SPOTLIGHT ON METS INT'L BONUS BABIES YOEL ROMERO AND EDGARDO FERMIN, AND ST LUCIE SS MANNY RODRIGUEZ
Way back in July 2014, it was being reported that the Mets signed two Venezuelan 16 year olds - YOEL ROMERO ($300,000) and EDGARDO FERMIN ($250,000) - both described as being shortstops at the time.
Yoel Romero has had up and down seasons since signing. he started out down - hitting just .170 in his SECOND DSL season in 2016 - which might have made one start to think, "this guy's a bust."
But in 2017, he added ONE HUNDRED NINETY FOUR POINTS to his 2016 average, hitting .364/.439/.464 in 67 games.
In 2018, playing just 53 games at Kingsport in Rookie ball and missing some games (man, it's always something, ain't it?), he hit a respectable .265/.368/.373.
Moving on to 2019, he faltered in Columbia early, going 4 for 30 - but that was at a time that it seemed like the whole team was going 4 for 30. He also had a 6 for 25 stint with St Lucie, where he fanned just 4 times, a very encouraging # in a limited sample.
Now in Brooklyn, the 21 year old, 6'0", 180 Romero is hitting very well - in 21 games, .325/.379/.500.
Why so few games in 2019? He missed 7 weeks spanning 2 stretches. Man, it's always something, ain't it? Dude, you need to stay on the field and PLAY!
When he does play, he's played the outfield, SS, 2nd, 3rd, and even a game at first, and is making a bunch of errors, so he needs to work on that.
And for Pete's sake, stay on the field!
Edgardo Fermin did not start his season in 2019 until June 6 - man, it's always something, ain't it?
And this late start, after a lousy hitting 2018 in Columbia (.210/.261/.343 in 109 games), might make one start to think, "this guy's a bust."
But he got bumped up to St Lucie in 2019. Why not?
And why not indeed - the Venezuelan native has done well since his return, albeit in limited at bats to date.
In Hi A St Lucie and a handful of games in AA Binghamton, Edgardo is hitting .273/.294/.394 in 29 games, 6 of 7 in steals.
Remarkably, after playing SS for the Fireflies in 2018, he has not played there in 2019 (that spot is manned by Manny Rodriguez). But he has just made a single error in 2019 while playing 1B, 2B, 3B, and all 3 outfield positions, pretty tough to do in just 29 games.
The 6'1", 170 Fermin, who recently turned 21, several weeks younger than Romero, is younger still than half the guys the Mets just drafted. As such, he has time to show that he is a contender for a future utility guy role in the majors. It would seem that continuing to work on his pitch selection to increase walks, and adding some muscle, could do the trick there.
I would recommend that the Mets dump a few veterans in the higher levels and allow kids like Fermin to play daily.
I do love the fact that both of these guys - Romero and Fermin - are being moved around defensively.
I'm not done yet.
Not every SS prospect is from Central America - MANNY RODRIGUEZ was born in Brooklyn, baby!
The 23 year old, 5'10", 170 M Rod was drafted in the 10th round by the Mets last year, so the fact that he is already the St Lucie Mets' everyday SS is impressive.
So, how's M Rod doing? .260/.340/.323, and a K per game over 86 games.
He hit .222 in April, ,306 in May, .211 in June and .278 so far in July. He needs more Mays and Julys.
He is though hitting better than the Mets' top prospect Andres Gimenez (.243 in AA), so relatively speaking, Manny is doing all right.
M Rod has 10 of 19 this year in steals, so apparently modest speed is there, and 32 errors in 134 career games at SS, so that needs to improve.
To me, he is playing as one would expect of a 23 year old 10th rounder of 2018. The trick for Manny, to get to the NY Mets, is to play BETTER than a 10th rounder. My guess is we will see Manny move up to AA in 2020, and we'll see if he can do just that.
Three apparently comparable players above.
So let's see which one of these 3 dudes turns out to be NO. 1.
Tom. I saw Romero in two games fir Brooklyn this year and was impressed. The Mets need to find a position for him and leave him there. I think he will then develop the skills needed to field that position. I am thinking third base. His defense or lack there of, did not stand out to me.
ReplyDeleteM-Rod on the other hand made a number of errors when I saw him in 4 games last year. However, he did get better as the year went on. His issue is throwing. He has goidcrange and can go get the ball in the hole and has a strong arm. The problem is accuracy. I did see an improvement as the year went along last year. Hope he can keep it up. He has goid speed as I saw him beat out infield hits but tended to hit the ball in the air too much. If he gain more base stealing skilks, use spped more, and wirk on his throwing he could make it.
I am particularly intrigued with my blue prospect Romero, but he is sandwiched between Vientos a level up on him and Baty a level bel.ow
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the Stroman trade recently the other day, the first thing I noticed was that the NY Mets sent Anthony Kay away in that trade. I liked the Marcus Stroman acquisition part a lot for here, but because I felt that the organization had so few decent MiLB arms, I was somewhat concerned. Perhaps like other Mets fans.
ReplyDeleteHowever, for two MiLB starters, both hard to project out, the NY Mets acquired a solid middle of the rotation (on this team) very respectable right handed starter in Marcus Stroman.
After some thinking, the NY Mets still have two really good left-handed starters in their system in Kevin Smith (age 22) and David Peterson (age 23). Both currently are at AA Binghamton Rumble Ponies. Kevin's numbers are: 7-5/117 SO's in 103 innings, 2.80 ERA, a healthy 1.20 WHIP, and only 31 walks in those 103 innings. Kevin is not done developing, but is a fast riser and he will only get better from this point on.
David peterson's numbers are a little less impressive right now, but understandable since he had lost time with his arm injury. He is 3-3/4.43 ERA/93 SO's in 87 innings/ and a 1.43 WHIP. I fully expect David's numbers will continue to uptick, and he will develop into the starter he wants to be. I look for both of these excellent lefty Mets starters to have a major impact upon this pitching staff in the not so distant future and I greatly look forward to their arrival.
The other kid starter I really like as well in the Mets MiLB (now at Syracuse Mets AAA) is the under-the-radar right-hander Harol Gonzalez (age 24). Harol recently was bumped up to AAA from Binghamton, and it looks to be a seamless transition for him. Overall, Harol's stats are: 6-4/3.12 ERA/94 SO's in 104 innings of work/1.09 WHIP.
The relief pitcher I like waqtching the most (right now) is right-hander Matt Blackham. Matt is 5-2/2.47 ERA/63 SO's in 43 innings/and a 1.10 WHIP. And his transition from AA to AAA recently is also quite seamless, which is outstanding to see.
It isn't quite 1969 again, yet. But I have to admit here, that it is starting to feel a little bit that same way to me. And I for one am elated.(LGM)
we now have the top rotation in baseball, Stroman for another year, and it cost us two non-Top 100 prospects
ReplyDelete