Tom Brennan - Luke Ritter, Overachiever; Mets Debacles

Some guys, I just write off. For one reason or another. Too many Ks. Too low an OBP. Too little pop. Can’t field a lick. Or some combo of the 4.

Fortunately, some of those guys don’t give me no mind.  They just strive to get better.

Take for instance, Luke Ritter, who I had frankly written off before, as someone with decent power but oodles of strikeouts. Why?

In 2022, he hit .204, including just .160 over 26 AAA games. Considering he was almost 26 when 2022 ended, things to me for him looked bleak, and 165 Ks in 124 games last year was a show-stopper. Not a stolen base threat, either.

But the past is the past…he continued to play. Believed in himself.

So, how is Luke doing this year? 

Well, let’s look and find out, shall we?

As it turns out, if I had a quiz question for you, as to who has a higher 2023 on base percentage, Ronnie Mauricio, Jeff, McNeil, Brandon Nimmo, or Luke Ritter, who wins that foursome competition? 

Well, the answer is obvious – Luke Ritter, at .384.

Ritter, through Thursday, had been up 333 times in AA and AAA, with a quite notable 23 HRs and 56 RBIs, while hitting .249, and has hit .257 over an extended number of AAA games, while maintaining a .381 OBP there.  And much higher than .257 the past few months.

His K rate has dropped, too, with “just” 63 in 55 AAA games. Well, 63 in 226 plate appearances is still too high, but clearly trending better. His. OBP and slug %’s are up a whopping 73 points and 128 points, respectively, this year.

Best of all, he has surged in June, July, and August, after a lousy April and May. (Well, not completely lousy…despite a .200 average those two months, he also got on base 37 times in 41 games via walk or HBP).

A solid .285 with 15 HRs in 57 games after May. Impressive.

Defense is GOOD and versatile.

Six errors in the field this year in 97 games, mostly at 2B, 3B, and 1B. Pretty darned good. 

Some OF experience, too, though mostly in college. No catching.

.261/.452/.594 vs. lefties in 2023 indicates a hitting v. lefties specialist may be in the budding.

Keep it up, Luke. You’re not there yet, I suspect, but I had you wrong. 

You’re closer.

FYI - 7th rounder in 2019 who, like every other minor leaguer perceived as getting older, aging out, had his development slowed by cancelled 2020. 

So, while he’s 26 - don’t write him off like I did. He might be ready at 27 to play for a rebuilding Mets team to play some sort of a role, perhaps as a utility man with pop.

METS DEBACLE: 

3 games vs. Atlanta. If not for a single swing, a 3 run HR by Vogelbach, they were outscored 34-0. 1962 was better than this.

I have a few more drafted articles teed up that will run over the next 10 days. If they’re taking off the rest of the season, I will too. It’ll be another lost Mets decade, let’s not kid ourselves. I just recently retired, time to shift my focus onto more productive things.

Before I go today, in the minors, one Mets minors team surrendered 20 runs, 2 gave up 10, and 1 coughed up 8.  Good grief.

Christian Scott and a pitcher named Thomas combined for a AA one hitter, a ray of sun in a solar eclipse. The sun won’t come out tomorrow in Metsville.