Brooklyn Cyclones Open 15th Season in Staten Island

From the desk of:  THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS

Brooklyn Cyclones BBC

2001-2015

BROOKLYN CYCLONES: The Baby Bums are Back for the 15th Summer of Baseball by the Boardwalk.

The 2014 Brooklyn Cyclones finished the regular season with a fine 42-34 record, 4 games back of the McNamara Division winning Hudson Valley Renegades.

Despite posting an identical record as the Connecticut Tigers, Brooklyn additionally missed out on a Wild Card opportunity to the Stedler Division runner-ups.

The season was nonetheless an improvement over their 2013 season, in which they posted a more pedestrian 38-37 record.

In 2012, the Cyclones also fell short in the division race to the Hudson Valley Renegades, and as Wild Card qualifiers were eliminated from the post-season by their upstate neighbors as well.

So what do the 2015 Brooklyn Cyclones have in store?

Manager Tom Gamboa returns for a second season at the helm, and will be rejoined by pitching coach Dave LaRoche, and hitting coach Yunir Garcia.

The Mets relinquished their #1 draft pick when they signed free agent Michael Cuddyer during the off-season.  Their first selection in the recent June amateur draft came in the 2nd round.  With the 53rd overall selection the Mets drafted outfielder Desmond Lindsay, and in the 3rd round with the 88th overall selection they drafted southpaw pitcher Max Wotell.  Both remain unsigned.  In fact, the Mets' top five selections remained unsigned.

The Mets presently have just three players signed from the recent amateur June draft.  They will begin the season with Brooklyn.  The highest pick among them is 7th round pick right handed pitcher Corey Taylor.  Southpaw pitcher P.J. Conlon was selected in the 13th round, and infielder Vinny Siena was taken in the 14th round.  All three signed on Thursday.

THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS:

The rest of the 2015 Brooklyn Cyclones will be populated with returning players from last season, and promoted players from the rookie class Gulf Coast League Mets and Kingsport Mets of the Appalachian League.

Brooklyn has 5 infielders returning from last year's squad: Will Fulmer, Jeff Diehl, and Michael Katz all put in a half-season for the Cyclones in 2014.  Pedro Perez has played in 19 games with Savannah this season, but is slated to be on Brooklyn's opening day roster.  Same goes for Alfredo Reyes, whom despite a brief cup of coffee with Port St. Lucie this season, will return to Coney Island as well.

First baseman Zach Mathieu is a first-timer to Brooklyn.  He posted 29 RBI in 152 at-bats for Kingsport last season.

Returning for another tour in Brooklyn are outfielders Michael Bernal and Tucker Tharp.  They will be joined by Enmanuel Zabala from the GCL, and Oswald Carabello from Kingsport.

Behind the dish will be Jose Garcia up from Kingsport, and Manuel Hilario from the GCL Mets.

OPENING NIGHT

BROOKLYN CYCLONES

vs.

Staten Island Yankees

FROM

Rotten Island

The Battle of the Boroughs resumes!

Right-hander Tyler Badamo will climb the hill in Staten Island Friday evening against the Richmond County Bombers, opening the 15th Brooklyn Cyclones season.  Badamo, 22, hails out of Mount Sinai, N.Y.  Last year was his first as a pro.  He made 10 appearances (4 starts) for the GCL Mets, and posted a 1.74 ERA in 31 innings pitched, with a 7.5 K/9 and 1.7 W/9 average.

The Cyclones and Baby Bombers will play a 3-game weekend series.  Brooklyn will play their home opener at MCU Park on Saturday, then return to Staten Island for the series finale on Sunday.

Mike