Steven Matz, Nick Tropeano, multiple Mets make top minors list
Mets pitching prospect Steven Matz, from Long Island, plays for Double-A Binghamton. Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
Long Islanders Steven Matz and Nick Tropeano, as well as multiple Mets prospects and one Yankees minor leaguer, were among Baseball America’s list of minor league All-Stars.
Tropeano, a righthanded starter who won his major league debut with the Houston Astros on Wednesday, was selected to the Triple-A team. The 24-year-old from West Islip, and who attended Stony Brook University, had a 3.03 ERA and 0.99 WHIP in 23 games (20 starts) for Oklahoma City in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
Matz, a lefthanded starter who helped the Binghamton Mets win the Eastern League title on Friday, was selected to the Double-A team. The 23-year-old, who was born in Stony Brook and attended Ward Melville, had a 2.27 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in 12 starts for Binghamton. He began the season for Single-A Advanced St. Lucie, posting a 2.21 ERA and 1.25 WHIP in 12 starts before a promotion to Double-A. Matz took a no-hitter into the eighth inning Friday night as Binghamton beat Richmond for the EL title.
Aside from Matz, the Mets had five other All-Stars:
- Closer Akeel Morris was picked for the Low Class A team. The 21-year-old righthander allowed an earned run in just two of his 41 games with the Savannah Sand Gnats, posting a 0.63 ERA and striking out 89 in 57 innings.
- Third baseman Jhoan Urena, leftfielder Michael Conforto and starting pitchers Marcos Molina and Corey Oswalt were selected to the Short Season team as members of the Brooklyn Cyclones.
Molina, a 19-year-old righthander who had a 1.77 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and 91 strikeouts in 76.1 innings, was named the Short Season Pitcher of the Year.
Oswalt, a 21-year-old righthander, had a 2.26 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 3.93 strikeout to walk ratio.
Urena, 20, hit .300 with a .356 on-base percentage, 20 doubles and five home runs.
Conforto, a 21-year-old who was the Mets’ top selection in the 2014 draft, hit .331 with a .403 OBP, 10 doubles and three home runs.
Second baseman Rob Refsnyder was picked for the Triple-A team, the lone Yankees minor league All-Star on Baseball America’s list. Refsnyder, a 23-year-old who began the year with Double-A Trenton before a promotion to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, hit .300 with a .389 OBP and .456 slugging percentage at Triple-A.
More MLB news
