Tom Brennan - PROFILE ON WALTER RASQUIN
The news came out in early May:
"Walter Rasquin, an infield prospect in the Mets' minor-league system, was suspended...for 50 games for testing positive for methamphetamine, Major League Baseball announced."
Fortunately for the Little Rasquin (5'9"), he had a broken finger so he was going to be out during that stretch for a while anyway. (He is listed at 200 pounds, BTW, so he is not so little).
Walter comes back within the past few days, rehabs with the GCL Mets, and goes a mere 9 for 11 in his first 3 games through mid-week there...so for the season, 16 games worth, he is hitting .397/.453/.638.
Last year, on the extremely offensively challenged Brooklyn rookie squad, he was the best bat: he hit .300 and stole 32 of 40 in just 63 games.
So, Walter seems to be a real interesting dude.
He started with the DSL Mets for a few games back in 2013, and overall in his career, in 768 at bats, he sits at .309/.377/.414 and 64 of 82 steals. I'll take a few of those.
Seems to me that the 22 year old has a major league ceiling. Let's see what he does when he returns to Columbia in A ball. The South Atlantic League as a whole has been a pitchers league this year, so if he hits like a dynamo upon his return, he may start to be added to a bunch of Mets top 25 prospects lists.
I would not be surprised if, when he returns to Columbia, he is their best offensive weapon.
Defensively, like a lot of fellas who were once DSL dudes, errors trended high for Walter early on. For him to have a big league shot, that needs to go from shaky to stellar.
Best wishes for a highly successful and suspension-free career from here on out.
5 comments:
I had Rasquin as a 'blue' prospect before the bust and I still return the color to his name.
I'll give him a first time pass and chalk it up to stupidity.
I hope the Mets return him to the pipeline level he was at before his troubles.
He sure should be back in A ball. St Lucia could sure use offensive spark plug help. My hope is after this weekend, they switch him to St Lucie.
I'll chalk it up to stupidity too.
So Wally's in the mix for for the Stupid Slot on the roster... hope there isn't too much competition.
Either bump up an outfielder from Columbia to St Lucie so Rasquin can join Columbia, or move Rasquin straight to the St Lucie IF/OF.
Lots of weak hitting in St Lucie.
The club is much deeper in middle infielders than outfielders, so why not make the full time conversion to the OF a'la Juan Lagares?
He should get down on his knees and kiss a statue of Jose Altuve who has done more for the opportunities of little guys since Joe Morgan and Freddy Patek.
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