I thought it might be interesting to recall which Mets farmhands played in Cactus Land in the AFL in 2017, 2018, and 2019, how they did, and their status now. (2020's AFL was canceled, as a reminder).
2017
A year where pitchers excelled, but of them, only Tim Peterson reached the Mets, with brief, uneven results.
How’d they do in AZ? Fall ball stats are alongside names.
T. Peterson 1-0, 0.87, 10.1 IP, 0.77 WHIP
M. Jannis 1-3, 2.33, 27 IP, 1.04 WHIP
K. Regnault 0-1, 0.71, 12.2 IP, 0.95 WHIP. He went 12-1 in 2016-18 in the minors, then was done. Strange game.
M. Pobereyko 0-0, 0.00, 11.2 IP, 0.69 WHIP. Despite a 7-7, 3.24 minors record in relief, with a 1.13 WHIP and nearly 12 Ks per 9, the now-Marlins 29 year old farmhand has not made the big leagues.
HITTERS?
D.Thompson 19 for 58, .328/.371/.569 (his highest level to date = AAA)
K.Kaczmarski 27-77, .351/.393/.442 (retired, perhaps prematurely, considering that Cameron Maybin and Albert Almora Jr. combined in 2021 to go an incomprehensible 7 or 80 with an even more incomprehensible zero RBIs. Kevin no doubt would have done better.)
L. Guillorme 13-45, .289/.333/.356
T. Nido 9-49, .184/.250/.327
Interesting how the last two underperformed compared to the prior two, but only the last two made the Mets, both for their perceived defensive acumen. (In fairness, Luis is adept at getting on base too).
2018
Pitchers have either not made the majors, or made it barely:
G. Bautista 1-1, 2.38, 11.1 IP, 1.15 WHIP
M. Blackham 0-1, 2.70, 10 IP, 1.80 WHIP (latter always an issue with him, due to high walk rate)
J. Zanghi 0-1, 4.50, 10 IP, 1.30 WHIP
S. Nogosek 0-0, 3.68, 7.1 IP, 2.05 WHIP
HITTERS?
A guy then named Peter, now known as Pete, got most of the Mets’ hitters’ ABs, understandably:
P. Alonso 25-98, .255/.339/.510, 6 HR, 27 RBIs (giving him 146 RBIs for that season in the minors).
D. Lindsay 8-28, .286/.355/.643. Why did he crater in 2021 is a good question, for which I lack an answer.
A. Gimenez 6-48, .125/.250/.292 - young for that level.
A. Sanchez 3-25, .120/.241/.160. Ali floated like a butterfly, hit like a butterfly, too.
The latter two repeated the AFL in 2019 with stronger results.
2019
3 rising talents, and a few others have made the bigs, but in a lesser way:
D. Peterson 0-1, 3.46, 13 IP, 2.00 WHIP…capping off a tough season, in which he totaled 129 innings and won just 3 games - but that lack of success in 2019 meant little in his successful Mets 2020 debut season, in which he went 6-2.
Blake Taylor 0-1, 2.00, 9 IP, 0.78 WHIP, capping off a fine minor league campaign. Shoulda kept the now-Astro, who is 6-5, 2.84 in 73 MLB outings..
R. Gilliam 0-0, 0.96, 9.1 IP, 1.07 WHIP. His last success in pitching, leaving one to wonder if there is Ryley hope for 2022?
J. Humphreys 1-0, 0.77, 11.2 IP, 1.03 WHIP. He was looking strong back in 2019, after his late season return from TJS that year, but 2021 was unking to Jordan, at least until August, when he threw a handful of solid relief outings in AA.
HITTERS?
Gimenez and Sanchez hit much better the second time around.
A. Gimenez 26-70, .371/.413/.586. Strong 2020 Mets debut, now an Clevelander.
A. Sanchez 11-42, .262/.347/.310. Briefly a Cardinal so far.
P. Mazeika 8-46, .174/.208/.239 - lots of catchers make it despite offensive struggles. Patrick is one of them. You get to the majors and pull in some big league paychecks, it makes all that squatting worth it.
L. Carpio 6-32, .188/.278/.250. Never panned out as a hitter - yet.
Takeaways?
All AFL-participating Mets since 2017 have been talented, with some being stars (like Peter-turned-Pete) and other guys more as filler, at least until proven otherwise.
Brett Baty in 2021 is definitely expected to vie for the Star category in 2022 or 2023 (how much of that in the major leagues remains to be seen).
We will also see in 2022 whether Brian Metoyer proves to be a pen arm more like Blake Taylor than Matt Blackham.
Lastly, some hitters had fine AFL seasons in the past, but haven’t made it, while others did not hit well in the AFL, but made the majors. I am betting Carlos Cortes falls into the latter category. Whether that happens with the Mets or elsewhere, since he was not added to the 40 man, only time will tell.
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