Two Met Prospects Hitting Well

Though the B-Mets lost, Josh Satin continues to have a hot bat. After going 1 for 4, his average is now .353 in 34 at bats in Double-A. Satin started the season with St. Lucie, hitting .316 for them, including five homers. Surprisingly, Satin, a righty, is hitting right-handed pitchers much better than left-handed ones. Against, righties, he's hitting .407; whereas, against lefties, he's hitting only .143. He's one of the Mets best second base prospects. This is Satin's third season in pro ball.

Manning centerfield for the B-Mets is Sean Ratliff. In yesterday's game, Ratliff, who's hitting .314, batted second. He, too, got a hit in four at bats. A left-handed hitter, he's hitting well from both sides with the B-Mets. Left-handed, he's hitting .313; right-handed, he's hitting .308. Ratliff's in his third pro season. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft.



☛ Jenrry Mejia made his Binghamton debut. He was the first of six pitchers. In 2.1 innings, he yielded two hits, a run, and struck out three.

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

Say good-bye to Jose

It's time for the Mets to part company with Jose Reyes while his trade value is still high. He continues to make bonehead plays on the basepaths. He's reached his level of incompetence. It's apparent that what we see now is the best we'll see.

Minaya needs to contact other teams to see what they're willing to exchange. At a minimum, Minaya should see an experienced — but not too old — pro and several premier minor leaguers. One should be a catcher, and another a first baseman. If Minaya can also get either a starting pitcher or a corner outfielder in the deal, all the better. But he shouldn't wait too long, for the longer he waits, the less he'll be able to get in return for Reyes, a player who, at age 25, already seems to be past his prime.

Who'll play shortstop in Reyes' absence? For the rest of this season, Alex Cora.

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Now, for a bit of fantasizing. Pencil in Sean Ratliff in the Mets lineup within a year. The Savannah center fielder is making opposing pitchers look like Little Leaguers. He had another dominating game yesterday, going 4-6. He drove in three runs and hit two triples, upping his average to .360.

In the Eastern League, the B-Mets eked out an 8-7 win over Trenton by scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth. Josh Thole, another man among boys, went 5-5, increasing his average to .349.

St. Lucie got blasted, 19-4, and Buffalo's game was postponed: They're playing a twin-bill today.

Sean Ratliff on a hitting tear

A hitter doesn't often go 4-4. It's even rarer for a hitter to do that two games in a row. But that's what Savannah's Sean Ratliff has done. Yesterday, he again went 4-4, hitting three doubles, scoring three runs, and driving in three runs. What's more amazing is that in the game previous to yesterday's, Ratliff also hit three doubles. His average is now .354. Even better, his OPS is .940.

Ratliff is making better contact this season. Last season with Brooklyn, he struck out 67 times in 201 at-bats, or 33% of the time. This season, in 99 at-bats he's struck out only 24 times, or 24% of the time.

The 22-year-old lefty has hit both right-handed and left-handed pitchers well. He's hitting .300 against lefties and .367 against righties. And he's doing something that the big club's hitters aren't: He hitting with runners on base. With runners on, he's batting .373, and with runners in scoring position, he's batting .321.

Expect Ratliff to get promoted soon to St. Lucie. The South Atlantic League pitchers don't seem to be offering him much competition.

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Article on Mets GM Omar Minaya: If Mets' malaise drags on, GM Omar Minaya will be the one to blame by John Harper of the NY Daily News