3/25/13

Mets Cuts - Brandon Sage, Jeff Kaplan, Brandon Moore



Mets release:

RP Brandon Sage

Sage was selected by the Mets in the 37th round of this year’s draft.

1-1-10 Forecast:  This is about as best as it gets for a 37th rounder, and Sage will move on to probably Savannah for his 2010 season. Everyone loves a lefty specialist and, hopefully, the Mets have found one.

7-17-10: - Sage got off to a great start for Savannah in 2010 and, at one point, had the lowest WHIP in the complete organization. Then June happened... three appearances... a 10.80 ERA. Right now, he's 2-5, 4.41, in 22-appearances, with 28-K in  34.2-IP.

5-10-11: - LHRP Brandon Sage was promoted from St. Lucie to Binghamton. Sage has done very little wrong (check The Keepers for a great interview I did with him in the off-season) since turning pro in 2009. His ERA record: 2009 Brooklyn: 2.03, 2010 Savannah: 3.07, and 2011 St. Lucie: 3.45. Brandon was an unheralded 37th round pick in 2009 out of the University of South Alabama. He was a three year starter (7.02, 6.51, 4.64) and had 49-K in 58.2-IP in his last year. No, I’m still looking for something here to draft him also. Bottom line, he’s doing his job and getting rewarded.

6-2-11: -         RP Brandon Sage seems to be totally overmatched at the AA level this season. I like Sage’s game and was a big proponent of this promotion, but some pitchers just have a hard time making that initial adjustment to a new level. The one stat that stands out is his ERA comparison between home and away games: Home – 4-G, 3.38… Away – 4-G, 31.50. I’m sure Brandon will either work this out or do everything he can to miss the bus.
9-22-11 - Sage was sent all the way back to Savannah to get his game together. That's not a good sign.


P Jeff Kaplan

            Kaplan was an 11th round draft pick by the Mets in 2008, out of Irving Valley College and Cal State Fullerton.

In September 2008, Patrick Hickey wrote on:  Jeff Kaplan- After losing his spot in the rotation and battling arm fatigue, Kaplan became a commodity out of the bullpen. He’s got a great repertoire and is even better at maintaining control on the mound, which in my mind, make him someone who can definitely survive at higher levels. Add in a laid back personality and a few months to rest his tired arm and I think 2009 may be the best season of his young career. - Final Grade- B+

Kaplan was a starter in school and remained so for the lion share of his first three years with the Mets. Through 2010, his combined stats are: 10-9, 2.72, 1.23, 36-G, 22-starts.
It was decided in the 2010/2011 off-season to make Kaplan a full time relief pitcher. He was assigned to return to St. Lucie, where he went 3-5, 3.39 last year in 10 games, 9 starts.
4-13-11: - Stock Up: - Closer Jeff Kaplan (0.00) now has four saves in four opportunities. I talked to him today after the game and he told me that he is thrilled with his new job. Kaplan was a very talented starter that went through some injury problems that cost him the 2010 season. It also cost him his place in the pecking order of starters, even though his lifetime stats for the Mets, as a starter, are: 10-9, 2.72, 1.23.  Remember… 9 teams… 225 players… 3 slots…   you can’t miss a beat.

5-11-11: - RP Jeff Kaplan (1.53) pitched two more scoreless innings in a non-save opportunity (8-saves). This is his 15th appearance of the year and he looks like he will eventually be promoted to Binghamton. He was a successful starter for the Mets for three affiliates in three seasons (10-9, 2.72, 1.23, 36-G, 22-starts), but turned full relief this season.

5-24-11: - This was Jeff Kaplan’s worst outing of the young season. 1.2-IP, 4-ER, 2-HR. He went into this game with eight saves and no home runs (18-G) given up for the entire season. His earned runs increased 80% in one game. We’ll write this one off as a bad day.

6-30-11: - Roster moves on Thursday included RP Jeff Kaplan, who was bumped up from St. Lucie to Binghamton. Many thought he would be promoted earlier; however, I’m not sure he deserved this. He was unhittable in April (0.71), but that was about it, going 5.28 in May and a whopping 9.39 in June. Not too many people get promoted with these kind of numbers so this might be a good representation of the lack of depth in the organization when it comes to relief pitchers.

8-30-11: - 59 – RP Jeff Kaplan – Kaplan was a workhorse for St. Lucie this season (2-5, 3.51, 44-G) and was recently promoted to AA where he’s finding his way. He’s been in the Mets system for four years and his ERA over that period has been 3.45, 2.45, 0.00 (1 game after DL), and 3.58. Kappy will return to Binghamton for the beginning of 2012, but will probably finish the season in Buffalo. ETA: 2014 Mets bullpen candidate


P Brandon Moore

                        In 2008, Moore pitched for both Kingsport (2-0, 0.90, 1.00, in six games, two starts, 22-K in 20.0-IP) and Brooklyn (3-1, 9.00, 2.14 in 8 relief appearances).

He returned to Brooklyn for a complete season in 2009 and did good: 6-3, 2.09, 0.95, in 13 starts, 2-CG, 2-SH, 71-K, 17-BB, 82.0-IP.  

Moore’s combined two-year stats are: 11-4, 2.31, 1.04.

1-1-2010 Forecast:  No one expected this much from Moore, so this is all bonus time. Frankly, he’s had one of the better first two years any Mets SP has had in the past ten years. I expect him to bypass Savannah and go straight to Lucy in the spring.

4-14-10: - Moore pitched a “perfect” first outing, giving up nothing and ending with an organizational leading 0.00 WHIP. I asked him “you're the organizational leader in lowest WHIP (0.00)... after the first week... know it's early, and you're not going to deal up any secrets here, but what's working well for you right now?”Moore answered: “I’m just getting on the mound and pitching the way i always have. I have the mind set no one can beat me. My thing is I dont care who is at the plate. I know i can get them out.” Boy, we could use a little of this thinking in Queens right now.

6-27-10: - Moore had his first A+ outing and faired a lot better than his buddy Cohoon… 6.0-IP, 2-ER, 6-K, 3-BB, 3.00 ERA… and the win

7-10-10: - As we all know, Moore has had a wonderful career so far as a Mets. This year, he pitched excellently at Savannah (2.49, 0.9i in 14-G) and has been making the adjustment at the A+ level with St. Lucie. Friday night was a good outing: 6.0-IP, 1-ER, 4-Ks.  He did give up four walks, but, for the season, he's 1-1, 2.65, .141 for Lucy. We're all still waiting for Moore to show some cracks... he's 15-9 as a Met... but so far, he easily has cracked the Mets top 25 prospect list.

7-16-10: - Moore pitched five more excellent innings last night, giving up 0--ER, striking out eight, and walking only once. 12 of his outs were flyouts. Moore seems to have made the conversion to A+ with ease, with four game stats of: 2-1, 1.80, 1.20 in 25.0-IP. I think it is obvious that the Mets will keep moving him on (24-yrs old) and I expect him to be in the Binghamton rotation next spring.

8-1-10: -Moore seems to be the one Savannah graduate this season that is settling nicely into the A+ St. Lucie rotation. Last night, he went 5.1-IP against Lakeland, giving up only one earned run. Season stats at Lucy: 7-G, 2-3, 2.61, 1.35. We’ve learned in the past not to get too excited about pitchers below the AA level, but Moore is definitely on our watch list. One caveat… he is playing A+ at 24-years old, which might be one of the reasons he’s doing well at that level.

8-19-10: - First, let’s talk about Brandon Moore. This is a kid that has done very little wrong so far in his professional career. I tend not to judge minor league pitchers on their win-loss record, because, in many cases, their best outing was cut short due to pitch count. ERA is okay, but WHIP and K/IP are much better. Moore was a 14th rounder in 2008 and has been successful at four levels in three years. His combined WHIP in 2008/2009, for 27-G, 15-starts, for Kingsport and Brooklyn, was 1.04. He also had 104-K in 109.0-IP. He started this season (14-G, 12-St) for Savannah and posted a 0.92 WHIP and 98-K in 79-2-IP… currently, he’s pitching for St. Lucie and has put up a 1.43 WHIP, 49-K in 56.0-IP in 10 starts. Every pitcher goes through at least one level hiccup and if a 1.43 WHIP is his, all is fine with the world. Wednesday night, Moore got back on the horse, tossing 6.0-IP, 2-H, 1-ER, 9-K, and 3-BB.  Okay, here’s the rub. There is considerable chatter on the net about his lack of speed. I’ve watched the kid pitch and read a numerous amount of people that have seen him pitch and I estimate his fastball is sitting around 88-89, with a top speed of 92. Is this good enough to make a major league rotation? That’s not the problem. The problem is a pitcher that only hits 92 are a dime a dozen, so you better have serios control on that pitch, coupled by nasty secondary stuff. We’ll keep an eye on his A+ WHIP as the season comes to an end.
8-28-10: - Stock Up: Brandon Moore seems to be getting the knack of pitching at the A+ level. Too bad the season’s end is just around the corner. Moore pitched 6.0-IP last night, compiling only 1-ER, while striking out 10. His Lucy ERA is now 3.82, which when added to his 2.49 in Savannah earlier this year, totals out for a nice 3.08 in 26 games, 24 of which he started. I’ll stay conservative here and say that he will return to St. Lucie to start the 2011 season, but… ya never know

7-25-11: -  We haven’t talked much  about Moore this season simply because he got off to a struggling start this season in AA. Last year he went 5-9, 3.56 for three levels and Binghamton would be the test all prospect pitchers have to master to someday be considered as a call-up. Last night, Moore tossed 6.0-IP, 0-R, 6-K, 0-BB, 2-H and lowered his season ERA to 3.73 in 19-starts. I expect Moore to finish the season with the B-Mets, but start 2012 with AAA-Buffalo. One note of caution: 5.35 ERA vs. lefties (2.69 vs. righties).

7-26-11: - http://www.amazinavenue.com/2011/7/26/2287253/mets-mid-term-farm-system-review-2011-binghamton#storyjump  - RHP Brandon Moore - STOCK UP - Despite a somewhat mediocre run for much of 2011 Moore has rolled lately, posting a 1.93 in his last five starts bringing his overall line below 4. A 14th rounder handling Double-A in his first go around is a good thing. His potentially fatal flaw though is that as a righty with so-so stuff that relies on deception, he's becoming more and more hittable as he climbs (.277 AVG against). To further isolate the key issue, lefties see Moore extremely well. Righties have hit a paltry .233 against him while lefties accumulated a stout .339. Though he's making it work as a starter thus far in Double-A, to me that's a future big league reliever right there.

9-16-11: - Twitter - MLB suspends #Mets Double-A pitcher Brandon Moore for 50 games for a "drug of abuse." It's his second violation.

9-16-11: - http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110916&content_id=24774440&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb  - Moore, 25, was a South Atlantic League All-Star in 2010 with Class A Savannah when he had a 3.49 ERA in 14 outings for the Sand Gnats. He pitched at three levels in 2010 before spending all of this season at Double-A, where he finished 10-8 with a 4.47 ERA in 26 outings (25 starts). The Crawfordsville, Ind., native was New York's 14th-round pick in the 2008 Draft out of Indiana Wesleyan University and has also pitched for Kingsport, Brooklyn and St. Lucie over the last three years

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