The Mack Report - Wednesday, June 29th

 

A thought about developing prospects. 

Sometimes, this game seems easy. Draft one of the top players on the board or sign a top International free agent to a $2mil bonus and let them shine. 

There are always duds like Steve Chilcott (wow, two days in a row I used that name), but it’s the Jake deGrom’s you draft in the 9^th round, or Jeff McNeil in the 12^th, that show you never know what’s going to happen some day. 

Well, we just may be developing two more that both Tom and I have written about this year. 

Brandon McIlwain was drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 26^th round. So far through Monday, he has hit .307/.396/.484/.880 for combined Brooklyn and Binghamton. He’s an outfielder, which is sorely needed in our chain. 

Junior Tilien was a cheap International free agent. He is 19 years old. 

Also through Monday, he is hitting  .260/.317/.466/.783 for St. Lucie, He also has hit 7-HRs in 131-AB. Tilien plays all three infield positions, but his best play going forward would be as a second baseman. 

In my opinion…. and I think I can speak for Tom here also… these are two developing chips that we can add to a developing solid talent pool below the surface. 

Also, we should add at least four more in the draft this year. 

 

Now, let’s continue out talks about expiring contracts. 

Today, we look at the Cincinnati Reds.

 

IF Donovan Solano has been out most of this season with a nagging hamstring issue, and was recently activated. So far this season, he has hit 0.2-WAR, .375 in 16-ABs. Last year, he hit .280 for the Giants, wit 7-HR. Solano is being paid $4.5mil this seasonand is a free agent in 2023.

 

RF Tyler Naquin has hit 0.5-WAR, .255 in 137-ABs this season, with five home runs. He was placed on the IL earlier this moth with a quad strain and isn’t expected back for awhile.

Naquin makes $4.025 this season and will be a free agent in 2023.

 

LHRP Ross Detwiller has produced a 0.3-WAR, 0-2, 2.89-ERA in 12 appearances this season. He is currently active and is being paid

 

 

If we are talking about prospects that the Mets should draft at 1.1, we really need to spend a few paragraphs on Brock Porter.   

@BrockPorter10 

Brock Porter is a 19-year old, 6-4/210 RHP, out of Orchard Lake St. Mary’s HS in Michigan. 

He was a strong commitment to Clemson, but the recent firing of the man who recruited him (head coach Monte Lee) changes all that. 

He also is probably gone when the Mets pick at 1.11, and definitely picked before they pick again at 1.14. So, if the Mets are lucky enough for him to still be on the board when they are on the clock, they need to move fast on this guy. 

MLB.com says about Porter: 

Scouting grades: Fastball: 70 | Curveball: 50 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 60 | Control: 50 | Overall: 55 

Porter helped pitch St. Mary's Prep (Orchard Lake) to Michigan Division 2 state titles in each of his first two high school seasons and won Gatorade's 2021 state player of the year award after going 12-0 with a 0.56 ERA and 126 strikeouts in 62 1/3 innings as a junior. He's the best prospect on one of the most talented high school rosters in the country and has perhaps the highest ceiling among arms in the 2022 prep class.  

Porter has the best fastball in the high school crop, sitting at 94-97 mph for innings at a time, topping out at 100 and generating that velocity and plenty of armside run and carry with relative ease. He also owns one of the better changeups in the Draft, as he throws his with deceptive arm speed, good velocity separation in the low 80s and outstanding horizontal action. He has made encouraging progress with his slider this spring, flashing some plus slide pieces as hard as 87 mph, and he'll mix in a downer curveball in the upper 70s. 

Other than continuing to refine his feel for spin, Porter doesn't need much beyond experience and continued good health. He has a strong 6-foot-4 frame with some projection remaining, repeats a delivery that features little effort and provides plenty of strikes. He's committed to Clemson and would be Draft-eligible in 2024 as a sophomore if he doesn't turn pro this summer.

 

Brian Sakowski @B_Sakowski_PG 

Confirmed that UCONN LHP Reggie Crawford has entered the transfer portal. Huge left arm, triple digits on Cape last summer, missed ‘22 with TJ and still a big time draft target next month. Still, very notable name. 

                        Zack Silverman @ZackSilverman18 

Ready for a mind blowing stat? In 2021, Reggie Crawford only faced 53 batters combined between UConn, the CNT, and the Cape. He struck out 29 (54.7%!) and walked just four. 

Mack - Crawford hasn’t pitched much over the past three seasons, but, when he did, he was lights out. He also plays a credible first base. I would scoop him up if he was still on the board when we picked in the second round. 

 

Prospects1500  featured a Mets minor league this week in their weekly tribute to those that do well: 

Triple-A 

HITTER: Travis Blankenhorn, 2B/OF (Mets #18) 

Syracuse Mets (6 G, .600/.680/1.050/1.730, 12 H, 3 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 6 R, 5 BB, 3 SB) 

International League Player of the Week! 

Blankenhorn profiles as a guy that fits the bill as a “quad A” type player. He might be too good for Triple-A but is not quite a regular, productive major leaguer. The positives are that he hits from the left side, can play 3-4 positions adequately, and has hit pretty well in the highest level of the minors. The negative is that he hasn’t done any of those things at a good enough level to distinguish himself from his peers. Plus he is blocked from getting consistent AB on the current Mets MLB roster. Let’s just celebrate his strong week and hope he can eventually find a chance to get semi-regular AB as a bat-first utility-type guy.

TOM CHIMES IN:

Mets were behind 9-0 in the 5th.  Not looking good.  Still 9-0 in the 8th.  Carrasco bad, Shreve badder, and Williams better.  No doubt, Mets fans are bewildered, bothered, and bored.

MINORS MISMATCHES AND MISCUES:

St Lucie trailed by 4 after 1, but had their opponent right where they wanted them, exploding late for an 8-5 win.  Tilien 2 hits, 2 RBIs; Justin Guerrera hit his 6th; and Carlos Do..MIN..guez had 2 hits and 2 Ks. De Los Santos was 1 for 5 with 4 Ks. Ramirez had a hit and 2 walks. 16th rounder Trey McLoughlin won in relief (3-2).

Binghamton down 6-1 after 7 innings.  The heating-back-up Wyatt Young had 2 hits and an RBI.  Chacin (6.91 ERA) took the loss. Baty hit his 8th to make it 6-2, and walked twice, while Alvarez fanned 3 times.  1-2-3 9th and a 6-2 mismatch.

Brooklyn had 2 runs, 2 hits, and 2 errors through the first 7 innings.  One more hit, and it was 9 innings, 3 hits for the Recyclones. Junior Santos got off to a bad start and took the loss (3-7, 4.58).  A 5-2 mismatch. 

Syracuse was up mid-game after scoring 4 catcher runs: Mazeika HR, 2 singles, and 2 RBIs, and Meyer pinch hit 2 run base hit. 

But Lehigh Valley pulled even in the 9th with 15 hits through 9. 

But recent signee and former MLB player Deven Marrero led off the 9th and scored the winning run on a hit by - you guessed it - Nick Meyer, his 3rd RBI of the night.  He is having a decent year in Syracuse - maybe if Nido falters, he will get the nod.  Blazing Blankenhorn 2 more hits (.276).