Tom Brennan - St Lucie's Opening Day Roster Thoughts

I LOVE LUCY!  I LOVE LUCY!  

IT'S TIME FOR ST LUCIE MINORS BASEBALL!

The St Lucie Mets platers have the advantage of having spring training at sunny St Lucie - and then not having to go anywhere!  

My advice to all of them: enjoy the sunny skies and palm trees, at least until Binghamton warms up, then form a caravan and move en masse the heck on up to AA.

OK - who is on this St Lucie team - and will they be any good?



I will answer the last question first: 

Yes, they will be good in 2019.  Intriguing, in fact.



Back to the first question, who will be on the team?

Let me go starters, relievers, catchers, infielders, and outfielders, in that order, and share my thoughts:


STARTERS: 

One of the most intriguing Mets' starting 5's that I have seen.

PC - Ed Delany

Tony Dibrell (# 27 Mets prospect) is one of my favorites, and with the Columbia Fireflies in 2018, Tony D fanned an superb 147 batters in 131 innings in 2018, and went 7-6, 3.50.  I expect big things from this hard throwing dude.  A 2020 arrival with the Mets?  Wouldn't surprise me.

Kevin Smith (LHP) was a seventh rounder last year who was SENSATIONAL with Brooklyn.  How sensational?  How does 4-1 in 23.2 IP, with 28 Ks and identical WHIP and ERA of 0.76?  Another lefty emerging to join the high lefty prospect ranks of Peterson, Kay, and Szapucki?  I think so!

Then 3 later round pitchers making surprising jumps 

into the St Lucie starting rotation:

Josh Walker (LHP) gets a big jump from limited innings in 2018 in rookie ball to St Lucie.  Walker, a 6'6' former 37th rounder, the 24 year old logged 41 innings and fanned 52 last year, with a 3.27 ERA.  Quite an opportunity for the big guy in 2019.

Kyle Wilson (RHP) is another deep rounder for the Mets, going in the 35th round in 2017.  Just 22, he done real nice in Brooklyn in 2018, going 4-4, 3.86 with a 1.17 WHIP and 59 Ks in 54 innings. 

Tommy Wilson (RHP) is - yep - another later-round pitcher who is in the starting rotation straight from Brooklyn last year.  The 22 year old 6'4" righty excelled in 11 outings out of the bullpen for Brooklyn, going 1-0, 1.23, 0.91 WHIP, and 27 Ks in 22 IP.


Behind every good rotation, of course, is a good bullpen:

Joe Cavallaro - Joey C did a real nice job in his second season in pro ball. As a starter, he was 10-6, 3.33 ERA and 129 Ks in 127 IP, almost entirely split between Columbia and St Lucie. He is moving to the bullpen, and I am hoping to be dazzled by him in 2019.  Hey, Jeurys Familia moved to the pen and did all right, why can't Joe?

Blake Taylor is a former 2nd round lefty who has scuffled a ton as a starter.  This year?  Off to the pen he goes.  Let's see if he can make a lot more magic in 2019 out of the bullpen than he has as a starter.

Ryley Gilliam is highly touted by Mack.  He sees a future closer in Gilliam.  I'm going with him - he's the boss!  Seriously, Gilliam will be one to watch in 2019.

Yeizo Campos was decent but not great for Columbia last year.  He will look to make strides in 2019. 

Briam Campusano deserves a ditto on that.

Marcel Renteria was 5-3, 4.23 with a little better than a K per inning for Columbia in 2018 in 15 starts.  He, however, had a 5.61 ERA in the first half of 2018, but a much improved 3.14 in the second half.  A switch to the pen for the hard thrower could prove interesting.

Conner O'Neil - in his second season, in Columbia, the 2017 7th round reliever had a fine year: 6-0, 4 of 5 saves in 27 outings, with 56 Ks in 44 IP.  A well-deserved promotion in 2019 for the 24 year old. 

Carlos Hernandez - the 24 year old righty had a nice season, mostly for Columbia, going 1-3 with 4 of 5 in saves, with a 3.35 ERA and 55 Ks in 48 innings.  Best wishes for a fine season in 2019, Carlos.  

Catchers - there are two, folks:

Mitch Ghelfi is a 26 year old who threw out 12 of 33 would be stealers (nice), and hit .237/.289/.342 in about 150 AA at bats last year. 

Nick Meyer A Mets' 6th rounder in 2018, Nick is considered a defense-first catcher, who needs to up his offensive game in 2019. 

Infielders? Yes, sir, we have outfielders - step right this way.

Carlos Cortes (3rd round in 2018) had a solid mid-.260s batting average for the Cyclones in close to 50 games.   They gotta like 2B Carlos to skip him over Columbia.  It should be quite a challenge for him.  Best wishes for a strong season.

 Blake Tiberi was a 3rd rounder in 2016 whose 2018 season was mediocre at .242/.342/.336 in 114 games, with 14 errors at 2B.  He needs to do a lot better to move up in a very crowded Mets minors infield picture.

PC - Ed Delany

Jeremy Vasquez has far exceeded his 28th round in 2017 pedigree. The 22 year old lefty first baseman hit a sporting .280/.369/.421 in 125 games in A ball, and has just 13 errors in 177 games as a pro.   He did hit some resistance in St Lucie after his promotion, hitting just .174 with RISP, but I see no reason why he can't have a big year in 2019.

Luis Carpio had a break out season in 2018, at least in terms of power, with 21 doubles and 12 homers in 112 games.  Still just 21, 2B / SS Luis has just a .237 career average, so now that the power issue has been addressed, it is time to make that average climb.  Good defensively, with about average speed.

Manny Rodriguez was a 10th rounder in 2018, likely jumped to St Lucie directly from Brooklyn due to the influx of super-young talented infielders heading to Columbia.  M Rod put up a .236/.298/.339 split with the Cyclones.  He has good speed, but made 12 errors in 51 games last season at SS.

Cody Bohanek was acquired in the J.D. Davis deal and has been a light hitter in his career, with a .214/.324/.293 career split.  He scopes out to me as a back up IF in 2019.

Outfielders? We have a few:

Quinn Brodey has had a few disappointing seasons since turning pro as a 3rd rounder in 2017.  In 2018, QB hit just .224/.293/.387.  The 23 year old does, however, have speed (21 of 26 steals as a pro, along with 9 triples in less than 180 pro games), and last season, his 11 assists vs. 3 errors was stellar performance.  Time for the lefty hitting Quinn to unleash the bat in 2019.  

Matt Winaker was also drafted out of Stanford, but a few rounds after Quinn, and the lefty hitter had a very solid first full season in 2018 in Columbia with a .254/.370/.433 split, with 43 extra base hits in 121 games, including 7 triples, indicative of some swiftness.  He was fine defensively, with just 2 errors and 6 assists last year.  How great will his 2019 be?

Desmond Lindsay - the oft-injured 2015 2nd rounder out of HS has gotten in just 227 regular season games as a pro.  Now 22, he hit just .223/.317/.325 in 2018 in 90 games.  Like Brodey, stellar defense with 3 errors vs. 9 assists.  he did have a limited, but equally stellar, time in the Arizona Fall League, going 8 for 25 with a double and 3 homers.  Maybe this is the long-awaited break out season for DL.

Hansel Moreno rounds out the outfield.  The 6'4" 22 year old has played a ton of shortstop and other infield spots, but little outfield.  The same could be said for current Met Juan Lagares at about the same point in his career.  he was solid at the plate for Columbia last season at .248/.307/.398, with 21 steals in 89 games, but fanned 101 times.  My guess is he will be a frequently used 4th outfielder.

All in all, a very intriguing and interesting team for 2019.

BTW - I saw that the St Lucie Mets will open the season on Thursday at 6:30 PM at home against the Bradenton Marauders. There will be $1 Bud and Bud Light (8 oz. cans), $1 hot dogs, $1 soda and $1 popcorn.   

How can you not go? Stop making excuses, put down the remote, and get there.