From The Desk – Thomas Szapucki, Ronny Mauricio, Riley Greene, Luke Haggerty, Andres Gimenez

Good morning.

Fangraphs   Top 25 Mets Prospects –

8. Thomas Szapucki, LHP Video

Drafted: 5th Round, 2015 from Dwyer HS (FL) (NYM)

Age     22.6    Height 6′ 2″    Weight            190     Bat / Thr         R / L     FV       45

Tool Grades (Present/Future)

Fastball          Curveball       Changeup      Command      Sits/Tops

 60/60                  60/60              40/50              40/50           91-95 / 96

          Szapucki is another player on this list who stood out early in his prep career, and ranked near the top of his class as a prep sophomore because he could get into the low-90s with a high-spin breaking ball from a tough arm slot. He slipped to the fifth round in his draft year as some scouts were worried his crossfire delivery was both an injury risk and the underlying reason for his command issues, and would be tough to “correct.” The injury concerns were mostly accurate, as Szapucki had shoulder soreness that led into Tommy John surgery in July 2017. He’s back on the mound and every indication is that he’ll be able to return to his prior form, when he dominated the minor leagues to the tune of 116 strikeouts to 30 walks over 18 appearances before his arm trouble. 

      Szapucki gets into the mid-90s with a plus curveball and flashes an average changeup from that tough slot and knows how to use his stuff to elicit chase swings, even though his control is average at best. The Mets have no plans to develop him in the bullpen in the short-term, but it seems very possible that his durability and style of pitching may fit best in a Josh Hader-type role.

Each team's best non-Top 100 prospect    -

          

          Mets: Ronny Mauricio, SS - Ranked as MLB Pipeline's No. 11 international prospect before he signed for $2.1 million in July 2017, Mauricio flashed his immense offensive potential last year during his pro debut, which he finished as a 17-year-old in the Rookie-level Appalachian League. As an athletic shortstop who could develop both a plus hit tool and plus power, Mauricio has one of the highest ceilings in the Minors among players yet to reach full-season ball.

Prospect Pipeline -  Riley Greene –

         

PC - Perfect Game

   

           Riley Greene, OF, Hagerty High School Class of 2019. Top outfielder in the high school class per Perfect Game and number two overall ranked prep in high school. Excellent feel for hitting, very well balanced and quiet swing, a bit of a Dave Justice vibe with his feel for hitting, power and arm. The University of Florida commit flashes above average tools across the board.

Inside 37-year-old pitcher 

Luke Hagerty's improbable comeback story

      

      Hagerty went to the Cubs' affiliate in Boise, Idaho, and dominated, and it was supposed to be the start of a meteoric rise, with team officials telling him he could be in the major leagues by the next September. He chuckles at that now, the salad days, before he lost the ability to do what was so fundamental: throw a baseball. Before he really learned what it meant to work, and before he had any idea what he could be, and before he was 37 years old, sitting in a hotel room on the outskirts of Seattle, 12 years removed from his last pitch in organized baseball, unable to sleep, his mind racing at 2 a.m., wondering if he actually could convince a room of scouts that he wasn't just some crazy old man who thinks he can still pitch.

Bleacher Report: Ranking the Top Prospects  for All 30 MLB Teams Entering 2019 –

          

PC - Ed Delany 

 

           No. 23: SS Andres Gimenez, New York Mets - Andres Gimenez hit .281 with a .347 on-base percentage between High-A and Double-A in 2018. He won't turn 21 until September, but he appears to be on the fast track with the New York Mets.

His power is still emerging, though he collected 40 extra-base hits in 122 MiLB games and has the defensive skills to stick at shortstop.