We've had a few in recent years.
Alonso? He had a beastly minor league season in 2018. In 159 minor league games and post-season prospect ball, he had 46 HRs and 142 RBIs, as I recall.
McNeil? Torched AA with his bat in early 2018 (88 games, .342/.411/.617) and then torched major league teams that season after he was called up with a few months to go.
Smith? He hit .330 in AAA in 2017. A sign of former hitting competence in Queens, down the road from that time.
Conforto? He hit .422 in 33 games in 2016 before he was called up. The first rounder showed he could rake.
All four demonstrated shades of Ken Singleton.
Singleton was the Mets' first round pick in 1967, 3rd overall.
Very solid pick.
The 6'4" slugger got to AAA in 1970, not playing in the hitters' heaven of Las Vegas, but rather in a normal hitting difficulty east coast town.
In 64 games there, he gave Mets' fans the "Singleton WOW Factor."
In those 64 games in early 1970, he hit .388/.513/.703.
Wow. Barry Bonds numbers. WOW.
He succumbed to the dreaded "NY Mets Jinx" a bit, though, hitting a somewhat mediocre .252/.369/.387 in 600 plate appearances in 1970 and 1971.
Then he got traded for Le Grande Orange, Rusty Staub.
Over the rest of his career (2 years in Montreal and a bunch of years in Baltimore, spanning 1,900 games), Ken hit a highly solid .285/.390/.440, with a total career of 246 HRs and 1,065 RBIs.
He actually walked more than he fanned (1,263 BBs, 1,246 Ks). Try doing THAT in today's game.
In his last game as a Met in 1971, let me add, he hit 2 HRs. One of them was truly titanic - a bolt high off the Shea Stadium scoreboard, hit so hard, it ricocheted back onto the playing field. (If anyone can find a video of it, I'd love to see it again).
Sadly, he would never play for the Mets again. But it sure was a WOW moment.
Coincidentally, his 4 ribbies that day helped Tom Seaver win his 20th, by a score of 6-1.
So which of the Mets' minor leaguers will give us WOW moments like those of Alonso, McNeil, Smith, Conforto...and Singleton...in 2021?
We'll soon find out if that individual can be Mark Vientos (hitless in his first 2 AA games), Ronny Mauricio, Brett Baty, Francisco Alvarez (4 hits and a walk in his low A debut), or someone else. That's why they play the games, folks.
Will, for instance, Desmond Lindsay stay healthy and hit with a vengeance? (In 2 games, he is striking out with a vengeance, though).
Will Pete Crow-Armstrong sizzle and rise like a bottle rocket? Well, he's been on base 8 times in 2 games, so you tell me.
How about David Rodriguez, who hit nearly .400 in winter ball?
Will Quinn Brodey hit so well, we'll forget the Brodey of seasons past? (Brodey has still to get in a game, though, after two games. Why? Not sure, but that doesn't seem good.)
It's SHOWTIME, fellas. My tip to all hitters? Hit better than Lindor.
Of course, I have not seen Greg Guerrero anywhere, so is he fading to the sunset? The one Guerrero who can't play this d...n game?
Of course there are pitchers, too. Who will we be raving about? Tylor Megill (great opening day start with 10 Ks in 5 IP), Tom Szapucki, Matt Allan, JT Ginn?
How about Josh Walker, with 5 no hit innings and 8 Ks in Brooklyn’s High A opener? Hey Josh, why not 15 Ks, huh, buddy? Just kidding, great job.
We’ll soon find out.
P.S. Why was Singleton traded?
I don't know, personally. One fan wrote long ago on another site about Singleton's trade from the Mets as follows - any idea if that perspective was true?
"The real reason the Mets put him in the Staub package was because he had a white wife, and to M. Donald Grant and his crew of racists, particularly in 1971, during the big days of the Black Panthers, that was forbidden. (look what they did to Cleon Jones)."
Sadly that's probably true like the reason they chose Chilcott over a brash young player named Jackson. I'll always wonder what a good FO could have done with that 69' team going forward and that amazing pitching staff...ah the thing of dreams.
ReplyDeleteTo me this early, it seems obvious that Alvarez will be this year's organizational darling.
ReplyDeleteI expect him to quickly move up and end the season in AA-Binghamton.
Mack, I think there's room for two darlings. The other? Pete Crow (can't keep me off base) Armstrong. There's something about that kid.
ReplyDeleteOne guy who is my dark horse guy is Jose Peroza - I call him Baty Without A Bonus. So far, he is 4 for 11 with 2 doubles. Not sure how good a 3B he is, but it seems he is a real hitter.
Of course, my pitching darkhorse star is Tylor Megill. Jake deGrom was once a dark horse, too. He worked out all right. I think Megill will, too.
Gary, not picking Reggie Jackson changed the arc of this franchise forever. Most of the 1970's, the Mets suffered a dearth of hitting. Reggie would have made such a difference for those great run-starved pitchers. Maybe we keep Ryan because we don't decide we need more offense.
ReplyDeleteImagine a foursome like Seaver, Koosman, Matlack and Ryan throughout the 1970s? With Reggie? Boggles the mind.
I hate the tendency to place a racist tag on everything involving a Black player that does go our way.
ReplyDeleteRDS, I don't even know if that was true - it was just one fan's opinion, written at an undetermined time. I too do not like this tendency. Back then it could have been true. I can't much tolerate that trend, either.
ReplyDeleteStaub was considered to be a missing link. Tim Foli and Jorgensen were also included. No one thought it was a bad trade at the time. Singleton bloomed several years later.
ReplyDelete