Blade Tidwell, Nolan McLean Dominate On The Mound

The starting pitching in Binghamton (Double-A) and Brooklyn (High-A) impressed on Saturday. Blade Tidwell threw eight scoreless innings with nine strikeouts while Nolan McLean went five scoreless innings with nine strikeouts.

Meanwhile, the Florida Complex League opened its season Saturday afternoon.

Trayce Thompson. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Triple-A

Syracuse Mets (17-13) 4, Rochester Red Wings (14-14) 2

BOX SCORE

• DH Rylan Bannon 1-for-2, R, RBI (16), BB (.934 OPS)
• CF Trayce Thompson 2-for-3, R, 2 2B, RBI (16), BB, K (.709 OPS)
• 2B Luisangel Acuña 1-for-5, K (.597 OPS)
• C Hayden Senger 3-for-4, RBI (2), K (.399 OPS) 

The Mets responded well to their blowout loss on Friday, controlling their Saturday afternoon contest from the very beginning. With the bases loaded in the first inning, Rylan Bannon grounded into a double play, which brought home a runner, scoring the first run of the game. Hayden Senger doubled Syracuse’s lead with a run-scoring single in the second inning. Trayce Thompson scored Bannon with his third-inning RBI double, followed by Bannon hitting a sacrifice fly in the next inning, bringing the lead to 4-0.

Rochester would score two runs in the next two innings, but the Syracuse bullpen held down the lead to secure the Syracuse victory. 

• RHP Max Kranick (2.57) 3 2/3 IP, 0 R, H, 4 BB, 2 K (34 of 66 pitches for strikes)
• RHP Jon Duplantier (8.68) 1 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, BB, 2 K
• LHP Tyler Jay (1.15) 3 IP, 0 R, H, 0 BB, K
• LHP Josh Walker (2.92) 1 IP, 0 R, H, 0 BB, 3 K

In his second appearance for Syracuse, Max Kranick was solid but failed to give the Mets much length. Lasting only 3 2/3 innings, Kranick allowed only one hit but walked four Red Wings, causing his pitch count to elevate.

Jon Duplantier relieved  Kranick in the fourth inning and was immediately greeted by a Jack Dunn solo homer. Duplantier would allow another run the following inning, giving up Rochester’s only two runs on the day. Tyler Jay and Josh Walker were excellent, combining to allow only one baserunner and strikeout four batters.

Blade Tidwell. Photo by Bronson Harris of the Binghamton Rumble Ponies

Double-A

Binghamton Rumble Ponies (13-12) 2, Hartford Yard Goats (14-10) 0

BOX SCORE

• CF Matt Rudick 3-for-4, R, HR (3), RBI (13), SB (1) (.828 OPS)
• 2B Rowdey Jordan 2-for-4, 2B, RBI (14), 2 K (.726 OPS)
• SS Wyatt Young 1-for-3 (.786 OPS)

Binghamton’s pitching dominated Hartford yet again. This time, Blade Tidwell threw an eight-inning masterclass. The Rumble Ponies offense brought home two runs via Rowdey Jordan’s RBI double and Matt Rudick’s solo home run. Outside of those two combining for five hits, Binghamton was held quiet, but those two runs were all they needed. 

• RHP Blade Tidwell (1.23) 8 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 9 K, (72 of 94 pitches for strikes)
• LHP Trey McLoughlin (2.25) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, BB, 0 K

Blade Tidwell showed his elite potential on the mound on Saturday while the Rumble Ponies donned the Star Wars-themed jersey for May 4. The University of Tennessee alumni collected nine strikeouts and only gave up five hits in his longest outing of the season.

Addressing his prior concerns regarding walks, Tidwell has notably mitigated this issue, as evidenced by his issuance of only two free passes over the course of eight innings on Saturday. Tidwell’s above-average fastball particularly gave Hartford’s batters issues, along with his elite slider that played off his four-seamer all afternoon.

Trey McLoughlin shut the game down in the ninth, allowing a single baserunner but stranding him on the basepaths.

Nolan McLean. Photo by Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

High-A

Aberdeen IronBirds (13-13) 0, Brooklyn Cyclones (14-12) 4

BOX SCORE

• 3B Wilfredo Lara 1-for-4, 3B, 3 RBI (4) (.557 OPS)
• 2B Junior Tilien 2-for-3, R, (.508 OPS)
• 1B Ryan Clifford 0-for-2, 2 BB, 2 K (.738 OPS)
• C Christian Pregent 0-for-2, RBI (3), K (.325 OPS)

The Cyclones shutout Aberdeen for the second consecutive game behind the stellar pitching of Nolan McLean and the Brooklyn bullpen. Wilfredo Lara provided the big punch for Brooklyn with his fifth inning, three-run triple. Despite another quiet night from the rest of the bats in the lineup, Brooklyn continues to secure victories behind elite pitching from top prospects. 

• RHP Nolan McLean (2.84) 5 IP, 0 R, 3 H, BB, 8 K (43 of 71 pitches for strikes)
• RHP Victor Castaneda (4.63) 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K
• RHP Ben Simon (4.85) 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K

Two-way talent Nolan McLean lowered his season ERA to 2.84 after his fantastic five-inning outing on Saturday. McLean’s pitching game plan followed a similar one as his rotation-mate Brandon Sproat‘s. Specifically, he got up early in the count and put away IronBirds with off-speed pitches.

The strategy worked out great for both starting pitchers, both Sproat and McLean collected eight strikeouts on Friday and Saturday, respectively. The Brooklyn bullpen finished the shutout by combining for four innings and allowing two baserunners.

Boston Baro. Photo by Ed Delaney of MMO

Low-A

St. Lucie Mets (12-14) 0, Jupiter Hammerheads(17-9) 4

BOX SCORE

• 2B Boston Baro 1-for-2, 2 BB (1.108 OPS)
• 3B Jesus Baez 1-for-4, (.709 OPS)
• CF Nick Morabito 1-for-3, K (1.062 OPS)
• 3B Colin Houck 0-for-4, 3 K (.642 OPS)

After following behind early in the first inning, St Lucie never stringed together hits to bring home any runs. Boston Baro was on base three times, while the rest of the offense was stifled for the most part. 

• LHP Ernesto Mercedes (4.42) 4 IP, ER, 1 H, 4 BB, 8 K (45 of 80 pitches for strikes)
• RHP Jack Wenninger (4.44) 5 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K

Both pitchers were ineffective at keeping Jupiter off the basepaths, which hurt Wenninger and ultimately led to his three runs allowed. Mercedes showed decent putt-away stuff, striking out eight batters in only four innings. 

Complex League

FCL-Mets (0-1) 4, FCL-Cardinals (1-0) 6

BOX SCORE

• LF Jeffry Rosa 1-for-4, R, HR (1), RBI (1), BB, 3 K (1.400 OPS)
• SS Jeremy Rodriguez 0-for-4, RBI (1), BB, K (.495 OPS)
• 1B Jake Zitella 3-for-4, 2 R, 2B, K (1.750 OPS)

The Florida Complex League opened its season on Saturday. The FCL-Mets dropped their first match of the season against the FCL-Cardinals. Jeffry Rosa led the way for the Mets offensively with an Opening Day home run. Rosa led the Dominican Summer League last year with 15 home runs.

Jake Zitella also had a three-hit day, including an eighth-inning double to left field. 

• RHP Joel Diaz (0.00) 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K
• RHP Christian Rodriguez (16.20) 1 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, BB, 2 K
• RHP Joseph Yabbour (3.86) 2 1/3 IP, ER, H, 2 BB, 3 K
• LHP Jeremy Peguero (9.00) 1 IP, ER, H, BB, K
• RHP Estarlin Escalante (9.00) 1 IP, ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K

Aside from the starter, every pitcher for FCL-Mets allowed a run, which allowed the FCL-Cardinals to take the season opener. In his two innings of work, Joel Diaz struck out two batters and allowed two baserunners.

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