St. Lucie Mets announce 2019 roster

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (April 2, 2019) – The St. Lucie Mets are pleased to announce their initial 2019 roster, one that features a mixture of Florida State League veterans and newcomers to the team.

Highlighting the roster are four of the New York Mets top 28 prospects according to MLB Pipeline. Outfielder Desmond Lindsay (No. 9) and infielder Luis Carpio (No. 17) return for their second stints with St. Lucie.

Lindsay finished the 2018 minor league season on a high note in the Arizona Fall League by clubbing three home runs and collecting eight hits in eight games for the Scottsdale Scorpions.

Carpio led St. Lucie with 12 home runs last year and he was second on the team with 40 RBI.

Tony Dibrell (No. 27 Mets prospect) led the Columbia Fireflies pitching staff last season. Now he will headline the St. Lucie staff. Dibrell struck out 147 batters in 131 innings in 2018. He made 23 starts for the Fireflies and went 7-6 with a 3.50 ERA.

Quinn Brodey (No. 28) started last year in Columbia and finished in St. Lucie. The former Stanford slugger hit 13 home runs between Low-A and Advanced-A in 2018. He hit .245 over 31 games with St. Lucie.

The Mets infield is comprised of Cody Bohanek, Carpio, Carlos Cortes, Manny Rodriguez, Blake Tiberi and Jeremy Vasquez.

Bohanek was acquired in a January trade with the Astros along with J.D. Davis in exchange for outfielder Ross Adolph, infielder Luis Santana and catcher Scott Manea.

Cortes was the Mets third round draft pick last year out of the University of South Carolina. He batted .264 in 47 games with Brooklyn upon being drafted. He is bypassing Columbia to start with St. Lucie.

Tiberi and Vasquez both excelled in Columbia to start last year and earned promotions to St. Lucie later in 2018. Both start back up in St. Lucie this season. Vasquez, a Martin County native, batted .280 with 25 doubles and 10 home runs in 125 games in 2018.

The Mets outfield consists of Brodey, Lindsay, Hansel Moreno and Matt Winaker.

Brodey and Winaker were not only teammates last year in Columbia, but they also patrolled the same Stanford outfield in college. The Mets took Brodey in the third round in 2017 and then selected Winaker in the fifth round of the same draft. Winaker hit 13 homers in 121 games with the Fireflies last season.

The two catchers on the roster are Mitch Ghelfi and Nick Meyer. Ghelfi was taken by the Mets in the minor league portion of last year’s Rule 5 Draft. He spent time in Double-A with the Brewers and Angels organizations in 2018.

Meyer was the Mets sixth round draft pick in 2018.

Joining Dibrell (RHP) in the rotation are Kevin Smith (LHP), Josh Walker (LHP), Kyle Wilson (RHP) and Josh Wilson (RHP). Dibrell is the only one of the five to have experience on a full season team.

The bullpen consists of Yeizo Campos, Briam Campusano, Joe Cavallaro, Ryley Gilliam, Conner O’Neil, Marcel Renteria and Blake Taylor.

Cavallaro and Taylor primarily worked in the St. Lucie rotation last year. Campos and Campusano have appeared in the St. Lucie bullpen in the past.

The Mets are under the guidance of third-year manager Chad Kreuter, who was a major league catcher for 16 seasons. Ricky Bones, the New York Mets bullpen coach from 2012-2018, will serve as the new pitching coach. Bruce Fields joins the Mets organization as the St. Lucie hitting coach.