For the seventh time in eight years, the Mets used their first draft pick on a pitcher. The team selected Oregon State closer Eddie Kunz in the second round (No. 42 overall) of yesterday’s MLB draft.
Kunz, a 6-foot-5 right-hander, is 3-1 with a 3.05 ERA with 10 saves for the Beavers this year. Oregon State, the defending national champion, continues its season this weekend in the NCAA super regionals.
“We feel he can be a quick mover out of the bullpen,” said Rudy Terrasas, the Mets’ director of amateur scouting.
The Mets took high-school pitchers with their next two picks, selecting 6-3 lefty Nathan Vineyard from Woodland High in Cartersville, Ga., at No. 47 and 6-10 right-hander Scott Moviel from St. Edwards High in Berea, Ohio, at No. 77. All told, the Mets used their top six selections yesterday on pitchers. Brant Rustich (UCLA), Eric Niessen (Wake Forest) and Stephen Clyne (Clemson) were the others.
Since 1999, the only time the Mets didn’t use their top pick on a pitcher was four years ago, when they selected Lastings Milledge. The most notable of their recent pitcher picks were Aaron Heilman, Scott Kazmir and Mike Pelfrey. This marked the second straight year the Mets did not have a first-round pick (they lost the pick to the Giants for signing Type-A free agent Moises Alou). Last year they took right-hander Kevin Mulvey in the second round.
“You pick No. 42 as a general manager, and you don’t know what’s going to be out there,” Omar Minaya said. “So far we’ve done pretty well with relievers.”
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In the Mets’ 6-3, 10-inning loss to the Phillies last night, Billy Wagner blew a save for the first time since Aug. 1, 2006 at Florida, where he allowed two earned runs over one-third of an inning in a 3-2 Mets defeat. Wagner then converted 18 consecutive saves to conclude the season before starting this season with 13 straight.
Wagner said he had no problem with the fact he was summoned earlier than normal last night, with two outs in the eighth and the tying run on base.
“That’s my situation, I should be doing that more often, probably,” Wagner said. “This was a big game and I didn’t get it done.”
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Carlos Delgado, David Wright and Paul Lo Duca hit consecutive home runs off Cole Hamels (on nine pitches) in the sixth inning, the seventh time the feat has been accomplished in team history. The last time the Mets had three consecutive homers in an inning was April 17, 1989, when Darryl Strawberry, Kevin McReynolds and Keith Hernandez did it against Don Carmen of the Phillies.
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Former Mets pitcher Ron Darling and SNY have agreed to a multi-year contract extension.
