Tracking the PRO Career of Corey Coles

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PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Field 2 at the Tradition Field complex usually is unused when the Mets are playing a road exhibition game, as they were yesterday. But at about 10:30 a.m., two players carried bats and helmets onto the field and soon were followed by pitching coach Rick Peterson and his ace, Pedro Martinez. As Peterson walked toward the mound, he looked quizzically at a gathering of reporters, then turned to the two players with bats and cracked, "They're all here to watch you hit." Joking aside, it's always serious business when Martinez takes the mound, especially these days. Martinez is working his arm and body into shape while getting used to the newly designed right shoe that is supposed to protect the damaged ligament in his right toe. Yesterday's media vigil was created because Martinez threw to hitters for the first time in spring training. His opponents were two minor-leaguers: outfielder Corey Coles, a lefthanded hitter, and catcher Rafael Arroyo, a righthanded hitter. The first four pitches Martinez threw to Coles were low, as he adjusted to a screen in front of the mound used to protect batting-practice pitchers. Martinez's control sharpened as Coles hit one ground ball and two foul pops in 13 pitches. Arroyo stepped in for 12 pitches, several from the stretch position, and managed just a handful of foul pops. After 25 pitches, Martinez squatted on the mound and rested, simulating a break in action between innings. He popped a few more fastballs to Coles, allowing one soft liner to right that would have fallen in for a broken-bat single, and allowed a couple of ground balls to Arroyo. After that 18-pitch "inning," Martinez rested before one more session. Arroyo stood in for Martinez's final 18 pitches, including a handful of curves that the pitcher admitted lacked bite. After a total of 61 pitches to hitters, Martinez's work was done and he was quite encouraged. The rest of the story BOB HERZOG newsday.com

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PORT ST. LUCIE — St. Lucie Mets outfielder Corey Coles isn't about to let a fluke injury slow him down. Last July 5, in a blowout game with Delmarva, the then-Hagerstown Sun outfielder — a former pitcher in high school and college — mopped up in the final inning of the 17-7 loss by tossing a scoreless inning and recording a pair of strikeouts. He expected the soreness that occurred the following day, but the pain persisted for several days. "I tore my shoulder up a little and had surgery in August. I rehabbed it three days a week in the offseason," said Coles, who pitched collegiately at his hometown University of Louisiana-Lafayette in the Sun Belt Conference. But after his freshman year as a pitcher, Coles decided he wanted to play every day. He approached his coach about it and moved to the outfield. Coles, a former college teammate of current Mets minor leaguer Chase Lambin, had a sharp 3.38 ERA at UL-Lafayette in 25 games. However, his numbers at the plate were even more impressive: a .369 batting average and 37 stolen bases. The 24-year-old hit .307 with 11 stolen bases in 69 games at Hagerstown last season, and despite the injury, the confidence apparently carried over to 2006. Coles opened this year by going 5-for-9 in his first three games and he holds a .333 average through the weekend. The rest of the story By BILL WHITEHEAD http://www1.tcpalm.com

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Corey Coles went 2 for 3 with a run scored, a triple, an RBI, and a walk and Jesus Flores went 1 for 2 with a run scored, a double, and two RBIs The rest of the story

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Corey Coles went 2 for 3 with a run scored, a triple, an RBI, and a walk The rest of the story

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A trio of St. Lucie Mets players, skipper Gary Carter and a former Vero Beach Dodger were named to the Florida State League's postseason All-Star team on Monday. Carter was named the FSL's All-Star manager after guiding the Mets to a first-half division title. The Hall of Famer was also chosen to manage the U.S. team in this year's All-Star Futures Game in July. Outfielder Corey Coles, closer Carlos Muniz and catcher Jesus Flores represented the St. Lucie Mets with All-Star honors. Coles leads the league with a .343 average and is second with 152 hits. Muniz posts the league's second best number of saves, 30. Blake Dewitt, a former Vero Beach Dodger who was promoted, was also honored for his time spent in the league this season. The source of the story

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After a winter spent rehabbing his surgically repaired shoulder, Corey Coles entered camp determined to get healthy and improve his game. InsidePitchMagazine.com caught up with the outfielder to find out how his rehab went and how he looks ahead to 2007. InsidePitchMagazine: What is your average day like now that camp has started? Corey Coles: My day it’s not too different from everyone else. Before we go out I do some more preparation for my shoulder, heat it up, loosen it up, throw and stretch. I usually throw with the other rehab guys. After that I’ll do my real rehab work out. The rest of the story By Jon Star Inside Pitch Magazine

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Corey Coles OF Hometown: Broussard, LA 2007: called up to Binghamton 5/9…began year with High-A St. Lucie, hitting .286 with 0 HR, 8 RBI and 6 runs in 23 games…played 14 games in rightfield and three in leftfield…hit safely in last 10 games with St. Lucie 4/29-5/8, batting .325 (13 for 40) during that stretch…named the 30th-best prospect in the Mets organization by Baseball America. The publication also says Corey has the best strike zone discipline of any Mets farmhand 2006: underwent left shoulder surgery after the season…got into 124 games with High-A St. Lucie, hitting .341, tops in the Florida State League and in the Mets system, with a home run, 45 RBI, 65 R and 21 SB in 30 attempts. Finished second in the FSL in hits (156) and on-base percentage (.407). Struck out 59 times for a ratio of one strikeout per every 8.9 at-bats, the fifth-best ratio in the league…FSL midseason All-Star…hit .308 or better in every month of the season, including a .364 average in July Hit .372 against righthanders and .248 vs. lefties Put together a 13-game hit streak 8/5-18 (21 for 50, .420) and a 12-game hit streak 4/19-30 (18 for 52, .346) The rest of the story MLN Newswire www.mlntherawfeed.com

[jllanclos]

Please forgive me if this was posted elsewhere...

GBM Minor League Weekly Awards
By Noah Zuss on Wednesday, June 6 2007

Gotham Baseball Magazine is proud to announce Corey Coles and Ian Kennedy as the GBM Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Week Award, respectively.

Coles is a 25-year old outfielder for the Mets' Double-A affiliate in Binghamton. The 6'1”, 170lb Coles was born in Lafayette, LA and attended the University of Louisiana.

Corey began the season at St. Lucie, but has since been promoted to Binghamton. In 23 games at St. Lucie Coles hit .286 in 84 at bats. Coles has shown much improvement and certainly justified his promotion to Binghamton by batting .390 in 25 games up north. For the season Coles is batting .344 in 48 games with ten doubles, one homer, 23 RBI's and has compiled a .829 OPS. All of Coles' numbers have improved since leaving Florida, including his OBP. Coles was carrying a .337 OBP in Florida and has notched it up to .441 since arriving in Binghamton. Coles has been even hotter over the last ten games where he has 16 hits in his last 41 at bats, good for a .390 average.

Coles was selected by the Mets in the fifth round of the 2003 First-Year player Draft. He was named to the Florida State League Mid-Season All-Star team in June 2006, and was honored as an FSL Post-Season All-Star in August 2006.

http://www.gothambaseball.com/news/1181136638.php

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The New Orleans Zephyrs added former University of Louisiana star Corey Coles to the roster today. He had been at Class AA Binghamton ... Batted .296 with a HR and 22 RBI in 66 games ..... Started the season at Class A St Lucie batted .286 with 8 RBI and 6 runs scored in 23 games .... In 2006 he was Florida State League ALL-STAR -- Led the Class A Florida State League in batting at .341 and tied for second with 156 hits in 124 games with Class A Advanced St. Lucie. ... Also had a home run, 45 RBIs, 21 vstolen bases and 65 runs scored. Selected by the New York Mets in the fifth round of the 2003 First-Year Player Draft from UL Lafayette. A former pitcher at with the Ragin Cajuns he is now an outfielder. The source of the story

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Zephyrs add former ULL star Coles

Associated Press - July 21, 2007 10:04 PM ET

METAIRIE, La. (AP) - Former Louisiana-Lafayette star Corey Coles is back in Louisiana -- playing for the New Orleans Zephyrs.

He had been at Binghampton, a Class-AA team.

The New York Mets took Coles in the 2003 first-year player draft out of Lafayette, where he was a pitcher. He has played since then with Class A Advanced St. Lucie in the Florida State League and at Binghampton.

He's now an outfielder, and batted .296 with a home run and 22 RBI in 66 games at Binghampton.

http://www.klfy.com/Global/story.asp?S=6822301&nav=7k7f

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NEW ORLEANS-Former Ragin’ Cajuns baseball standout Corey Coles was promoted to the New York Mets’ Triple-A affiliate, New Orleans Zephyrs. Coles played with the Cajuns from 2001 until he was selected by the New York Mets in the fifth round of the 2003 First-Year Player Draft. “It is definitely a good experience,” Coles stated. “It has been a long time since I have played baseball in Louisiana. I get to see my parents a lot more now and I get to see my wife and daughter, too. “I am getting phone calls for tickets from my friends back home,” remarked Coles. “I am getting playing time which is good, and I am excited to get a chance to play in front of all of my friends who don’t mind driving over to New Orleans.” Coles led the Florida State League in batting at .341 and tied for second with 156 hits in 124 games with Class A Advanced St. Lucie. He also had a home run, 45 RBIs, 21 stolen bases and 65 runs scored. The Lafayette native put together a 13-game hitting streak from Aug. 5-18. Coles also hit safely in 12 straight games from April 19-30. He recorded 47 multi-hit games. Coles batted .369 (31-for-84) in 20 games in July, going 4-for-5 with one run scored on July 17 vs. Jupiter. He was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBIs on May 9 vs. Fort Myers. Coles was named a Florida State League Mid-Season All-Star, as well as, a Post-Season All-Star in 2006. “It is always good for our program when players not only get to the Minor Leagues, but work their way up in an organization,” UL head coach Tony Robichaux commented. “He is right there and the next step is Major League Baseball. “We really believe Corey can make that step.” With the Cajuns, Coles was a two-time First Team ABCA All-South Central Region selection. He led the Cajuns in 2002 and 2003 in batting average and paced the team with nine homeruns in 2003. Coles remains one of just seven players to hit three homeruns in a single game as he accomplished the feat on April 26, 2003 at New Orleans. RaginCajuns.com

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  Corey Coles, a Lafayette native who played at Comeaux High School and Louisiana-Lafayette, was happy to hear last fall that the New York Mets' Triple-A affiliate this season would be the Zephyrs.

"I knew I'd be in Double-A at least," said Coles, who won the batting title last season while playing for St. Lucie, the Mets' team in the High Class A Florida State League. "You know there's always a chance (to be promoted). My friends and family were excited about it."

Injuries to Mets outfielders have led to several roster moves involving the Zephyrs this season. Last week, the Zephyrs were short of outfielders, and on Saturday, Coles joined the team on a promotion from Double-A Binghamton.

On Tuesday, Coles played his first home game for New Orleans, and he had supporters at Zephyr Field. His wife and daughter from Lafayette, plus his wife's aunt and uncle from St. Tammany Parish, attended the game.

"This weekend will be pretty crazy with friends and family -- mom, dad, stepdad, stepmom, friends from high school," he said. He'll need from 20 to 30 tickets, he said.

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Bob Fortus
rfortus@timespicayune.com
(504) 826-3408