Rumble Ponies 2023 Season Recap
RHP Luis Moreno was named EL Pitcher of the Week for the week of June 19-25. RHP Mike Vasil was named the EL Pitcher of the Month for May, IF José Peroza was named EL Player of the Week for May 8-14, and IF Luke Ritter was named EL Player of the Week for June 5-11.
Vasil was the leader of the pitching staff over the first two months of the season he spent with Binghamton. Over a stretch of three starts in May, he allowed only one run over 21 innings, going at least six innings in each outing. A highlight of the season was Va- sil’s May 11th start against Hartford, in which he surrendered just one run over eight innings with no walks and seven strikeouts. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound right-hander was the Mets’ eighth-round pick in 2021 out of the University of Virginia.
RHP Dom Hamel celebrates the Ponies playoff series win at TD Bank Ballpark. He threw seven and two thirds frames, allowing just three hits with eight strike- outs in the Ponies 2-0 Game 2 win to sweep the series.
Hamel, the Mets 2022 Minor League Pitcher of the Year, made great strides in his first year at the Double-A level. He set a career-high with 11 strikeouts in three different starts and finished the year second in the Eastern League in strikeouts (160), third in opponents’ bat - ting average (.230), and fifth in WHIP (1.27) and ERA (3.85). The right-hander was selected by the Mets in the third round of the 2021 draft out of Dallas Baptist. Moreno over four starts in June pitched to just a 1.23 ERA and a 28-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio. On June 15, Moreno allowed two runs on four hits over six innings, striking out 10 in a win at home over Portland. On June 20, Moreno did not allow a hit at Akron over five scoreless frames with one walk and nine strikeouts. Much of the pitching staff’s success is a credit to Mets Minor League Staff Member of the Year and Rumble Ponies Pitching Coach AJ Sager. In his first season with Binghamton and second in the Mets’ organization, Sager’s staff set a Binghamton franchise record with 15 shutouts.
Ponies’ pitchers also had a trustworthy backstop in Plat- num Gold Glove Award winner Hayden Senger . The Hamilton, Ohio, native led all Mets Minor League catchers in caught stealing rate (30.5%) and logged a career-high 597.2 innings behind the plate in the regular season.
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RHP Paul Gervase was a dominant force out of the bullpen during the Ponies second-half playoff run.
Reliable relief
It’s no coincidence the Ponies were 59-4 when leading after seven innings. In addition to their dominant starters, throughout the season the Ponies were buoyed by a sure-fire relief core. Paul Gervase was an August call up and did not allow a run over his last five regular-sea - son appearances, highlighted by striking out all six batters he faced on September 14 at Reading. He also earned the last four outs to preserve the 2-0 series-clinching victory in Game 2 of the ELDS. The 23-year-old right-hander was a 12th-round pick by the Mets in 2022 out of LSU.
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