John From Albany - Final Winter Ball Update

Now that the Caribbean Series had ended, here is one final winter ball update.

Not a lot of participation from Mets players and the ones that did play did not stay for extended periods.

Probably the biggest Mets name in Winter Ball this past season was Tomas Nido. Catching and DHing for  the Criollos de Caguas in the Puerto Rican League, Tomas was 7 for 28 for a .250 Avg, 1 double, 3 RBIs, 5 Ks in 8 games.  He needed the extra at-bats after playing sparingly this past year. 

I would have liked to see him get more but the word is that Tomas was happy with his work in the winter and is looking forward to the 2020 season.   

Also playing in Puerto Rico, Carlos Cortes played for the Indios de Mayaguez. The 2019 St. Lucie Met was now 1 for 9 in four games with a strikeout for a .111 average.

Recently signed Met, Outfielder Johneshwy Fargas, who played last year at AA Richmond, hit .207 in the Puerto Rican Winter League, 32 games, 116 at bats, 2 HR, 13 RBIs, 8 Stolen Bases, 6 Caught Stealing.  He has 235 Stolen Bases with 91 Caught Stealing in 7 minor league seasons.

2019 Binghamton Rumble Pony and current minor league free agent, Joshua Torres, was 0-1 with a 4.80 ERA, 15 games, 15 innings pitched in the Puerto Rico winter league.  He also was 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 2 games in the Caribbean Series.

Another recent Minor League Free Agent signee, left-handed hitting outfielder, Sebastian Elizalde, played in the Mexican Winter League and in the Caribbean Series. In the Mexican Winter League, Sebastian hit 10 HR, 37 RBIs in 60 games, with a .308 BA/.397 OBP/.507 SLG, 21 stolen bases.  In the Caribbean Series he had a big three run homer to help Mexico with a game putting up a .231 BA/.286 OBP/.462 SLG in 4 games.

Francisco Rios, yet another Minor League free agent signee, pitched 9 games in Mexico with 7 starts, 34 innings, 1-3 with a 3.71 ERA, 17 Ks, 24 Walks. 

Juan Uriarte played 24 games in the Mexican Winter League hitting .179 with 1 HR, 7 RBIs, .254 OBP/.268 SLG.

Phil Regan spent the winter as the Pitching Coach for the Toros Del Este, the team that eventually won the Caribbean Series this past Friday.  The Mets and Ex-Mets that pitched for that team included Daniel Zamora, Tyler Bashlor, and recently signed Mets minor leaguer Pedro Payano. Chris Mazza also appeared before he was claimed on waivers by the Red Sox. Ex-Mets Tim Peterson and Ramon E. Ramirez pitched for Toros Del Este right up to the Caribbean Championship game. 

Daniel Zamora: 0-0; 1.93 ERA; 10 games, 4.2 innings, 8 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned run, 2 walks, 7 Ks. Daniel Zamora told Stony Brook Athletics.com back in December: "I worked on my fastball this winter with Phil [Regan]. Phil really got my confidence up a lot from where it was earlier this year. So I plan to get my fastball going, continue to throw my slider the way I throw it, and I honestly have a changeup I can use now. I'm actually going to use it this year — not just, 'Hey, it's in my back pocket.' It's in my front pocket. I'm going to use it."

Tyler Bashlor: 0-1; 1.80 ERA; 5 games; 5 innings; 4 hits, 1 runs, 1 earned, 1HR, 0 walks, 8 Ks.

Chris Mazza: 1-1; 4.50 ERA; 6 games; 12 innings; 19 hits, 7 runs, 6 earned, 2 walks, 13 Ks.

Pedro Payano: 0-1; 7.71 ERA; 5 games; 4.2 innings; 6 hits, 4 runs, 4 earned, 3 walks, 5 Ks.

Ex-Met Raul Valdes: 5-2; 2.52 ERA; 10 games; 61 innings; 22 walks, 30 Ks. Raul Valdes started one game in the Caribbean series and went 3.2 innings giving up 6 hits, 4 runs, with one strikeout.

Ex-Met Tim Peterson: 2-0; 0.90 ERA, 8 games; 10 innings; 7 hits, 5 walks, 12 Ks during the Dominican Republic regular winter season.  He was 0-0 with a 2.25 ERA in the Caribbean Series.

Ex-Met Ramon E. Ramirez: 2-1; 10 saves; 2.20 ERA, 17 games; 16.1 innings; 9 hits, 12 walks, 16 Ks during the Dominican Republic regular winter season.  He was 0-0 with 3 saves and a 2.25 ERA in the Caribbean Series.

Ex Met Jenrry Mejia: 1-1; 3.72 ERA; 8 games – 6 as the starting pitcher; 29 innings; 21 hits, 16 walks, 15 Ks.

Ex Met Jordany Valdespin .340 BA (2^nd overall in league)/.429 OBP/.486 SLG; 39 games, 144 at bats, 5 homers, 22 RBIs, 49 hits, 20 walks, 18Ks.  In the Caribbean series he went .238 with a homer and 5 RBIs.  All 5 RBIs coming in the semi-final game in a 5-4 win.

Adonis Uceta pitched for the Leones del Escogido. He went 1-0; 3.38 ERA; 10 games; 8 innings; 3 hits; 5 runs; 3 earned; 9 walks; 8 Ks. Adonis Uceta was just about perfect all winter before giving up three runs in two-thirds of an inning in his last outing. 

Also for Leones del Escogido:

St. Lucie’s Carlos Hernandez: 0-1; 18.00 ERA; 2 games; 2 innings; 6 hits; 4 runs (all earned); 2 walks, 1 K.

Recent ex-met Sam Haggerty. In 2 games Sam went 1 for 8 with a stolen base for a .125 average with 3 Ks.

Pitching for Gigantes del Cibao, Harol Gonzalez: 0-2; 5.52 ERA; 6 Games; 14.2 innings, 25 hits, 11 runs, 9 earned, 7 walks, 12 Ks.   More about Harol here.

Ex-Met Jonathan Niese: Jonathan pitched just two games in the regular season without allowing a run.  During the Round Robin Playoffs, Jonathan had some mixed results.  On January 9^th, Jonathan threw 7 shutout innings for Aguilas Cibaenas giving up just 2 hits with 4 strikeouts and 1 walk on just 76 pitches.  He also had a bad outing on 1/13 where he lasted just 1.2 innings and gave up 4 runs on 5 hits and a walk in a 7-4 loss.

Juan Lagares, recently signed to a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres, played 26 games in the Dominican Winter League hitting .337 in 104 at bats, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 1 HR, 11 RBIs, 6 walks, 16 Ks, .373 OBP, .404 SLG.

Carlos Gomez only played 7 games hitting .167 during the regular season in the Dominican Winter League but played more in the playoffs.  He planned to retire after the winter season.

Ex-Met Minor Leaguer Matt Pobereyko also pitched in the Dominican League.  Matt pitched well this winter going 4 and 1 in 29 games, 27 innings, 18 hits, 5 runs, 30 Ks, 11 walks, 1.67 ERA.

2019 Syracuse Met Arismendy Alcantara, who signed a minor league deal for 2020 with the Angels, played 37 games .267 BA/.319 OBP/.429 SLG; 1 HR, 13 RBIs.   

Anderson Hernandez, went 3 for 36 in 22 games for a .083 Batting Average. He got one of those 3 hits off Chris Mazza.

T.J. Rivera,  who signed a minor league deal with the Phillies, played in the Dominican league where he hit .200 in 19 games and then played in Puerto Rico, hit .306 in 21 games, 1 HR, 9 RBIs, .376 OBP/.389 SLG.

In the Australian League: St. Lucie Mets Hansel Moreno  and Binghamton Rumble Ponies Jeremy Vasquez saw action.

Hansel Moreno hit .222 in 9 games playing 8 at shortstop with 3 RBIs, 3 walks, 8Ks. 

Jeremy Vasquez had 11 at-bats in 4 games with 2 walks and 2 Ks for a .091 average.

Former Mets #1 draft pick, Gavin Cecchini also played this winter in Australia.  In 19 games and 72 at-bats he had 20 hits for a .278 BA/.303 OBP/.417 SLG.

No current Mets played winter ball in the Venezuela League but there were some notable ex-Mets:

Wuilmer Becerra in 41 games hit .325 with a .393 OBP and .413 SLG with 2 homers and 19 RBIs. 

Wilfredo Tovar was over .300 for a large part of the season.  He ended up at .293, 2 HR, 20 RBIs, .331 OBP, .414 SLG.

Ronny Cedeno hit .230 in 38 games, 135 at bats, 3 HRs, 18 RBIs, .298 OBP, .341 SLG.

2018 Binghamton Rumble Ponies Catcher, Jose Garcia, played just 5 games in the Venezuela Winter League, for a .125 BA/.22 OBP/.125 SLG.

Other Ex-Mets that saw action included César Puello, Rymer Liriano, Ryan O’Rourke, Mike Antonini, Hector Santiago, and Juan Centeno.

Hope you enjoyed the winter updates.  We look forward to bringing you more next winter.