Mack’s Morning Report – 7-10 – Hansel Romero, Power Bats vs. Power Arms, MLB Top 100 Prospect List, Bartolo

Good morning.

Dirty Laundrey –

            Mack’s Mets writer Casey Wentworth no longer writes for Mack’s Mets. We wish him well with the rest of his life.

In addition, Charles Hangley has moved on to write exclusively for www.mets360.com. Please visit that site to read what he posts alongside another ex-Mack’s Mets writer, David Groveman.

We continue to look for additional active writers here at Mack’s Mets. Please email me at macksmets@gmail.com and we’ll talk.

Helium Alert –

The GCL Mets 3B/2B Hansel Romero is making a name for himself during his first stateside assignment this season. The 20-year old was signed as a 16-year old prospect in 2014 and was given a $50,000 bonus. He then spent three years honing his game for the DSL Mets, hitting .204 in 2014, .210 in 2015, and, finally, putting it all together last year, hitting .317.

            This year, he’s off to his best start yet. Through xx at-bats, his stat line is: 

                                   .444/.488/.528/1.016

            There’s probably an outside chance he could finish the season for the team he will play opening day next season for, the Kingsport Mets.

            Remember the name… not Hansel Robles… Hansel Romero.

Power Bats vs. Power Arms –

The debate seems to begin every year at this point in the season. It’s heightened even more this season what with the signing of their top pick. RHSP David Peterson, this week, but also the failure to remain competitive through the All-Star break.

Did the Mets target the draft for enough ‘power bats’ instead of always seeming to go after pitching? Sounds easy on paper, but the fact is that there simply are only so many decent sluggers these days that also play decent defense at their position and don’t strike out more than desired.

I grew up in a time where the barometer of a great hitter was 40+ home runs, 120+ runs batted in, and a batting average around .300. There are rare numbers these days. Guys like Jay Bruce, who produce these kind of homers and ribbies, barely hit .260 and these are overall considered all-star numbers.

I told this to one of our readers last week (ZoZo) and reminded him that we wouldn’t be in this pickle of a season if our ‘top 7’ starters would have turned out as projected this season.

No, the game is being taught differently at the school level. Emphasis is on OBP, not slugging%. And most of the real weight training power guys are limited to one sport only in school and that has turned out to be football.

But, if you are the tallest player that turns out for baseball tryouts and can throw a decent ball back and forth with the fellow tryouts, the baseball coach will call you aside and ask you if you have ever considered learning the art of pitching.

What hitters you do successfully draft are instructed in your minor league system to concentrate on getting on base (BA, OBP, BB/9) instead of swinging for the fence. Swinging for the fence produces far more strikeouts and can hinder your growth though each level of the team’s pipeline.

You don’t honestly think that Dominic Smith was told to target his game this way in locations like Savannah and St. Lucie?

Look folks, pitching is like penicillin. It’s a basic cure all for all your problems on the field. Look at those SP1-3 guys with the Dodgers and Nats. Why do you think these teams are at the top of their division? Power bats? Come on.

You want better field defense. Put up better pitching and watch it happen.

Right now, it looks like we will start the 2018 season with three potentially great starters, Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, and Steven Matz. Clubs would kill for this kind of lineup, but, as this season’s visits to the DL proved, this won’t be enough to make it through the night.

Chris Flexen will begin the next wave of quality starters to Queens, followed in the next two seasons by Marcos Molina, Corey Oswalt, Justin Dunn, Jordan Humphries, and Merandy Gonzales. There’s a good chance we will fine two ample replacements for the likes of Matt Harvey, Tyler Pill, Robert Gsellman, Zack Wheeler, and Seth Lugo.

I’m sorry, but this is how it works in baseball these days. 15 starters get you five.

MLB Top 100 Prospect List –

            MLB updated their Top 100 prospect list to include newly drafted players as well as re-positioning by some of the players that were last ranked during the pre-season.

            SS Amed Rosario moved up a notch from 5^th to 4^th while 1B Dominic Smith had a sizable jump from 65^th to 49^th

.

            Past that… steak knives.

            It’s entirely unacceptable that there are only two Mets on a list of 100 players.

And lastly…

            Let’s face it. A signing of Bartolo Colon would have been, at best, an innings eater for the remainder of this season so some of the Mets arms could be rested. At worst, it would have been another carnival scene similar to what’s going on with Tim Tebow.

            I’m upset he did not return to Queens, but we can limp through the second half of the season without him.

            It’s not a big deal.