Tom Brennan - GULF COAST LEAGUE METS BATS ARE THUNDERING

The Gulf Coast League Mets do not get a lot of print space anywhere, except from baseball nerds such as myself.

But let me say this:

The bats there in GCL Metsville are THUNDERING!

The team has a W...I...D...E margin in leading the league in runs scored with 263 in 48 games (5.5 runs per game), with the next best team scoring just 226 and the worst team plating just 162.

The team is 4th in HRs with 26, first in on base % at .362, and is 2nd in hitting at .255.  Yes, that means they are first in walks with 213.

How is this happening?

A player with a perfect last name for the Mets, given the NY Mets' home location, is Kenedy Corona.

The 19 year old OF is 10th in the league in hitting at .303...his .394 OBP and .485 slug % rank him 10th and 9th in those categories, and he has swiped 10 of 11 in the GCL while scoring 32 runs in his 37 games.  And if Jeff McNeil were commenting, I'm sure he'd say that his 21 Ks in about 150 PAs is excellent.

"Ask not what Kenedy can do for you - ask what you can do for Kenedy".  Don't know what to ask? OK, I'll tell you - know who he is, and root for him, that's what you can do.

6th rounder Zach Ashford struggled in his initial assignment in Brooklyn, but afterwards in the GCL?  .298/.414/.446 in 35 games.  Nice, I'd say.

PC - John Canary

Jose Peroza, 19, is a slugger who went .328/.389/.766 in 16 games, with 6 homers and 20 RBIs, which got him an immediate promo to Brooklyn, where he has hit .229, but with 3 HRs and 18 RBIs in 24 games, including 9 ribbies in his last 7 games.  JP won't be 20 for a while, as he and Dom Smith share the same June 15 birthday, so his first few months of 2020, most likely in Columbia, will be as a 19 year old.

Of course, Mets top prospects Francisco Alvarez and Brett Baty went a combined 19 for 46 with 13 walks before their early promotions to Kingsport.

Bahamian SS Warren Saunders (6'3", 190, 20 years old) is getting it done BIG TIME in his debut pro assignment, folks.  .324/.355/.398 in 27 games is some heckuva way to debut.  

I have a feeling he may zoom up the Mets prospect charts in 2020.

34th round, 22 year old Ryan Shinn is hitting a solid .248/.382/.368, with 8 hits and 9 walks in his last 10 games.  Shinn may not know who the 34th rounder was in 2011 for the Mets...Seth Lugo.  34th rounders can be stars in the major leagues - just ask Hall of Famer Mike Piazza, who was a 62nd round pick back in 1988.

One struggler has been $475K bonus baby William Lugo - partly, no doubt, because he is just 17 years old.  Lugo is hitting .150/.270/.217.  Something tells me 2020 will be a whole different story for him as he turns 18.  

As the song goes, "What a Difference a Year Makes" (OK, the song says "day", not year, but this is my article and I'll say what I want).  I prefer him to struggle this year stateside rather than play in the lowly DSL myself.

So that's it - lots of GCL Mets hitting....and I LOVE HITTING!  

KEEP IT UP, FELLAS.