4/11/16

THERE'S A BASEBALL WORLD BEYOND QUEENS by Tom Brennan


THERE’S A BASEBALL WORLD BEYOND QUEENS by Tom Brennan

My wife and I dropped a Brazilian friend of at LaGuardia the other day, and drove past Citifield.  While beautiful, and making me thing about our World Series contending Mets, it made me think about more those Metsies, the boys from Queens.

There’s a baseball world beyond Queens, as in the Mets’ farm teams in gambling mecca Las Vegas (pronounced “Lost Wages”), Binghamton, St. Lucie (the patron saint of minor league ball), Columbia, Brooklyn, and Kingsport.  The first 4 teams start up THIS WEEK TOO, while the rest wait until after the draft in June to kick off.

I like to follow those fellas who are in the sticks, doing baseball’s version of an American Idol audition in hopes of being picked the next Queens Idol.  Last year, we got treated to Noah (High Octane) Syndergaard, Steve (Koufax) Matz, Michael (Corleone) Conforto, Kevin (Yogi) Plawecki, and other auditioners becoming Queens Idols. 

I dig following the minor league boys, seeing who might bust through the Flushing doors in 2016 and beyond, from those 6 sub-major locales.

For today, who is on the Las Vegas 51s AAA roster, a mere notch from reaching the big leagues?  Quite an interesting squad.  Here they are, as listed on the 51s website on Tues, April 5, with brief Brennan notes:

PITCHING: No Syndergaard or Matz, but a strong squad:

Name
Pos
Thw
P
R
Can he raise his low K rate, or stall at AAA?
P
R
Poor spring, time running out.  Needs to show more.
P
R
Good, but is he good enough for the next step?
P
L
Fireballer needs more command for a ticket to Queens.
P
R
Great start vs. Cubs.  Can his stuff get out big leaguers?
P
R
He is a AAAA guy…can he get better?
P
R
Former phenom – will he get back to that in 2016?
P
R
34th rounder in 2011 looks like another Dillon Gee?  Better?
P
L
Does Chase have what it takes to make it up one more rung?
P
R
We’ll see him in Queens in 2016 if he stays healthy.
P
L
Fine 2015. We’ll see him in Queens in 2016 if he stays healthy.
P
R
Does Chase have what it takes to make it up one more rung?
P
L
Erratic – can he get better and make it back up?


CATCHERS: A decent trio:

Name
Bat
Thw
R
R
AAAA player in case of emergency?
R
R
Has never hit in minors. 
L
R
Very sad he did not make Mets. Great spring. BB needs 3 catchers.


INFIELD: Some Fine Squad:

Name
Pos
Bat
Thw
SS
R
R
Former 1st rounder.  Big leagues soon.
2B
R
R
Future Mets 2B.  He’d be starting now if Mets were losing team.
2B
S
R
With other guys in system, not sure how much he plays.
1B
L
R
A guy with lack of big league success (.188/.255/.344).  AAAA?
3B
S
R
Did not succeed in 2015.  CROWDED field in 2016.
SS
R
R
Almost made the Mets out of spring.  Keep improving.
SS
R
R
Hit machine who defies odds,  Will make majors somewhere.


OUTFIELD: Good talent:

Name
Pos
Bat
Thw
LF
L
L
More MLB success than Krauss, but on the down side.
CF
L
R
Will former first rounder break out or break down in 2016?
RF
R
R
Plays Powerball.  Keeps climbing. A huge 2016 would help.


Overall, a whole lotta squad with a lot of ability to win a lot of games, in my opinion, continuing the well above .500 play of Vegas teams over the past few years.

Next article: AA Binghamton B Mets.

4 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Meanwhile, the Queens Mets are last in hitting in the majors at .180. After hitting 26th out of 30 this spring. Uh, oh.

Ernest Dove said...

There's really no help on the way offensively for mets down on the farm. They simply need the 8 regular starters to hit better because outside of injury I don't see mets demoting or benching any of them right now.

Mack Ade said...

Tom -

Got back in town early today... thank you for filling in for me.

I'll be back tomorrow morning with my morning report.

I think we have to let the current squad work this out, especially in the month of April.

Tom Brennan said...

It has been colder in NY than the refrigerators were in Cespedes' Havana days. No wonder he's cold. If Wright hits, this team should hit above average. But the results so far contradict that logic.