It’s Good to root for Dark Horse Prospects - Here Are Five
I laid out my Top 20 Mets prospects over the past several days.
I hope it elicited a minimum of 20 smiles from you.
I am not going lower than that 20 ranking this year. in terms of ranking guys. Personal choice to not do so.
But the next 5 guys (not meant necessarily to be my 21-25) are guys I will continue to root hard for.
Why? Because fans have favorites. And I’m a fan, just like you are.
I am much impressed by, and hopeful, regarding these 5 players:
Jose Peroza - a guy who I'd once considered a real rival to Brett Baty, but then, when Peroza faltered over the first 3 months in High A in 2022, I wondered if he had hit his ceiling. At the end of June, Jose was hitting just .199. One point below the Peroza Line!
Then, July arrived. So, suddenly, did his bat.
From July 1 onwards, 71 for 210 (.338). Wow.
He went from .199 to finish the season at .271, and then in 3 playoff games, stayed blistering hot, adding 5 hits, including 2 HRs, and 2 walks. Super Strong Finish. Way to go, Jose. Good glove, too.
2023? AA IF starter. I expect very good things.
William Lugo - a cruddy St Lucie April, but after that, the 20 year old IF had 13 HRs and 56 RBIs and hit .270 in St Lucie and Brooklyn. You go, Lugo! If Seth Lugo could make it big, why can't a Lugo named William? Maybe he starts out in Brooklyn in 2023 and gets an early promo to AA?
Matt Rudick - “Matt, may I call you Matt? C’mon, admit it, Matt, you were hitting-lousy until early August.
“Starting August 10, though, you started spraying a whole lot of hits and drawing a whole lot of walks, helping catalyze the Cyclones pennant surge as their lead off hitter.”
Rudick finished STRONG at .249 with 70 runs scored, and 48 walks in 90 games.
Matt got on base 42 times in his last 19 August games, and 14 more times in his 9 September contests. Twice a game on average over his final 28 games…what’s not to LOVE there?
A truly solid .370 OBP career-to-date, despite the slow 2022 start.
The clock is ticking, as you are 24, so you as a lefty hitting 13th rounder in 2021 need to pick up in 2023 right where you left 2022 - HOT!
With 99 career errorless games in the outfield, 17 steals in 111 games, and no similarly talented Jake Mangum ahead of you to block you any longer, it’s time to add some more muscle to that 5’9”, 170 frame and dazzle. AA awaits you in 2023, maybe AAA too.
Daison Acosta - started miserably in 2022: the now-24 year old righty sat at 0-6, 9.29 ERA on June 15.
Nails were being driven into the career coffin. The pallbearers stood by.
From then thru season’s end, though, he went 5-0 while giving up very few runs, including no runs allowed in his last 11 outings, and dropped his ERA to 4.84. Very Jekyll and Hyde year.
Add in a perfect inning of relief in the playoffs? All equals a strong rebound. Ended up 10 of 12 in saves, too. AA awaits, a chance to show the strong finish to 2022 was not a fluke.
Omar de Los Santos - anyone who can steal 70 bases in 111 games has a mighty attractive tool. He also put up an Agee-like .271/.339/.459 slash line.
One teeny, tiny, slightly HUGE problem, though - it involves a little letter that falls between I and L …151 Ks in 111 games in low A in 2022. Far too many swishes for a 23 year old in a league as low as low A ball.
Huge fix is needed there…can he pull it off?
I only ask because you can’t steal first base.
That’s my Dark Horse list heading into 2023.
TOP 7 HITTERS AFTER THE ALL STAR BREAK? (Majors and Minors)
1) JOSE PEROZA (Hi A): 48 games, .345/.437/.517 - but he is not in the Mets' top 30. Funny....he's in mine. And...just 7 errors in 106 games at 2nd and 3rd in 2022, while stud Brett Baty made 15 errors in 72 AAA games at 3rd base - "yeah, Jose's definitely not top 30, you're right, whatever am I thinking. DUH!"
2) JEFF MCNEIL: 70 games, .349/.395/.485 - heck of a run, but Jose's raw stats (albeit at a lower level) were better.
3) WYATT YOUNG (AA): yeah, him again. Annoying, huh? Also not in Mets Top 30 (funny, he's in mine), but...45 G, .292/.425/.441. On base constantly, and hey, for a diminutive dude, a .441 slug %? What??
4) PETE ALONSO: 71 G, .281/.371/.521, 54 RBIs. And his biggest stat: $14.5 million.
5) FRANCISCO LINDOR: 72 G, .295/.367/.473
6) MARK VIENTOS: 51 G, .292/.367/.497; kind of similar to Lindor's slash #s.
7) EDUARDO ESCOBAR: 55 G, .276/.333/.503 (wait, could Correa do that?)
You readers are great before the All Star Break, after it, and during the off-season. True #1's.
11 comments:
Great info and very well done.
Tom, you do this better than anyone else online.
Thanks, Mack.
I tripped across that 2nd half page on BB Reference. I put much more weight in the minors into 2nd half performance. Young guys are not machines, they can shake things off and get rolling.
In that regard, Jose Peroza and Wyatt Young are overlooked? Why? The numbers speak for themselves.
Similarly, everyone looks at full season Escobar, but that was a fine overall second half.
It was s few years ago I was excited about Daison Acosta. Was told he was an absolute work in progress so needed a ton of development
Glen Coves Own Tom Suozzi is my player to be watched if he gets the opportunity to play more than he has. He has showed to be a player with both power and speed.
Zozo
Zozo, Joe Suozzi held his own last year, and hopefully won't spend much more time in the hitters' horror show park in Brooklyn. He has to do better to climb higher.
Acosta for sure seemed to be figuring it out in the second half, reinforcing my point that it is far more telling to see how a guy's last few months go than his first few months - which is one of the reasons I keep hyping Montes de Oca. He fanned 53 in his last 27 innings in AAA and with the Mets, and he wasn't fanning them at that rate in the first half, so he figured something out.
Original Met Frank Thomas dead at 93. RIP.
I was a bit young to remember him much, but his 34 HRs and 94 RBIs that first season were both Mets records that stood for many years until Clendenon and Kingman surpassed him years later. Those two records would have been utterly embarrassing for this Mets team for years, had Thomas not done what he did in 1962.
Lol Joe, Tom is his father,
Zozo
The information provided is good. I can do without the attempts at humor.
Thanks for the comment, but the humors stays. It’s my style.
Isn't it time to project what affiliates will have
which players this season?
I usually have some idea, but for 2023 I'm clueless.
Soon on projecting what affiliates get which minor leaguers. Some time in Feb.
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