Mack - Random Thoughts - Under-slots, Alex Ramirez, Current Top Prospects, Mets Pitching

 

Morning.

 

1. There is a ton of talent in this year’s draft and the Mets have (at least) five picks in the top 100 slots. 

They have a chance to score big here, but it will take a little creativity to pull it off. 

Under slotting. 

This is when you purposely draft someone that you will only offer a signing bonus far below the amount assigned for that pick. This gives you the opportunity to over slot at least one of your other four picks in the first five. 

The best players to chose here are college seniors. There is no place for them to go and you can offer them in the 20K range and they have no choice but to sign. 

One the Mets should consider here is Auburn first baseman Sonny DiChiara. 

DiChiara is currently leading all of college baseball with a .452 batting average. He also has belted 11 homers and has a full stat line of .452/.595/.496. 

Hey Steve… 

 

2.   We talk all day about “the big 5”… Alvarez, Baty, Mauricio, Vientos, Allan”… but lurking not far behind is a kid that could turn out more successful than all of them. 

19-year old outfielder, Alexander (Alex) Ramirez was signed by the Mets out of the Dominican Republic and given a $2.05 million dollar bonus in the 2019-2020 International signing period. 

He went straight from the 2020 Instruction League to Low-A St. Lucie where, at 18-year old, debuts with an impressive .258/.326/.384, 5-HR, 16-steals stat line. 

This year , for the same St. Lucie team, the center fielder is off the charts, hitting (through 4-13) .571, with a whopping 1.435-OPS. 

My guess he will be transferred to Brooklyn for the second part of this season. 

Don’t forget this guy. 

 

3. Hey draft nerds… 

Here are the current (through 4-13) top names that are college leaders in certain stats: 

James Madison outfielder, Chase DeLauder, is currently ranked 4^th in college, with a .437 batting average. He is current on the shelf for the next 3-4 weeks due to an injury. 

Boston College first baseman, Luke Gold, is tied for 4^th  with 16 doubles in 33 games. 

Texas first baseman, Ivan Martinez, leads the nation with 16 home runs (in 36 games). Georgia Tech catcher, Kevin Parada, is tied for 2^nd with 15 in 34 games. 

Tennessee senior, Trey Lipsomb, is tied for 3^rd with 51- RBIs (in 33 games). 

Campbell pitcher, Thomas Harrington, is 14^th with a 1.36-ERA (53-IP). 

Florida State Parker Messick is tied for the nation lead with 80-Ks (48.2-IP). Cal Poly’s Drew Thorpe also had 50, in 56-1-IP. San Diego’s Brycen Mautz was raked 4^th  (78 in 481-IP), Oregon State’s Cooper Hjerpe was in 5^th  (77 in 47.2) and Campbell’s Thomas Harrington was in 7^th with 75 in 53 innings pitched. 

 

4.      I know the sample is quite low, but no Mets fan could have predicted the way this team’s pitching has started. And I do mean started. Without Jake. Who da thunk it? 

I have two thoughts on this right now. 

First, we just may be developing a couple of very good young starters, with  a ton of team control left, in Trevor McGill and David Peterson. Wouldn’t the future of this team look so much brighter if they both could produce years of acceptable results? No pressure to extend Jake in the 40-50mil/year range. 

Secondly, I do have concerns about Seth Lugo and Sean Reid-Foley. Lugo really hasn’t been the Lugo we loved for quite some time. And I really thought SRF would produce more than he currently has. 

My hopes it that, if Megill and Peterson keep producing positive outings, we can permanently move some of our marginal starters to the pen and help out here.