Tom Brennan – A FOOT IN THE SPRING TRAINING DOOR

Tom Brennan – A FOOT IN THE SPRING TRAINING DOOR

It is always good to get a foot in the door if you want to get through a doorway.  

Getting an invite to spring training for a minor leaguer is just such a foot in the door. 

The exposure helps to give a guy the chance to shine, with a future hopefully either with the Mets of with another major league club if dealt away by fast-moving Brodie VW.

The Mets announced on January 17 that 13 minor league players were given a spring training invite.  

These 13 grinning fellas include:

Position players: 

Peter Alonso, Andres Gimenez, Patrick Mazeika, Ali Sanchez, Tim Tebow, and Colton Plaia.

LHPs: 

David Peterson, Anthony Kay, and PJ Conlon; and 

RHPs: 

Corey Taylor, Ryder Ryan, Steve Villines, and Josh Torres.

Let’s run them down, briefly:

Peter Alonso – the man who had 42 homers and 146 RBIs in 159 minors and AFL games in 2018 is certainly looking like the Mets’ starting 1B before very long – odds are strong he will be promoted by May 1 or sooner.

Andres Gimenez – the 20 year old could use some more bat development to be ready to not just reach the majors but succeed as a starting SS or 2B.  His .281/.347/.409 in 122 games in high A and AA in 2018 is indicative of being close in that regard – if an injury occurred in 2019 where the Mets needed an everyday shortstop, my guess is Gimenez could hold his own by mid season, otherwise he becomes a starting position player, if there is room, in 2020.

Patrick Mazeika – his last 5 weeks of 2018 showed that the lefty hitting catcher can HIT…what was going on earlier in the season last year truly puzzled me.  I think that he could be ready to be a major league back up catcher by mid-2019 if necessary, and a real contender for that role from day 1 in 2020.

Ali Sanchez has shown less bat than Mazeika, but truly outstanding catcher defense.  The righty hitter, should his bat continue to develop, could be a fine MLB back up catcher and perhaps even a starting catcher.  It's all about the bat, 'bout that bat, 'bout that bat.

Tim Tebow has defied the odds and has name recognition few other prospects can ever hope to have.  I see him as a late 2019 call up in September, barring the miraculous.

Colton Plaia quietly upped his game in 2018, running up a .255/.332/.474 split in 66 games in Vegas.  A pretty solid catcher at age 28, but with 71 passed balls in 356 career games with the mask on being pretty high.  As I see it, he could be called up to back-up catch in a pinch in 2019.

David Peterson and Anthony Kay – they weren’t first round picks for nothing. Neither is ready yet, but both are talented, and hopefully they both get to Queens by the end of 2019.  More likely, 2020, though.

PJ Conlon - of the 13 invitees, only the Irishman has had any time in the bigs, with 7.2 innings in which he surrendered 15 hits and 7 runs, along with a rough season in the pitchers’ hell known as Las Vegas, in which he tossed to a 6.55 ERA in 114 innings on a team whose ERA was 5.83.  

Good news - in his last several AAA outings spanning 30 innings, he was tossing to a much better 4.50 ERA, with 25 Ks and just 9 free passes.

My guess is PJ pitches in far friendlier AAA Syracuse in 2019, and pitches much better, hoping to crack the Mets bullpen at some point or fill in as a spot starter.

Corey Taylor – the 7^th rounder from 2015 has hopefully slimmed down to his now-listed 240 pounds. He was solid (pitching-wise) in 2018 in AA and Vegas, but needs to reduce his WHIP (1.43 in 2018, 1.31 career).  

Taylor being one possible future answer amongst many in a crowded Mets bullpen picture, he has to his credit only allowed 7 homers over 200 innings, which greatly offsets the kind of high career WHIP.

Ryder Ryan throws hard and made real strides in 2018, splitting his season between High A and AA, in which he compiled a dandy 1.06 WHIP and 4-3, 3.23 ERA.  The 23 year old seems more like a legit 2020 MLB bullpen candidate – or trade piece in Brodie World.  I'm betting on the former.

Steve Villines – the soft-tossing 23 year old righty has been extremely effective in the minors (8-6, 2.68, 137 Ks and just 14 walks in 94 IP).  It will be interesting to see how his stuff plays out in spring training.  He has to prove he can be more effective against big league hitters than Paul Sewald, a fellow righty without a searing fastball, has been so far - and better than fellow soft-throwing lefty PJ Conlon.

Josh Torres – turning 25 in April, he pitched not so well with another organization thru 2016, then did quite well with St Lucie in 2017 and even better in 2018 (an utterly outstanding 9-0, 1.19 in 35 games in AA), but AAA was different - he was destroyed in 8 innings (4 homers allowed and 13 runs) for Vegas.  

In 2017 and 2018, he struck out 145 in 117 innings, so that truly stands out.  My guess is Torres will be in Syracuse in 2019, trying to prove he is a viable enough major league bullpen candidate to pitch in Queens.  May he pitch long and prosper.

OK, the foot is in the door. 

Now, knock the darned door down, fellas.