing to draft him again.