Nolan McLean, Blade Tidwell Pitch Well; Jesus Baez Homers Again (2024)

Blade Tidwell, Photo by Bronson Harris of Binghamton Rumble Ponies

The Thursday night highlight from the Mets minor leagues was the continued strong performances on the mound from Blade Tidwell and Nolan McLean. Right-hander Ernesto Mercedes pitched well for St. Lucie, too.

Check out what else happened across the organization below.

Triple-A

Iowa Cubs (20-22) 10, Syracuse Mets (24-16) 4

BOX SCORE

SS José Iglesias: 2-for-4, R, RBI (.796 OPS)
CF Trayce Thompson 2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, (.768 OPS)
2B Luisangel Acuña: 1-for-5, RBI, SB (14th) (.610 OPS)

Unfortunately, Acuña has not been good this season for Syracuse. His 55 wRC+ ranks 145th out of 153 international league hitters with at least 100 plate appearances this year.

Double-A

Bowie BaySox (19-16) 3, Binghamton Rumble Ponies (19-15) 0

BOX SCORE

CF Alex Ramírez: 1-for-4, 3 K (.722 OPS)
1B Ryan Clifford: 0-for-3, BB (.350 OPS)
C Kevin Parada: 0-for-4, 3 K (.570 OPS)
RF Brandon McIlwain 2-for-3, 2B (.677 OPS)

The struggling Rumble Ponies offense had two players caught stealing and struck out 13 times. Parada is striking out 35% of the time this year.

RHP Blade Tidwell 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 81 pitches (58 strikes), 2.41 ERA

The 22-year-old Tidwell bounced back from his worst start of the season (2 IP, 5 ER) to lower his ERA to 2.41 in 37 1/3 innings. His 22.4 K-BB% is fourth in the Eastern League, and you have to think he’s headed to Triple-A soon.

Right-handed reliever Trey McLoughlin tossed a scoreless inning, lowering his ERA to 1.64.

High-A

Bowling Green Hot Rods (19-16) 1, Brooklyn Cyclones (18-17) 0, Game 1

BOX SCORE

CF Nick Morabito: 1-for-3, SB, .967 OPS

The Cyclones had only two hits in the game. Omar De Los Santos stole his 22nd base of the year, but his OPS is only at .500.

High-A

Bowling Green Hot Rods (20-16) 7, Brooklyn Cyclones (18-18) 1, Game 2

BOX SCORE

CF Nick Morabito: 1-for-4, SB, .908 OPS
1B Nick Lorusso 1-for-2, 2 BB, .841 OPS

The Cyclones’ offense had another stinker, going 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The recently promoted Morabito has 18 stolen bases over 32 games this year.

RHP Jordany Ventura 3.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 2.42 ERA

Ventura was making his first start of the 2024 season.

Low-A

Palm Beach Cardinals (21-15) 8, St. Lucie Mets (12-24) 2

BOX SCORE

3B Colin Houck: 0-for-4, 3 K (.500 OPS)
SS Boston Baro: 2-for-5, RBI (.781 OPS)
DH Jesus Baez: 1-for-3, HR (5th), (.828 OPS)

2023 first-rounder Houck is now 2-for-49 with 29 strikeouts over his last 11 games. The 19-year-old Baez has a 138 wRC+ and his five home runs are third in the Florida State League. He extended his hitting streak to 16 games.

The Mets have lost 12 straight games and have tied a team record with 11 straight road losses.

RHP Ernesto Mercedes 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 77 pitches (49 strikes), 3.81 ERA

The 20-year-old Mercedes is one of the more intriguing arms in the Mets’ lower minors. His fastball was up to 97 mph on the night, and he threw 8 sliders over 3200 rpms. He’s fifth in the league with 35 K%, but also leads the league with 19.7 BB%.

Florida Complex League

FCL Cardinals (6-3) 4, FCL Mets (5-4) 0

BOX SCORE

2B Jeremy Rodriguez: 1-for-3, BB (.901 OPS)
CF A.J. Ewing 2-for-3, BB (.931 OPS)

Ewing, the Mets fourth-round pick last year, has played six games in center field and two games at second base this year. The 19-year-old has walked six times in eight games. Rodriguez, acquired in the Tommy Pham trade, has 19 walks compared to only 11 strikeouts since joining the Mets organization.

LHP Jeremy Peguero 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K, 1.29 ERA

The left-handed Peguero has allowed only one hit in seven innings this year.

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