Newsworthy Items of the Day

1. Bobby Parnell has been outstanding over the past 13+ innings. Since May 13th, he has struck out 19 and walked only one hitter. Hopefully this will allow the Mets to send down Mejia and have Parnell take his place in the pen, especially since he has been throwing multiple innings the last few outings.
2. D Murphy had two hits while playing 2B yesterday and I didn't read any horror stories on his defense. This was the first time he's played 2B since the Arizona Fall League a couple years ago.
3. Updating other minor leaguers, Nick Evans continue to rake in AA, as he has 4 HRs in his last 3 games, and is slugging .707 over his past 10 games. Again, he would be an effective platoon option versus LHP.
4. In AAA, 3B Mike Hessman continues to mash, as he hit his 18th HR and his stats are very impressive: .303/.382/.662. He seems to have the label as a Quad-A player, but whatever he is, he owns AAA pitching right now and may deserve a shot to hit major league pitching soon. Just to keep in mind, he is not on the 40-man roster.
5. A few scouts have the Mets taking 3B/hitter Zach Cox in next Monday's Amatuer Draft with the #7 pick. Although I haven't seen him play, the reports I've read is that he is a professional hitter, and has shown occasional, but not consistent, power. I know he hit a ton of home runs last year for University of Arkansas and showcased that power in the Cape Cod League last summer, but it didn't carry over this year. I wouldn't mind him being drafted by the Mets if none of the higher ceiling high school hitters are available. Hopefully the Mets use their resources wisely (read: spend $$ smartly), as they don't have a 2nd round pick due to the signing of Jason Bay, and our able to spend overslot in some of the later rounds for some high upside players.
6. Kevin Millwood has said he would welcome a trade to the Mets. He's an innings eater and close to a league average pitcher. The next two months will greatly determine whether or not the Mets will be trying to overpay for his services or not.

Mets have a big game tonight, and they have their ace on the mound. Hopefully they can score some runs for Johan and win the series. With the Phillies losing again today to the Braves, the Mets are 1 1/2 games behind the 2nd place Phils, and 4 games behind the 1st place Braves. Hot-lanta has won 8 straight games.