Tom Brennan - Which Mets’ Rookie Leagues Dudes Had Interesting Seasons?

One hopes for little Mets guppies to someday turn into piranhas.

You generally can't get too excited about how guys in the lower recesses of the organization do until they play in the higher recesses.

The "lower recesses" being the Florida Complex League (FCL), seemingly of the talent level of the old Gulf Coast and Kingsport Mets teams before rookie ball teams were jettisoned in 2020, and the Dominican Summer League (DSL) Mets teams, stocked with very young kids.

Too many guys over the years hit or pitched like stars at these levels - but utterly sputtered when moving northwards.

Former Met Vicente Lupo is an example.  In 2012, he put up a .343/.500/.608 slash line in the DSL - but fanned like a sweltering mama at higher levels and never made it past Low A.

In 2021, just as one example, Omar De Los Santos was 12 for 28 with 3 HRs for the St Lucie Mets Complex League team, then got promoted to St Lucie Low A ball, and has hit .241 with no homers over many more at bats with a 50-7 K to BB ratio, so the lower recesses stats of a player may not at all be what might follow at the upper recesses.

So, moving on, there was only one guy of interest to me hitting-wise at the FCL level, Carlos Dominguez, a CF with some speed, who hit a 2nd best in the league 10 HRs in 46 games, along with 8 other XBHs.  He was 5th in the league in slugging % too.  

The 21 year old was not promoted to St Lucie...my guess is he starts there next season.  He played in 2019 and had 6 HRs in limited at bats, so there seems to be some real power there.  His FCL strikeouts somewhat exceeded one per game, which he will have to address.  6'1", 190.

One FCL guy who probably flunked his final exam?  Greg Guerrero. 

Signed for big money several years ago, and now 22, he hit a meager .220 in 100 ABs in the FCL.  My guess is he has had injury issues galore and cannot shake them.  My second guess?  He is finished in baseball.

Wyatt Young is a 15th round Hawaiian-born lefty-hitting 2B/SS who GOT IT DONE in the FCL this short season.  He hit .370 with a .426 OBP in 101 plate appearances.  Outstanding debut, albeit without a HR to his credit.  He did have 6 doubles and a triple.  Only 3 errors, too.  Best Wyatt I know since the great law-and-order chap Wyatt Earp guarded the Wild West.  May Wyatt Young remain in St Lucie in 2022 - with a nice promotion to Low A ball.

Pitching-wise, Daniel Juarez, a 5'11" lefty, had truly interesting statistical results. 2-1, 2.76, 11 hits in 29 innings, and 44 Ks in the FCL.  He started out in the DSL in 2019 and now has 97 Ks in 63 pro innings.  He did walk 18 this year, in which he mostly relieved in his 16 outings.  Has to be headed up to Low A in 2022.

In the DSL, 19 year old lefty Javier Atencio was 1-2, 2.08 with a scintillating 66 Ks in 39 innings and a 0.90 WHIP.  Of course, he is only 1-2.  He's a Met, after all.

Joel Diaz, 0-1 in 12 starts, has an 0.23 ERA (take that, Jake deGrom), 0.74 WHIP and 50 Ks in 39 innings.  Of course, he's 0-1.  He's a Met.

Jorge deLeon and Jawilme Ramirez pitched well, too.  deLeon had a 1.89 ERA, 48 Ks in 38 innings, and was 0-3, naturally - he's a Met.  Ramirez, 4-5, 1.58 and a little better than a K per inning.

DSL Mets hitters? No doubt why the aforementioned 4 pitchers combined to go 5-11.  The two DSL teams scraped bottom as they "hit" .209 and .201, so the short answer about DSL hitters of note, is NONE.  

Astonishingly, in a league with many, many (well over 30) teams, the 2 Mets' squads are second to last and last in RBIs, and that .201 is the worst average in the league.  Love our talent scouts, don't you? They use the eenie-meenie-minee-mo method of evaluating potential talent to sign.

Anyway, some names to file deep in your memory banks.  Maybe one or two will rise up and climb through the minors.