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7/12/22

The Mack Report - Tuesday, July 12th

 



Kramer Robertson and Patrick Mazeika have arrived in Flushing as reinforcements. 

I assume that Robertson was sent there in case Sterling Marte had to go on the IL. Now that Marte has been designated day-to-day, we may never see this guy on the field. Still, here’s a small review on KB: 

Robertson is a 27-year old RHH infielder that can  play all three field positions. In 2017, St. Louis drafted him in the 4th round, out of LSU. 

His 2022 (and career) majors stat line is: -0.1-WAR, 1-AB, .000 

So far this season, for AAA-Syracuse, Robertson has 33 at-bats and has hit .212. 

 

There are a few players we need to start watching that play for either the FCL Mets, in the Florida Complex, or both DSL teams in the Dominican Republic. 

One would be 19/year old, 6-3, 220 RHRP, Layonel Ovalles. 

Ovalles was signed as an international free agent, out of the Domincan Republic. 

He pitched for both DSL teams last year and posted a combined stat line of: 12-G, 6-starts, 0-2, 2.83, 35-IP, 34-K. 

This season, he has exclusively came out of the pen and, after 7-outings, has posted a 1-2 record, with a 2.50-ERA, and put up 29 strikeouts in 18 innings pitched. 

Tom particularly has targeted this guy early on. 

 

Next up, the draft is less than a week away. 

We continue our search for the Mets 90th pick in the 3rd round this year. Second up as one of the players that might still be on the board here: 

Michael Kennedy is a 17/year old 6-1/205 LHP, out of Troy HS (NY). 

MLB. Com says this about Kennedy: 

Scouting grades: 

Fastball: 55 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 55 | Overall: 45 

Upstate New York may not seem like a place to look for high-end baseball talent, but in the last several years, scouts have found some, from catcher Joe Mack, taken at the end of the first round in 2021 to Ian Anderson, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2016 Draft. The top talent from the area in 2022 is Kennedy, a young lefty with projection and a really good feel to pitch. That was on display across the summer, landing him a spot on USA Baseball’s 18U National Team and helping him stand out at events like the Area Code Games. He was slowed a bit early with a non-arm injury, but threw well once he got going in mid-April. 

Kennedy has a solid three-pitch mix and a very advanced idea of how to use it. The 6-foot-1 southpaw doesn’t light up radar guns now, with a fastball that tops out at 92 mph, but it has good riding life up in the zone, he hides it well and he’s not afraid to go after hitters with it. He’ll miss bats consistently with his slider, a breaking ball he will throw in the upper-70s more often than not. He’s not afraid to throw his changeup to lefties and righties, thrown around 81 mph with good arm speed and deception. 

A good athlete who exudes confidence on the mound, Kennedy holds runners well and repeats his delivery consistently, leading to excellent overall command. There’s more in the tank to come as he physically matures and that, along with the fact he’ll still be 17 at Draft time, should add interest in this LSU recruit. 

Mack - The Mets love local players in the later rounds. 

 

Draft Tweets - 

Jon Heyman @JonHeyman 

Braves acquire 35th pick in MLB draft from Royals for OF prospect Drew Waters snd 2 more prospects

 

digs - 

(I created DIGS to get closer to a "true talent" score for single starts, but the metric does a lot more than that. Using what I call Advantage (similar to B-R's and FanGraphs' runs above average metric), I can convert DIGS into a WAR score. Like the base score, Advantage is adjusted so league WAR totals closely match those posted for each season on FanGraphs. And since the DIGS formula closely resembles the FIP formula, individual WAR scores are often very close to their fWAR counterparts. In fact, I compared WARs for over 125 starters in 2019, and the correlation (r^2) was .922. That's a very reliable trend!)

 

D1 BaGS | OF (Power 5)

 

1. Gavin Cross VTU

2. Dylan Crews LSU

3. Jud Fabian FLA

4. Vance Honeycutt UNC

5. Chris Alleyne UMD

6. Enrique Bradfield Jr VAN

7. Brock Jones STAN

8. Jacob Melton ORST

9. Davone Brown NCST

10. Wyatt Lanford FLA

11. Dylan Rock TAMU

12. Joe Lampe ASU

 

D1 ISO+BB Leaders

 

1. Max Wagner CLEM .610

2. Luke Franzoni XAV .598

3. Ivan Melendez TEX .597

4. Michael Carico DVD .590

5. Sonny DiChiara AUB .560

6. Tyler Locklear VCU .537

7. Dalton Rushing ULV .536

8. Jud Fabian FLA .534

9. Matt Coutney ODU .529

10. Brett Johnson SIUE .517

 

Top D1 1B, by BaGS:

 

1. Ivan Melendez @TexasBaseball

2. Sonny DiChiara @AuburnBaseball

3. Nick Kurtz @WakeBaseball

4. Matt Coutney @ODUBaseball

5. Andrew Jenkins @GTBaseball

 

Top D1 Catchers, by BaGS:

 

1. Kevin Parada @GTBaseball 73.4

2. Dalton Rushing @LouisvilleBSB 69.3

3. Tatem Levins @Pitt_BASE 66.8

4. Michael Carico @DavidsonBASE 66.8

5. Brendan Tinsman @WakeBaseball 

 

Other tweets - 

Michael Mayer @mikemayer22 

Baseball America updated their Top 100 list. Three Mets are on it: 

6. Francisco Álvarez -up from 10

31. Brett Baty - up from 36

91. Alex Ramirez- previously unranked 

Ronny Mauricio no longer on list. 

 

Lastly, hospital visits for both me and Mrs. Mack will prevent me from giving you a report tomorrow or Thursday. Just my luck during pre-draft week. 

We will be back Friday morning.

  

8 comments:

  1. Mazeika will get some ABs and some work with the Mets while Alvarez continues trying to figure out AAA pitching. Hope that comes soon.
    The Robertson call-up is curious, as we already have an infielder that can play multiple positions hitting .216 (EE). How many do you need on an MLB club?

    Best wishes to you and the misses today, Mack!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks guys.

    In Charleston now during Mrs. Mack's first of three appointments. Then on to best Chinese Peking duck in the city

    ReplyDelete
  3. Friday and Saturday's report will be dominated with pre draft stuff

    Be ready with your questions.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Best wishes on the hospital sojourn, Mack.

    Boy, the front office faces a challenge to get this draft right. So many tools. WIth hitters, it is simple in one sense: draft guys who don't fan a lot. Because in pro ball, strikeouts are at epidemic proportions.

    Braves trade for 35th pick - something new under CBA?

    Hopefully Layonel turns into a Walter Johnson "Layonel Big Train."

    Amazing that Mauricio was dropped out of the top 100 despite his power and RBI numbers. I guess his low OBP and lack of defensive acumen is a real negative.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tom

      The good news about this draft is that it is 50+ strong in great talent and another 100 players would instantly qualify in my book as BLUE prospects

      You can't miss with 2 picks out of the first 15.

      I also think we will draft 4 great prospects in the 4 pucks we have in the top 100

      Delete
  5. All our thoughts are with you and the Mrs. I have the same question: is trading picks in the new CBA finally? Why wouldn't they call up the guy who was named International League Player of the month? I know not on the 40 man well change it he's certainly worth a shot at least at DH.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gary, does a Blankenhorn make a sound if not on the 40 man roster? I wrote an article several weeks ago that it should be a 50 man roster during the season. If it was, Blankenhorn would have gotten a shot. It is restraint of opportunity.

    ReplyDelete