Nick Morabito Collects Three Hits and Three Stolen Bases
Wednesday in the Mets organization was a great day for some of the 2023 MLB Draft picks on the mound as Brandon Sproat and Kade Morris put up strong outings that kept the opposing team off the scoreboard. Meanwhile, one of St. Lucie’s hitters continued an early-season hitting streak, and a top international signing from 2022 continued his early-season breakout.
Check out what else happened across the organization below.
Triple-A
Syracuse Mets (24-15) 4, Iowa Cubs (19-22) 3 in 6 Innings
- 2B José Iglesias: 2-for-2, R, 2B (.790 OPS)
- DH Mike Brosseau: 1-for-2, R, 2B, RBI (10) (.789 OPS)
- 3B Yolmer Sánchez: 1-for-2, R, HR (3), 2 RBIs (15) (.589 OPS)
- C Hayden Senger: 1-for-2, R, HR (1), RBI (6), K (.573 OPS)
- CF Luisangel Acuña: 0-for-3, K (.610 OPS)
The Mets rallied back in the bottom of the second by matching the three runs Iowa put up at the top of the inning. Brosseau had an RBI double to get Syracuse on the board. He has four RBIs in the last two games and is on a four-game hit streak. That hit was followed up by Sánchez’s two-run home run.
Senger’s solo home run in the fifth was the go-ahead run due to rain.
- RHP Mike Vasil (1-2, 8.49 ERA): 5 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, BB, 3 K (48 of 80 pitches for strikes)
- LHP Tyler Jay (1.35, 1st save): 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H (4 of 6 pitches for strikes)
Vasil did allow back-to-back home runs in the second inning. However, he was able to re-group as he retired 11 of the final 12 batters he faced. The 24-year-old right-hander has allowed 10 home runs in 8 starts this year (18 in 26 starts a year ago) and five home runs in his last three starts.
Double-A
Bowie BaySox (18-16) 4, Binghamton Rumble Ponies (19-14) 0
- SS Wyatt Young: 2-for-4, K (.814 OPS)
- RF Ryan Clifford: 1-for-3, BB (.393 OPS)
- 1B JT Schwartz: 1-for-4, K (.757 OPS)
- DH Kevin Parada: 0-for-4, 2 K (.590 OPS)
- 2B Jeremiah Jackson: 1-for-3, 2B, BB (.567 OPS)
The Rumble Ponies were shut out by four different BaySox pitchers on Wednesday. In the loss, Clifford picked up a single to lead off the bottom of the second for his first Double-A hit. Their best chance to score a run came in the sixth on the double by Jackson, but Rowdey Jordan was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
- RHP Brandon Sproat (0.00): 5 IP. 0 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 K (52 of 82 pitches for strikes)
- RHP Cameron Foster (1-1, 3.20): 3 IP, 4 R (1 ER), 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K (35 of 59 pitches for strikes)
- RHP Carlos Guzman (10.80): 1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H (9 of 11 pitches for strikes)
It was a dominant Double-A debut for Sproat. The Mets’ 2nd-round pick in last year’s draft did not allow a single extra-base hit. Returning to his time in Brooklyn, Sproat has gone five or more innings and struck out five or more batters in his last four starts.
.@BrandonSproat dealt in his @RumblePoniesBB debut ????
5 shutout innings with 6 strikeouts ???? pic.twitter.com/tt9rfJbxEK
— Mets Player Development (@MetsPlayerDev) May 15, 2024
Bowie scored all four of their runs against Binghamton in the eighth against Foster as they led off the inning with a solo home run from Collin Burns. A throwing error by Jordan on a sacrifice bunt ended up causing the other three unearned runs.
Nick Morabito. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized
High-A
Bowling Green Hot Rods (18-16) 14, Brooklyn Cyclones (18-16) 5
- CF Nick Morabito: 3-for-5, R, 2B, 3 SB (1.003 OPS)
- 1B Nick Lorusso: 1-for-3, R, HR (3), 3 RBIs (19), K, HBP (.852 OPS)
- 2B Junior Tilien: 2-for-4, 2 R, HR (1), RBI (6) (.557 OPS)
- DH Nolan McLean: 0-for-4, 3 K (.818 OPS)
The Cyclones had six hits on Wednesday, but they all came from three players. Lorusso had a three-run home run in the top of the fifth that, at the time, gave Brooklyn a 4-3 lead. It was the 23-year-old’s first home run since April 14.
Pulling into the driver's seat with some style points⚡️
Nick Lorusso clobbers his 3rd homer of the year, a three-run shot, to give us the lead. We're up 4-3 in the 6th.#AmazinStartsHere | #LGM pic.twitter.com/kqafTvzeHb
— Brooklyn Cyclones (@BKCyclones) May 15, 2024
Morabito had a strong game out of the leadoff spot, as he now has three hits in back-to-back games. His three stolen bases are a new season-high, and he has 16 on the season (21 in 57 games at FCL and Low-A last year).
- RHP Jonah Tong (2.13): 3.2 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 WP (57 of 89 pitches for strikes)
- RHP Jawilme Ramirez (0-1, 16.20): 1.2 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K (20 of 29 pitches for strikes)
- RHP Justin Lawson (1.59): 1.2 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 3 K (20 0f 28 pitches for strikes)
- RHP Jake Stevenson (20.25): 0.2 IP, 6 ER, 5 H, BB, K (15 of 27 pitches for strikes)
While the bulk of the damage from the Bowling Green offense wasn’t put up against Tong, he did end up allowing a run in each of the first three innings. The second inning was a lot of bad luck for him because there were two batters reaching due to catcher inference, a throwing error, and a passed ball in the same inning (Cyclones made four errors for the game). This outing ended up being the shortest of the season for him. The Hot Rods scored five runs in the sixth and six in the eighth to break the game open.
Low-A
Palm Beach Cardinals (20-15) 2, St. Lucie Mets (12-23) 1
- SS Colin Houck: 1-for-4, RBI (9), 2 K (.515 OPS)
- 3B Boston Baro: 1-fo-4, 2B, K (.779 OPS)
- DH Jesus Baez: 1-for-4, R, 2 K (.800 OPS)
- 2B Marco Vargas: 1-for-3, BB (.84o OPS)
The only run of the night put up by St. Lucie came on an RBI single in the top of the fourth by Houck that started the scoring for both teams. The 19-year-old had his first hit in a game since May 7 and drove in a run for the first time since his three-RBI performance on May 2.
As for Baez, his single to lead off the fourth ended up extending his hit streak to 15 games. His 40 hits on the year are the second-most in the Florida State League.
- RHP Kade Morris (3.63): 7 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 6 K (59 of 91 pitches for strikes)
- LHP Zach Thornton (1-2, 4.91): 1.1 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, K (15 of 23 pitches for strikes)
Morris was excellent in his start on Wednesday night, as he did not allow a single extra-base hit to the Palm Beach offense. The 21-year-old retired seven of the final eight batters he faced in the no-decision. The seven innings he threw were a new career-high and he has 15 strikeouts in his last two starts (12 IP).
Kade Morris was electric tonight! 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 91 pitches. ⚡️⚡️⚡️ pic.twitter.com/CvZhqIsVFv
— St. Lucie Mets (@stluciemets) May 16, 2024
Palm Beach would win on a walk-off, two-run home run in the ninth against Thornton.
Florida Complex League
FCL Mets (5-3) 7, FCL Astros (1-7) 4
- RF Simon Juan: 3-for-4, R, 2 2B, HR (2), 2 RBIs (9) (1.180 OPS)
- DH Jake Zitella: 2-for-4, R, SB, K (.861 OPS)
- 3B Branny De Oleo: 1-for-4, R, 2B, 2 RBIs (5), K (.699 OPS)
- SS Jeremy Rodriguez: 0-for-2, R, RBI (4), 2 BB, K (.909 OPS)
It’s been a strong start to the season for Juan. The 18-year-old outfielder hit a solo home run in the top of the first to get the Mets on the board. He is on a six-game hit streak and has multiple hits in five of those games. The offense rallied in the final inning (seventh) with six runs, including a De Oleo double that gave the team the lead.
- RHP Omar Victorino (10.29 ERA): 4 IP, 4 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 2 K
- RHP Wellington Aracena (1-0, 3.60): 3 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 K
Even though Aracena walked two batters for the second consecutive outing, the 19-year-old right-hander kept the Astros offense off the board in the final three innings. He was able to strike out the tying run swinging at the plate for the final run of the game. His fastball was sitting 97-99 mph during the outing.
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