Tom Brennan - SPOTLIGHT ON METS PROSPECT SHERVEYN NEWTON

LIGHTS! CAMERA! SPOTLIGHT! ON METS FIREFLIES IF SHERVEYN NEWTON

I thought I'd take a look at good ol' # 5, the Mets' website's listed # 5 prospect, Sherveyn Newton, who may have to change his name to Sherbert...at least my smart phone wants to spell it that way. 

I love sherbert, but I'll stick with Sherveyn, thanks, smart phone.

Mets top hitting prospects have not hit well this year, but the prospect dudes that aren't hurt (like Disabled Des Lindsay) are YOUNG, so what you hope for is upward trajectory through the struggles. 

Newton in 2019 has been 4 stage rocket.

Struggles were expected. He hadn't played baseball for long, and jumped from his mostly successful 2018 season with Kingsport right over Brooklyn to fill season ball in 2019.

FIRST STAGE - ABSENCE: He did not play this season, for the Columbia Fireflies, until their 17th game, in which he went 0-4 with 3 Ks.

SECOND STAGE - HITLESS STRUGGLES: When he did start playing, his first at bats were abysmal - 4 for his first 51 (.078), with 23 Ks, but other than Ronny Mauricio, the whole team wasn't hitting then.  The hitting drought was a Fireflies contagion. At that point, though, I was thinking: THIS GUY IS THE METS' # 5 PROSPECT??

THIRD STAGE - GETTING HIS SEA LEGS BACK: His next stage was a slow, steady climb from that .078 deep pit, during which he hit .216 over 143 at bats - not exciting, but three times better than .078.  

FOURTH STAGE - SCORCHING:  Finally, something clicked and over his last 7 games through July 10, he had 6 multi-hit games in a 7 game stretch, going 14 for 31, and raising his average to .218.

Well, .218 ain't good, but I sure like the trajectory.  

Listed at 6'4", 180, folks expect the 20 year old to fill out and hit for power.  Jeff McNeil was a stick when the Mets signed him...but he's no stick now, so I likewise expect Newton to put on 30 pounds over the next two seasons.

Defensively, he has played at SS, 2B, and 3B this season, and made 9 errors in 63 games - not terrible, and he has time to tighten that up, certainly.  Most of his time before this year was at SS, but with SS Mauricio and 3B Mark Vientos, it is no surprise he'd be doing most of his work at 2nd base.

He is described as having a plus arm, plus raw power, and a guy who tries to work out walks (21 in 63 games this year, 41 in 56 Kingsport games last season), which has also helped spike his strikeout rate.  Better, however, for the switch hitter to learn the strike zone well now than be picked apart by precision pitchers later.

Sherveyn, in my opinion, should remain at Columbia the rest of this year, and hope that the Stage 4 Scorch continues the rest of this year.

That said, Newton seems 2-3 more minor league seasons away from being a big league starting player.  In 2023, he would still only be 24.