6/9/15

The Morning Report 6.9.2015 | Granderson and Flores vs. Power/Finesse SP, Mets Farm System Still Deep, OF Desmond Lindsay = Andrew McCutchen?



Brian Joura | Mets 360 Flores shares the team lead with nine homers. Granderson is one off the pace with eight. Let’s take a look at these two power hitters to see how they are getting it done. Baseball-Reference divides pitchers into Power, Finesse and Average, based on their strikeout and walk rates. Flores has hit all nine of his homers against average (5) and finesse (4) pitchers. Granderson has hit all eight of his homers against power (2) and finesse (6) pitchers. Overall, Granderson and Flores are oddly complementary players. Granderson succeeds against the extreme pitchers, while Flores does his best against ones that are middle of the road. Additionally, while he struggles overall against finesse pitchers, Flores has a healthy .172 ISO against them. Contrast that to his performance against the power pitchers, against whom he has just a .046 ISO.

(Chris Soto: This new concept of breaking pitchers out into "Power" "Finesse" and "Neutral" is a new addition to Baseball Reference's website. It is also a new concept for me as I currently do not delve that deep into the statistical analysis. Irregardless it does seem to provide some value in terms of figuring out who is a better match-up against what type pitcher.)


Matt Ehalt | NJ Advance Media- For the first time under general manager Sandy Alderson, the Mets did not make a first-round pick in the MLB Draft, losing their selection after signing Michael Cuddyer to a two-year deal in the off-season. Overall they’ve developed one of baseball’s top farm systems, which has been called upon often during these first two months of the season while the team has been ravaged by injuries. Thirteen players have landed on the disabled list. Even as the top prospects have been called upon, the Mets still have quality players waiting for their chances to make it to the big leagues. Here’s.....some of the team’s hopefuls:

  • LHSP Steven Matz
  • IF Matt Reynolds
  • OF Michael Conforto
  • OF Brandon Nimmo


(Chris Soto: Matt brings up a good point...Generally when a club is promoting young talent from AAA to the Show....it weakens the farm system overall. However, the Mets, under the Development Program established by Depodesta, have built an extreme amount of depth at almost every level of the minor league system. The AAA team still has Matz, Reynolds, Bowman, and Rivera...AA has Nimmo, Conforto, Cecchini, Cessa, Mazzilli....A+ has Rosario, Smith, Stuart, Urena, Fulmer, Gsellman, Molina, Morris, Whalen, Secrest.....A has Becerra, Guillorme, Lupo, Nido, Meisner, Prevost, and Weick. This was the original plan....to build a revolving door of talent that won't dry up thus causing a requirement to have a 3-5 year rebuilding project like the Phillies have to do now.)


Adam Rubin | ESPN New York- After waiting past 11 p.m. ET to make their first selection, the New York Mets drafted prep center fielder Desmond Lindsay from Bradenton, Florida, with the 53rd overall pick. Mets amateur scouting director Tommy Tanous labeled the 18-year-old Lindsay an "offensive machine" and expressed an exceedingly high degree of confidence the organization will sign him. "I would say there's a very small risk," Tanous said about the likelihood the Mets lose Lindsay to UNC. "This is a player that has expressed his interest in playing professional baseball, especially for the Mets. I know his grandmother is a huge Mets fan. Desmond will be a Met. I don't think there's much decision there."

Chris Soto: Here's my take on last night's pick.

    I think we were all surprised by the fact that Alderson went the High School route with his 1st pick. With such a limited Draft Signing Pool, I thought for certain he was going to go with an already heavily developed College Senior bat that could he could sign underslot and move quickly through the organization. However the Mets will still be able to go underslot with Lindsay while getting the long term upside (and risk...) generally assosicated with HS picks.
 
     Now...as for Lindsay the player....One thing I know the Sandy Alderson organization has been trying to do for years is to find their own..."Andrew McCutchen." In my opinion Desmond Lindsay is another shot to meet that goal. At 6-0, 200 pounds, he's the perfect size for any position on the diamond (sans 1B) but the Mets have already stated he is going to be a CF (like McCutchen). According to ESPN's Keith Law, Lindsay comes in with the following tool grades:

Hit Tool: 55
Power: 60
Speed: 55
Fielding: 65
Arm: 65

     Now the Mets are referencing his rare power/speed combo that he brings to the table but Law only has him down for a 55 speed tool...Why? Well Lindsay was dealing with hamstring issues last season and it hampered his mobility coming into the draft. According to The Perfect Game scouting site, Lindsay's best 60 yard time clocked in at 6.56 seconds. If this is true, then when he is healthy, Desmond Lindsay brings 65 to 70 grade speed to the table. This gives him 4 of the 5 plus tools required to become a "true 5 tool player." If there's one good thing that can be developed in the minor leagues....its the hit tool. This guy has a very legitimate chance to be Sandy's McCutchen. We have some video of his swing below.

 

13 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Still a lot of depth in the minors, indeed. Team records have been mediocre compared to last year due to more bad performances by a limited group of players.

Desmond...let's get him started.

Zozo said...

I read somewhere where he should have went in about the 4th round, so hopefully they had a deal in place for 4th rd money?

Mack Ade said...

Chris -

I'm heading out to rehab this morning...

Will be back before noon and intend on writing my thoughts about last night's draft

Christopher Soto said...

Well Keith Law had him 72nd overall so by that measure late 2nd round/early 3rd is where he was expecting him to go.

Apparently the Mets have been following him for quite some time so they have seen what he can do when healthy.

I like it...Knowing that the Mets don't have a ton of slot money to go around...to still be able to grab one of the top power bats with the high upside HS guys bring AND reportedly not have to go overslot to sign him.....

For me that's a huge win.

Reportedly his grandma is a huge Mets fan too.

Anonymous said...

This is year 5 of the Sandy Alderson rebuilding program. The major league team currently has Muno, Campbell, and Ceciliani on the roster. These guys are just bodies. That's not depth. That's not having a single position player in AAA who can help the team.

Kevin Kernan just tweeted that a top executive told him they are really shooting for 2016.

In a year, the farm system ranking will drop. It's just not that impressive a system, though it has benefited from a plethora of high picks (consistently bad teams, no major signing) and an influx of players drafted by other organizations acquired through trade.

Nimmo, Plawecki, and Cecchini could all be good ML starters. I'm not seeing a star there, though of course it's still possible. It's also possible that all three of them fail to become everyday players. Once Matz goes, who is the next frontline pitcher in the system? Where are the "raw but talented" Latin players? Where's the speed? Where's the athleticism?

I accept that it's an okay system. I'm not seeing much to crow about, though I do think Conforto is a hitter.

#notdrinkingtheKool-Aid

James Preller

Zozo said...

Just a bit off topic but what do you guys think of the recently DFA'd Astro Matt Dominguez for a flier at 3rd base? I would prefer him to Campbell because he does have a higher upside?

Christopher Soto said...

@Zozo

I'd actually entertain that idea especially since he makes league minimum...Dominguez's K rate has never been bad...has hovered around the 17-18% rate for a few years now. He has solid hard hit ball rates, and brings 20 HR power....just has a really odd inability to hit balls into the right spots.

Career AVG of .233 on a .255 BABIP. Almost 40 points below league average. He's also a below average defender at 3B so the bad has to carry him....

Why not....give him a chance....just need to figure out who to remove from the 40 man roster. (Perhaps move Buddy Carlyle from the 15 day to the 60 day DL.)

Reese Kaplan said...

At ML minimum he's not a bad choice, but this team needs guys who hit for average probably even more than they do power. What good is a Duda, Granderson, Flores or even Cuddyer if there's no one on base in front of them? Dominguez is another K-machine -- kind of Granderson-lite. It was be a "meh" signing but he's probably an upgrade over Muno and Campbell.

Zozo said...

Soto- I thought he was a good defender from what I read?
Reese- I totally agree he can't me much worse than Campbell and Muno
Maybe a change in environment will help the kid, I believe it's worth a low risk trade.

Christopher Soto said...

@Zozo

Nah overall below average....he's got a nice glove and soft hands but his range is really below average and his arm is on the weaker side of average. Struggles getting to balls on his left side (which is important considering an equally range limited guy is at SS)

Mack Ade said...

James -

If you go pick by pick with the draft under SA, you simply won't be that impressed. He's pulled off a couple of decent trades, but the vast majority of talent on this team remains Omar related

Mack Ade said...

I'm going to write a new post on last night's draft

Anonymous said...

To the credit of this organization -- and ultimately, it still remains to be seen -- they appear to have done a good job guiding young guys along through the system. Nimmo and Cecchini seem on track, for example, despite not really doing any one thing particularly well.

So it could be argued that the structure, the scaffolding is there, to enable young players to develop and thrive.

We shall see, but there are signs that this might be so.

However, I'd love to see more raw talent, speed, and athleticism. Sandy doesn't much believe in it.

James Preller