Tom Brennan - MINOR LEAGUES - WHO'S HOT/NOT: PEER COMPARISONS

 

Tom Brennan - MINOR LEAGUES - WHO'S HOT/NOT: PEER COMPARISONS 

I have been comparing apples to apples in my WHO'S Hot, WHO'S NOT articles of weeks past.  

This week?  I’m going with apples and oranges: how are our Mets' minor leaguers shaping up against the competition in their own leagues? Pretty well, thank you.

For our high achievers, let's start with AAA and work our way down, (stats thru Tuesday): 

AAA – Pacific Coast League: 

Johnny Monell - batting .372 - leading the PCL after a great spring.  But there’s gotta be a “catch” somewhere J 

Matt Reynolds - despite a May-long slump, Matt is 2nd in the PCL in runs (46), 1st in doubles (21), and 8th in RBIs with 41, despite hitting 2nd this year.  Nifty. 

Alex Castellanos - 33 XBHs (1st); 20 doubles (2nd); slug % .581 (3rd); 11 HRs (7^th). Impressive. 

Travis Taijeron - .565 slug (4th); 12 homers (4^th) – he’s also hitting .306 (19^th) - if he had more ABs, he might lead in homers. 

Wilfredo Tovar - 19 steals (2^nd – how ‘bout that, Mel Allen)

 

Steve Matz - 2.30 ERA (2nd); 81 K's (1st) 

Duane Below - 2.28 ERA (innings too low at 47 to qualify, but it would have him 2nd ahead of Matz if he did qualify) 

AA - Eastern League: 

Gavin Cecchini .310 (8^th) 

Josh Rodriguez 43 RBIs (2^nd), 11 homers (1^st) 

Luis Cessa – 2.51 ERA (4^th) 

Paul Sewald – 1.59, 10 saves (in saves, he is only 6^th, but he was splitting duties with Jon Velasquez, who has 8) 

HIGH A - Florida State League: 

Jeff McNeil - .333 BA (1st) 

Dominic Smith - 21 doubles (1st); 37 RBIs (3rd) 

Robert Gsellman - 1.76 ERA pre-promotion would have ranked him 4th 

Akeel Morris - 13 saves (2nd). His 0.78 WHIP and 12.9K/9 ratios probably the league's best, but insufficient innings to qualify. 

A BALL- S. Atlantic League: 

Jonathan Johnson .323 (3rd) 

Luis Guillorme  .306 (9th) 

Wuilmer Becerra - .491 slug % (3rd) 

Casey Meisner - 4th in ERA and strikeouts (2.15, 60) 

David Roseboom - 1.29 ERA and 6 saves in 28 relief innings. Did not comp him vs. rest of his league, and it should be note that he's split save opportunities with 6 other pitchers on the Gnats team, but his ERA speaks for itself. 

 

POOR PERFORMERS: At the other end of the spectrum, performing poorly are:

AAA - Cory Vaughn (.189); Bowman and Pill (ERAs of 6.34 and 6.00)

AA - Dustin Lawley (.218, 16 RBI in 50 games); Gil Gomez .140; Adam Kolarek 6.89 ERA

HIGH A - Champ Stuart.197; Phil Evans .181

A - Tyler Moore .099, so he is below the “half-Mendoza line”; Vicente Lupo 60 K's in 144 ABs; Darwin Fries 8.80 ERA in relief.

Those poor performances encapsulate a whole lot of ugly.

IN THE LEFT OUT DEPARTMENT:

Lastly, a guy like Michael Conforto, being promoted, splits his stats between leagues and so does not slot into the top vs. Peers comparison, but suffice it to say, his .295 with 27 extra base hits and 39 RBIs is excellent, not to mention 30 walks in 61 games.

That’s my peer comparison – a lot to like - hope it was enlightening, readers.