ABOUT a month ago, the Mets had seven of their top prospects – Fernando Martinez, Jon Niese, Eddie Kunz, Nick Evans, Daniel Murphy, Mike Carp and Bobby Parnell all were together on the roster of the Mets’ Double-A affiliate in Binghamton.
Now Kunz, Evans and Murphy are on the major league roster, and Niese and Parnell have been promoted to Triple-A New Orleans. Parnell made his debut with the Zephyrs Tuesday, giving up two runs on five hits in six innings, striking out five and walking two.
In 24 starts with Binghamton before his promotion, Parnell was 10-6 with a 4.30 ERA, striking out 91 and walking 57 in 1272/3 innings. Parnell also was named to the Eastern League’s North Division All-Star team.
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It’s been a long road back, but Yankees prospect Francisco Cervelli finally has made it to Double-A Trenton. Cervelli was scheduled to begin 2008 with the Thunder, but after breaking his wrist in the home plate collision Tampa Bay’s Elliot Johnson in a spring training game March 8, basically missed the first four months of the season. But after three-game stints with the Gulf Coast Yankees and High-A Tampa, Cervelli is hitting .360 (9-for-25) with three doubles in his first eight games with the Thunder.
While Jeff Karstens has made major headlines in the beginning of his career with the Pirates following the Xavier Nady–Damaso Marte trade, minor leaguers Jose Tabata, Ross Ohlendorf and Daniel McCutchen also have started their Pirates’ careers on good notes.
Tabata, who struggled to a .248 average in 79 games with Double-A Trenton, has gotten off to a strong start with the Pirates Double-A affiliate, the Altoona Curve. The 19-year-old is hitting .330 (10-for-30) with a double, triple, three RBI and three stolen bases.
Ohlendorf and McCutchen were assigned to the Pirates Triple-A affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians. Ohlendorf is 2-2 with a 3.25 ERA in four starts for Indianapolis, including eight shutout innings in his last start, and McCutchen is 1-2 with a 4.26 ERA in four starts.
Now 41 games into his professional career, Ike Davis, the Mets’ top pick in this year’s First-Year Player Draft, still is looking for his first home run.
The 21-year-old first baseman is hitting .235 with 11 doubles and 11 RBI in 153 at-bats for the Cyclones.
After some early season struggles, Cyclones left-handed reliever Stephen Clyne has pitched better of late. The 23-year-old was 1-3 with a 5.92 ERA to start the year with High-A Port St. Lucie, and then allowed five runs in his first three appearances with Brooklyn.
Since then, Clyne has allowed one run in his past 10 appearances, going 1-0 with a 0.66 ERA, striking out 14 and walking seven in 132/3 innings.