BRIEF OBSERVATIONS ABOUT OUR FIRST ROUNDERS by Tom Brennan
Thinking of our recent draft, it caused me again to check in our our recent first rounders of years gone by.
Brandon Nimmo, I am delighted to say, has been on fire, and hitting .386 with 13 doubles, 5 triples, and 5 homers in his last 145 at bats. Is he about to get promoted? Or does .386 in AAA equate to .150 in the bigs?
Gavin Cecchini - oh me, oh my….has made a ghastly 19 errors in 39 starts at shortstop. That makes it 48 errors in 148 starts in 2015 and 2016. SAY WHAT!! IS THAT POSSIBLE?? You draw your own conclusion.
Dominic Smith, the birthday boy (turns 21 on June 15) ought to ask for extra base hits for his birthday. He has just 16 of the suckers in 58 games, and is hitting .273 with a paltry .386 slugging percentage in AA. My expectations of a breakout season are dwindling. Two positive notes are his 38 RBIs (5th in the league) and the fact that .273 in the low hitting Eastern League has him as the # 25 hitter in the league make it a little less disappointing.
But one guy in the league (Cozens of Philly) has 19 homers - that's what we want, Dom. Not the homer every 15 games you are producing, and the mere 14 in 1310 at bats since turning pro. That is too historically Met-like. We want many more - simple as that.
(NOTE TO METS' MANAGEMENT - DRAFT GUYS THAT CAN HIT A HOMER EVERY 3 GAMES LIKE COZENS AT SOME POINT IN MY LIFETIME. PLEASE).
That's all. Just a few brief notes as the wife and I get ready to run out for the day.
Does Cecchini need a position change? Do we know what most of his errors come from? Is it the throw, catch, both?
ReplyDeleteNot sure, but that many errors probably means a lot of both.
DeleteNot sure, but that many errors probably means a lot of both.
DeleteDallas, also, while Cecchini's average has climbed the past two years, power still low. Low power, bad fielding? A bad combo.
DeleteDallas, also, while Cecchini's average has climbed the past two years, power still low. Low power, bad fielding? A bad combo.
DeleteThat infield is dry concrete covered with some dirt
ReplyDeleteMaybe it is hard, but the slew of 2015 errors occurred in Binghamton, and others who play in Vegas have nowhere near the same error explosion.
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ReplyDeleteJared King, former 5th rounder retired. Wish him well in future endeavors, but he is another low power draftee. Why draft such guys? Gamble on power hitters instead...most may fail big, but maybe you draft the next Albert Puhols.
ReplyDeleteI'm in Vegas right now, and the local paper has a story about Nimmo. They say his bat is ML-ready now (but little HR power. Since June 1, Wally has been told to give him experience in both OF corners, which he has done, in expectation of a callup. Could mean deAza is on tge trade block, or just an insurance move.
ReplyDeleteAs for Gavin, in '15 most of his Es were on throws. This year it seems to be more widespread.
I still like his work ethic and overall makeup. Maybe mentally Vegas is draining him
ReplyDeleteCheech had an 800 plus OPS as a 21 YO SS in the Eastern League.... I like Doubles!!!!!!!!! No he's hitting well as a 22YO SS in AAA.
ReplyDeleteI'm not championing the Guy or making projections...... but this guy profiles as a seriously solid prospect.
You've seen MLB players "POP"...guys that banged around for several years as afterthoughts.... Justin Turner, Marco Scutaro. These guys didn't get shots til they were almost 30!....Do you hear me TJ ??????
So.... these guys were invisible to most people---including the Baseball Guys who are paid to see talent...
.... I Know that Smith, Nimmo, and Cheech are not Gonna Be Mike Trout---but you Have NO idea what they're going to be.
We're about a second away from the time when guys will travel a couple of hours to Boo a 20 year old prospect.
Very true, eraff, and I am not booing Smith, understanding he is about to turn 21, but my point is the Mets should draft power hitters and hope one works out. Lucky with Duda in the 7th round, one can get lucky if one drafts Duda types and not Jared King types. No power and a lot of other things have to go really right to make the majors - just ask TJ Rivera.
ReplyDeleteBut Cecchini's 46 errors in his last 146 games are extremely troubling. Extremely. He has played enough games in the minors to start showing solid D. Cabrera at SS has a .987 Field %, Cecchini in 2016 just .913. When they rank a player as up to an 80, Cecchini's D is what, a 20? 30? A SS HAS to field or his value drastically declines. I am not saying he cannot improve a lot, but over 2015 and 2016, his defensive results are the equivalent of a guy hitting .160 in AAA - If he cut it in half, it would be at the high end of tolerable.
I have little doubt Nimmo and Smith will be solid major leaguers - Cecchini I have very great doubts about. Bat looks promising but low power - the D makes the total package non-major league material.
My brother Steve at draft time was screaming for the Mets to pick Giolito - they picked Cecchini. The rest is history. HUGE mistake.
I think Nimmo will get called up within a month - just a gut.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they should DH Cecchini and let him just work on his fielding outside of games for a while.
Nimmo will arrive based on Injury/shakeout/Trade...there aren't many spare ab's for a LH Outfielder...and the answer cannot be that he replaces Conforto
ReplyDeleteI agree, eraff, unless Conforto is put on DL, Nimmo stuck ffor now. But de Aza's leash has to be getting short. Sub Mendoza when the season is 40% over is hazardous to job longevity
ReplyDeleteCecchini on base 4 times (yay) and his 19th error in 40 games in field (boo). I would DH him for now. Let him focus only on hitting success, then re-introduce playing in the field.
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ReplyDelete"A SS HAS to field or his value drastically declines." now i understand why so many errors had been overruled for Rosario with St. Lucie.
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