Cyclones lock into third as season winds down

With a week to go in the season, the Cyclones still hover at the .500 mark (34-34). As of August 28, it appears that third place in the McNamara Division will be all theirs, while the first place Hudson Valley Renegades and possibly the second place Staten Island Yankees will head to the post season.

Down a substantial 11 games in the standings, it’s time to focus on some the positives that players have shown fans this season. Such was the case for Justin Dunn’s pitching performance in the Cyclones 6-5 August 24 loss to Mahoning Valley. While being limited to only three starting innings this season due to a previous full collegiate schedule, the Mets’ 2016 first round draft pick from Boston College continued to show real promise pitching three innings, striking out five while giving up just one hit and a walk that prompted Cyclone Manager to say, “He threw really well with a good delivery; Dunn’s outing was outstanding tonight.”

As far as hitting is concerned, the Cyclones are second to last in the New York Penn League with a team batting average of .215 just behind last place Batavia’s .209 team average. One exception to that low team average has been last season’s Mets 2015 first draft pick of the second round, Desmond Lindsay, who is batting .305.
Fighting off a nagging hamstring injury, Lindsay has been played cautiously since joining the team in mid season. However, it’s been the last half of the season that Lindsay has shown what he’s capable of.

Commenting on Lindsay’s hitting after the August 26 Mahoning Valley game, Manager Gamboa stated, “Lindsay hit a big league double tonight. That ball got off his bat so fast. It’s good to see Des healthy and get his career going since the Mets obviously picked him first in the second round. We have high hopes for him. We need to get him at bats and playing time so he can catch up to the guys that he was drafted with.”

Following the Cyclones’ 2016 season slogan, “Amazin’ Starts Here,” pitcher Robert Gsellman debuted for the “Amazin’s” in a really big way last week. Gsellman, a 2013 Cyclone All Star, made his major league debut on August 23 in St. Louis to record his first win in relief in the New York Mets’ 7-4 win over the Cardinals.
Steadily climbing up the Mets farm system, last season Gsellman won the Mets 2015 Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award. This season, Gsellman started in Double-A Binghamton and was promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas before his call-up to help out the Mets ailing starting rotation.

Pitching in relief after Jonathan Niese went down to a knee injury after just facing four batters, Gsellman showed poise on the mound during three early innings and is likely to stick in the starting rotation as the Mets need fresh young arms to make a late run for the postseason.