METS' MINORS HITTING HOPEFULS by Tom Brennan
While the big club goes through its annual race to the boggy bottom in team hitting (only interrupted last year by a slew of trades, but otherwise this team's painful pattern continues):
IS THERE HITTING HOPE IN THE MINORS?
ANSWER: SOME RAYS OF LIGHT. LET'S TAKE A PEEK:
AAA:
Travis Taijeron - hitting nearly .300 in Vegas with nearly an amazing 60 extra base hits and 80 RBIs.
- COUNTERPOINT: strikeout machine supreme, with 134 in slightly over 100 games. Against big league pitching, what does THAT translate to? Not pretty.
TJ Rivera - ,344/.388/.498, with 74 RBIs in 94 Vegas games. Possible league MVP.
- COUNTERPOINT: he is in Vegas fairy dust land producing those #s. He also clearly has a harder glass ceiling than Hillary Clinton, otherwise he'd already be up here. In biblical terms, he is the Passover.
Kevin Plawecki - he has hit .325 in Las Vegas, getting well-needed additional hitting time before resurfacing in the majors.
- COUNTERPOINT: Hitting .325 in Vegas is no assurance of future success. But it is hopeful.
AA:
Amed Rosario - hitting nearly ,330, and even better in AA since his promotion. 19 doubles and an exciting 12 triples. Run Amed Run…shades of Jose Reyes in the 3B Dept.
- COUNTERPOINT: Only 3 homers this year for the 20 year old. Still, he could be the Mets' starting SS by midseason 2017 if he keeps this up. Everyone thinks he's big time good.
Dominic Smith - he has started a late season AA surge, going 39 for 108 with decent power since the start of July, to raise him to .294.
- COUNTERPOINT: 12 homers are a distinct improvement, but he is still far below league leaders. Still maybe when he turns 22 next June, he will be knocking on a big league starting 1B door. To my knowledge, he has never had a stress fracture in his back, so that's a Mets' infielder plus.
Phil Evans - after a frigid start in St Lucie he got promoted to AA and the 23 year old IF has hit .295 in 70 games since.
- COUNTERPOINT: first time he has ever hit well for Mets' minors - if he can sustain it, he could be the next Matt Reynolds, which seems to be a low ceiling. Low power, too.
A:
Kevin Kacsmarski - OF drafted just last year, he is tearing it up in St Lucie since his promotion there, with good speed and low strikeout rates - .360+ since his promo.
- COUNTERPOINT: already 24, and only 2 homers this year. Yet his overall production reminds me of Brandon Nimmo.
David Thompson - 3B also just drafted last year, he has a gaudy 72 RBIs in 89 games between Columbia and St Lucie and hitting in the mid-.280's.
- COUNTERPOINT: his slugging % is only around .450, but we'll get a better read on him next year against higher competition. Possible future Mets 3B in 2018.
ROOKIE A BALL:
Peter Alonso - 1B - this year's power draftee is already lighting up Brooklyn: 26 games, .304/.377/.548.
- COUNTERPOINT: it's only Brooklyn. Cory Vaughn did well in Brooklyn, so success there needs a dose of tempered enthusiasm.
Desmond Lindsay - OF the 19 year old stud high draftee is doing very well in the minors in 2016.
- COUNTERPOINT: he missed a ton of time this year, has hardly played. 2017 in a full season league, please.
DEVELOPMENTAL LEAGUE:
Andress Giminez - SS the 17 year old bonus baby is crushing it in the DSL, and hardly striking out.
- COUNTERPOINT: the DSL is slightly above good high school competition, so let's see what he does as an 18 year old in the states. My guess, though? He is going to be the next Amed Rosario, but with more power. Which is a great thing.
That's my recap - there is some hope down under for starving Mets' fans. Unclear how much and how soon, though. Amed and Dominic are the bright lights, and the rest right now are still question marks.
Thanks for the reports. I really want to see TJ Rivera get a shot. He does nothing but hit at every level. Average over .400 with RISP. But we continually see Campbell, Kelly, Muno, Lutz. Sandy lacks any element of creativity.
ReplyDeleteHopefully, TJ Rivera gets his shot Sept. 1. He has hit very well his whole career, time for him to get to the big show somewhere.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on these reports but was wondering what your opinion is on these 2 other prospects Tomas Nido and Paul Paez. Agree on TJ Rivera and wonder just how long it'll be before he's on another major league club starting and hitting .300.
ReplyDeleteMy faux pas on missing Nido. Tomas is having a terrific year (.316 with decent pop) catching for St Lucie and is really gunning base runners down,
ReplyDeleteLittle Paul Paez (5'7") is a 38th rounder who is having a heck of a year relieving in A ball and recently in AA. ERA under 1.00 as we head towards mid-August. Let's see how far this overachiever can go.
maybe an article for another day, but sometimes, if you get lucky with a marginal player for a while, does a team not gamble that the luck will soon end and demote said player?
ReplyDeleteVerrett was 3-0 in April, 1 earned run in 17 innings.
After April, 0-7, and an ERA of 6.00.
Sometimes, you have to quit while you are ahead.
As a follow up to my Verrett point, Montero has been awesome in AA. It may be time to demote Verrett and call up Raffie.
ReplyDeletePhillies' Hoskins and Cozens in AA have 34 and 32 homers, respectively…compare to Smith's 12. I want to have prospects who in mid August have over 30 homers too someday.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your answer but for me I'd take Smith with his doubles and defense and youth over the one trick pony called Duda
ReplyDeleteAgree, Gary. Duda's days as a Mets ought to be numbered, or over, IMO
DeleteAlonso is interesting in that he doesn't K too much and was a 2nd rd pick. Does he profile as a potential middle of the order bat?
ReplyDeleteMy lineup for the future would have Nimmo leading off (high OBP, good athleticism), Rosario hitting 2nd, and Conforto hitting 3rd (yes, I think he'll come back around). Being able to slot Alonso in as a RH power bat at cleanup could help this team further solidify the lineup for the long-term.
Obviously I want the team to win now and am focused on what they're doing now, but eventually they'll have to transition to younger, longer term players.
The problem with Alonso is he, like Smith, is a 1B. We need a DH so we can keep both!
ReplyDeleteThe problem with Alonso is he, like Smith, is a 1B. We need a DH so we can keep both!
ReplyDelete