4/6/16

St. Lucie Mets announce initial 2016 roster



The St. Lucie Mets are excited to announce their initial 2016 roster, one that features six of the Mets top 30 prospects according to MLB.com.

Highlighting the roster is Amed Rosario, a 20-year-old short stop who is MLB.com’s third ranked Mets prospect. Rosario will be joined by other highly ranked position player prospects in outfielder Wuilmer Becerra (No. 8), third baseman Jhoan Urena (No. 12) infielder Luis Guillorme (No. 15) and outfielder John Mora (No. 28). Right-handed starter Chris Flexen (No. 29) rounds out the top 30 Mets prospects in St. Lucie.

As the youngest player in the Florida State League in 2015, Rosario played in 103 games with St. Lucie. He was briefly promoted to Double-A Binghamton at the end of the season. With St. Lucie he batted .257 and hit 20 doubles.

Rosario’s partner in the middle infield will be slick-fielding Luis Guillorme, who was the everyday short stop at Savannah in 2015 and will shift to second base to start this year. Lauded for his glove work, Guillorme won the South Atlantic League Player of the Year award in 2015.

Speed should be a strength for the Mets. Guillorme swiped 18 bases in Savannah last year and infielder Jonathan Johnson stole 23 for the Sand Gnats. Outfielders Partick Biondi (38), John Mora (14) and Becerra (16) combined for 68 stolen bases with Savannah. Champ Stuart returns to St. Lucie. He was successful in 21 of 24 stolen base attempts. That’s a total of 89 stolen bases among the four outfielders on the roster.

Becerra should bring a power aspect to the lineup. He blasted nine home runs last year and drove in 63 runs while batting .290. Becerra came to the Mets organization as part of the trade that sent R.A. Dickey to the Toronto Blue Jays in return for Noah Syndergaard and Travis d’Arnaud. At the time of the trade Becerra’s pro career consisted of just 11 GCL games.

The Mets rotation doesn’t feature an uber prospect like Jacob deGrom of Steven Matz this year but Flexen, Ricky Knapp, Josh Prevost, Corey Oswalt, Casey Delgado and Scarlyn Reyes are all coming off solid 2015 campaigns and should be in the rotation. Prevost has been tabbed as the Opening Day starter

Robby Coles and Jimmy Duff return to the Mets bullpen after they finished the 2015 in St. Lucie. Other familiar faces on the Mets pitching staff include Kevin McGowan, Michael Gibbons, Paul Paez and Tim Peterson.

The two catchers on the roster are Tomas Nido and Cuba native Lednier Ricardo.

Pitchers: Alberto Baldonado, Robby Coles, Casey Delgado, Jimmy Duff, Chris Flexen, Michael Gibbons, Ben Griset, Ricky Knapp, Kevin McGowan, Corey Oswalt, Paul Paez, Tim Peterson, Josh Prevost, Scarlyn Reyes, Corey Taylor
Catchers: Tomas Nido, Lednier Ricardo
Infielders: Phi Evans, Luis Guillorme, Jonathan Johnson, Michael Katz, Amed Rosario, Kevin Taylor, Jhoan Urena
Outfielders: Wuilmer Becerra, Patrick Biondi, John Mora, Champ Stuart

4 comments:

That Adam Smith said...

Rosario likely down there just until the weather heats up in Bingo, from what I've read. Then Guillorme moves back over to SS. Meantime, that's some slick middle infield.

Mack Ade said...

Adam-

Rosario might stay until the all-star break

That Adam Smith said...

I guess that'll depend on how he's hitting. He got a taste of AA at the end of last season. I'd bet the under on the all-star break, but you certainly could be right. Meanwhile, I hope that everything's going ok with your mother-in-law, and that your health is good, Mack. Thanks so much for everything you do to make this such a special place. Excited about a season's worth of morning reports.

Tom Brennan said...

Infield-wise, something's gotta give. Too many solid players for the 4 slots.

This should be a strong first half team, before promotions start in earnest.