Jul 01 2019 05:50 AM
I tend to think that most prospects get to skip The Appalachian League, but that's probably more impression than fact. The front page of The Kingsport Mets' website shows deGrom and Matz, so there's that. On the other hand, deGrom wasn't a big prospect until he was, and Matz, despite his first-round pedigree, had a slow and injury-laced start to his minor league career.
It's really the foreign hotshots who get to skip it, I think. The rule is roughly the high schoolers start off in the GCL, the two-year collegians with The K-Mets, and the four-year guys go straight to Brooklyn. Foreign guys make some big jumps though, between The Dominican Summer League and full season ball. But there's Gregory Guerrero, so nope.
All of which is a long way of saying you're a long way from Flushing if you're in Kingsport, Tennessee. It's been true since 1980 and it's true now. But Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, and David Wright all spent some time there. You should too.
The team spending time there right now lost this evening to the Johnson City Cardinals, 6-2, dropping them to 6-6. That wouldn't be so bad, but if they hadn't started off with a sweet 4-1 bump. They now sit a game and a half behind those same Cards in the Appalachian League West Division.
Anyhow, "Johnson City" sounds like a male strip-club megaplex.
Fun Fact: Each of the 10 Appalachian League teams shares a nickname with their parent club. No Buscuits or BabyCakes or Festering Sores or anything like that.
A guy who wants to create some fun facts of his own is Ramón Guzman. Through his first two turns in the Kingsportian rotation, Ramónmania has yet to allow an earned run. Yeah starts are particularly short at this level in the first weeks of the season, but even though it's only been eight innings so far, a trio of zeros for an ERA, along with 13 strikeouts against two walks? That's the sort of stat line that makes a man stand up and say A-men. And if they don't play "Blitzkreig Bop" for the guy's entrance music, they don't know what they're doing.
You know who knows what he's doing? Lefty reliever Christofer Dominguez knows. Tofer has thrown seven and a third innings, giving up only one run on four hits. Yeah, he's walked five to go with his seven strikeouts, but walks happen with lefty relievers. You bring them in with the go-ahead run on second in the seventh, they're going to be prone to trying to be too fine, knowing that the walk is a far less damaging outcome than a hit.
Hey, speaking of damaging outcomes, let's talk about second baseman Gregory Guerrero. He is starting to get a big head. Moving over to second likely because the team has more than a few high-end shortstop prospects, 20-year-ol Greg has turned into Johnny Bravo at the start of this season. After missing 2018 with shoulder surgery (perhaps another reason he's moved to second), Bravo has had a dynamite sound to the opening of his season, OPS-ing to the tune of 1.014, homering twice already, with a double and triple* thrown in, and walking alla time when he ain't slugging (12 walks in 10 games). Greg is out to prove just how close to Flushing Kingsport can be.
You can find out too with a trip to Hunter Wright Stadium, where Rich Donnelly's charges fight the good fight against the best the Appalachian Mountains can throw at them. Bring a copy of Rich's memoir The Chicken Runs at Midnight, and get an inscription.
YOUR Kingsport Mets Coaching Staff
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