Mack – A Look Ahead to the 2020 Affiliates – St. Lucie Mets

Good morning.

Predicting what minor player will be assigned to what team is not an exact science, but you can rely on two things:

1.    Players that play well at one level will start the season at the next level up the ladder.

and…

2.    Projected prospect stars, even if they card out above par, will get another shot at either the same level they played, or one up if management believes they can handle the promotion.

This post is  the fourth in a series of predicted roster leaders for the start of 2020. There will be plenty of other players. Some that didn’t fare that well in 2019. Some that haven’t been drafted yet. But these guys are the meat and potatoes of our system right now.

We covered the 2020 GCL Mets, Kingsport, Brooklyn, and Columbia’s projected teams in the past four Sundays.

Next up… the 2020 St. Lucie Mets.

RHSP Colin Holderman – (eligible for the 2020 Rule 5 Draft) – The 6-5 righty put up respectable numbers last season for Columbia: 13-G, 12-ST, 4.09. Most of his problems developed from his very high 4.09-BB9, coupled with a low 7.26-K9 for a starter. He should get one more chance with Lucy in 2020, but if he doesn’t successfully work on his control, it could be his last Mets season.

RHSP Jaison Vilera – The former 2-time short season all-star (2017 GCL: 1.88; 2018 Brooklyn: 1.83) had growing pains in 2019. His 4-team combined ERA/WHIP was 5.25/1.48. He never was a high strikeout pitcher and you may seem him converted to the pen if he gets off to another slow start here in the spring.

RHSP Daison Acosta – Like Vilera, the 21/yr. old Acosta needs to work on his control in the spring. Fair numbers last season for Columbia: 11-starts, 3.78, but only 49-Ks in 52-IP and 26-BB, resulting in a 1.45-WHIP. He must do better than this if he wants to someday get to Queens.

RHSP Jose Butto – The 21/yr. old was the Fireflies work horse, putting up a respectable 3.62/1.17 in 27-G, 25-starts. He also had the highest K/9 ratio (8.76) in his 3-season career. There is no doubt that he will pitch for St. Lucie in the spring. The question is if he can improve on these numbers and become relevant in the chain.

RHSP/RP Brice Hutchinson – The 20/yr. old Deland (FL) HS grad completed his 3^rd pro year in Columbia, going 31-G, 7-ST, 4-7, 3.73, 1.31, 91.2-IP, 71-K. Like Butto, a fair return for a pitcher that simply doesn’t miss bats as much as fans like us want to see. I love his age, or lack of it. Send him to St. Lucie and keep him in the pen.

LHRP Cole Gordon – Gordy was an unheralded 32^nd round pick last year, out of Mississippi State. In return, he rewarded the Mets in his freshman pro year with a 18--app, 2.67, 1.15 stat like for Columbia, with 36 strikeouts in 29 innings pitched. I hope we are on to something here.

RHRP Justin Lasko – Lasko was a 4-year starter before being converted to the Mets pen last season. It seems to have paid off: Brooklyn/Columbia: 21-G, 2.14, 0.92. Like Gordon, another late round find (30^th), which is exactly where you should go fishing for future relievers.

RHRP  Alec Kisena – Kisena was originally drafted by Detroit in 2015, was cut after being injured, floated around the Indy league as a starter, and was signed by the Mets last season and converted to the pen. Results? Low-A/A/A+: 28-G, 6-ST, 3.32, 1.30, but… 86-K in 80-IP. The 9.52 K/9 alone will send him back to St. Lucie where he pitched in 2 games last season (0.00).

RHRP Jose Moreno - (eligible for the 2020 Rule 5 Draft) – Moreno’s 1^st Mets season was 2014 and, as they say, has ‘been around’. Last year, he settled into Columbia and appeared in 37 games. He produced a very respectable 2.28-ERA, but his high BB rate helped raise his WHIP to 1.41. We need 8-9 pitchers in every team’s pen so he should move on to St. Lucie.

RHRP Ezequiel Zabaleta - (eligible for the 2020 Rule 5 Draft) – The Columbia born 24/yr. old was lights out last season in Columbia (17-apps, 1.69, 0.94) but struggled after being promoted here (26 more apps, 4.14, 1.08). Still, his combined WHIP was 1.03 and he had 60-K in 58-IP. I’m bringing him back to Florida with the plan to kick him to Binghamton around mid-season.

1B Chase Chambers – Chamber is a perfect roster fill at a position that the Mets project won’t need filling for many years. He hit .246 for Columbia but must improve on his 95-K in 382-AB. I see no other competition for the St, Lucie job at first in 2020.

SS Ronny Mauricio – Okay Ronny… this is the year for you to shine and send a message to Queens that you are going to be the next shortstop start in the system. Forget last year’s stats line. He played Columbia at nearly 3.5 years younger than the league average. Look for a bulked up version to arrive at the spring camps and move closer to a 2022 arrival in Queens.

3B Mark Vientos – Vientos is the second top third baseman in our system, behind Brett Baty. We tend to forget he was still a teenager when he .255, 12-HR, 62-RBI for Columbia this past season. He hit .272 for the combined July/August and the expected power is developing. Vientos could easily be the power third baseman we will be looking for in 2022.

OF Zach Ashford – 2019 was Ashford’s first pro season and played most of for the GCL-Mets, hitting .295. He also had 17 at-bats for St. Lucie, where he hit .353. Yeah, I know… he hit .136 for Brooklyn, but still… I would move him ahead of guys like Walter Rasquin and Guillermo Granadillo and start him for Lucy.