Mike Vasil Struggles In 7-2 Syracuse Defeat

The Syracuse Mets (1-2) finished off their opening series of the season with the Rochester Red Wings (2-1) on Sunday. Mike Vasil, MLB Pipeline’s No. 11 Mets prospect, was on the bump for his first start of the season, going against Jackson Rutledge, the starter for the Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate. In the rubber game between these two teams, Syracuse fell behind from the jump and couldn’t recover, losing 7-2.

Vasil retired the first batter of the game on an easy ground ball out, but the rest of the first inning didn’t go as smoothly for him. After allowing two straight one-out singles, former Met Travis Blankenhorn turned on the first pitch he saw for a towering home run to put the Mets in an immediate 3-0 hole.

Mike Vasil, Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

The second inning for Vasil was a smoother ride, but a tumultuous third inning knocked Vasil out of the game after just 2 1/3 innings pitched. With runners on the corners and one out, Jack Dunn laid down a bunt that Vasil collected, but a poor throw found the outfield and scored a runner. Vasil exited at this point, but another runner he was responsible for scored on a fielder’s choice to give him five earned runs allowed. Vasil walked four and struck out none in a forgettable debut to the season.

Following Vasil out of the bullpen was Josh Walker who appeared in 21 games for Syracuse and 14 games with the major league club last year. He had much more success in Syracuse, and we saw more of that today. Walker matched Vasil with 2 1/3 innings but allowed just one hit in what was a scoreless outing. He also added a strikeout to his ledger.

Walker’s stability didn’t carry over to his replacement, however, as Eric Orze entered the game for the sixth inning and promptly walked three batters around two outs. He exited the game to allow the southpaw Kolton Ingram to pitch to the lefty Blankenhorn, but a hit-by-pitch and a subsequent single gave Rochester their sixth and seventh runs of the game. Ingram, Grant Hartwig, and Yacksel Ríos managed to quiet down the Red Wings for the rest of the game.

On the offensive side of things, the Mets got their scoring started in the bottom of the first inning after the Red Wings tacked on three in the top half. After Luisangel Acuña reached on a seeing-eye single, he advanced to second after a walk and was driven in on a Mark Vientos RBI single.

Following the early score, however, Rutledge kept the Mets’ offense in check. It wasn’t until the fifth inning that the Mets posed a threat, putting runners on first and second with nobody out after a pair of singles. Rutledge escaped this situation by striking out three straight batters, including Luisangel Acuña and Drew Gilbert.

After five one-run innings, Rutledge made way for the bullpen, and after a scoreless 1 1/3 innings from the bullpen, the Mets finally tacked on another run with a Jose Iglesias solo shot. It was the only offense worth noting for the rest of the game as Syracuse lost its opening series of the season.

Box Score

Hitters

2B Jose Iglesias – 2-for-4, HR, RBI

DH Mark Vientos – 1-for-3, BB, RBI

SS Luisangel Acuña – 1-for-4, K

RF Drew Gilbert – 0-for-4, 3 K

Pitchers

RHP Mike Vasil – 2.1 IP, 5 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 0 K

LHP Josh Walker – 2.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, K

RHP Eric Orze – 1.0 IP, 2 ER, 0 H, 3 BB, K

LHP Kolton Ingram – 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K

RHP Grant Hartwig – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K

RHP Yacksel Ríos – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K

Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

Players of the Game

It was an ugly day for the Syracuse Mets, but there were two players, Josh Walker and Jose Iglesias, who stood out. The pitching staff struggled all game, but Walker did a good job supplanting Vasil and throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings. The 29-year-old lefty reliever had a 1.84 ERA in 29 1/3 innings in Syracuse in 2023, and more strong performances down the line could give him a look to rejoin the major league team’s bullpen.

As for Iglesias, the veteran infielder is known mostly for his defense, but he went 2-for-4 with a home run in this contest. He doesn’t have a clear path to the majors, with Joey Wendle and Zack Short already providing infield depth at that level, so he’ll continue to be a valuable presence on a team filled with young prospects.

On Deck

Syracuse (1-2) is off tomorrow before traveling to take on the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders (3-0) on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. ET. Starting pitchers have yet to be announced for the game.

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