I LOOKED AT THE 2023 BROOKLYN SEASON.
WHAT DID I SEE?
Lots of players were promoted during 2023 from Brooklyn to Binghamton, and lots were promoted from St Lucie to Brooklyn. It is a Coney Island way station for many.
As always, my friends, I love power bats and power arms.
In Brooklyn, where long drives lose out to stiff winds, power gets muted, and home ERAs lowered. 2023 was no exception to the nullifying effects of home sweet home.
Away, Brooklyn hit 60 HRs in 65 games, .235.
At home, just 52 HRs in 66 games, .231.
Fairly close but, as always, worse in the wind-is-coming-in home park.
Pitching at home, a noteworthy 3.39.
Pitching on the road, a less worthy 4.11.
Pitchers love the wind coming in. A fourth outfielder, in effect.
Brooklyn strikeouts? They were a many-splendored thing…
1,326 Ks in 1,144 innings for the pitchers.
1,296 Ks for the hitters.
That is a lot of Ks.
Keep in mind that boatloads of Ks are not inevitable in Brooklyn’s league.
The since-promoted-on-merit Rhylan Thomas not only hit .341 in 39 games for them, he remarkably fanned JUST TEN TIMES in those 39 Cyclones games.
Omar De Los Santos can burn up the basepaths, with 37 swipes, but his K rate is career-threatening, at 144 Ks in 98 games. You do the math. Big fix is needed to survive.
Other K machines were Justin Guerrera who was cut by the organization after fanning 24 times in 36 at bats, and Jaylen Palmer fanned 92 times in 59 Brooklyn games, and 170 times overall in 119 games this year. Jaylen’s bat needs wood putty as, otherwise, Palmer has strong tools.
Palmer, who has been promoted to both AA and AAA recently, and has fanned 81 times in 55 games at those levels, so his K rate is career-threatening.
Catcher Drake Osborn hit more HRs per AB than Kevin Parada, with 11 in 234 ABs, but his .179 average is not career-enhancing. If he doubled that .179, he’d hit .358, which was what the great Rogers Hornsby hit for his career. Good defensively, so here’s hoping Drake can repair the hole in his bat.
Jett Williams had a .451 OBP for BC. It earned the rapid lad a rapid promo to AA.
Kevin Parada had 36 XBH in 340 Brooklyn ABs. Then he was promoted to AA, en route to a likely 2025 MLB promotion.
22 year old Stanley Consuegra’s 23 HRs were good for a tie for 2nd in the league in that regard. Wow.
He remarkably accomplished that in just 93 games. The league leader Abimelec Ortiz, amazingly crushed 28 in 80 games. In the Twins organization, remember that latter name. Probably a future MLB star.
Stanley, though, had 14 road HRs, where he hit .260. In Brooklyn, naturally, he hit just .198 with 9 HRs. To normalize his output, let’s project Stanley over 150 games on his road production rate - you get 51 HRs and .260.
Not shabby, huh? Strikeouts (113 in 97 games), though, have to improve.
Ryan Clifford probably got freaked in Brooklyn post-trade, hitting just .188 with 6 HRs and a very high 51 Ks in 32 games. But the 20 year old finished 2023 hitting .262 with 24 HRs and 81 RBIs in 115 total Mets and non-Mets games, with 140 Ks. Get him out of Brooklyn in 2024.
Alex Ramirez had an extremely disappointing season, with just 7 HRs in 457 at bats, and just .221 despite one 6 for 6 game. Stanley C, by comparison, hit 23 HRs in just 338 at bats.
If I could only pick one of the two, I go with Stanley. Sorry, Alex.
Jacob Reimer at age 19 struggled in his 25 games in Brooklyn, hitting .203, but with a .354 OBP. He won’t struggle when he’s 20. Trust me.
Pitching-wise, Blade Tidwell, Joander Suarez, Paul Gervase, Jace Beck, and Brendan Hardy fanned 393 hitters in just 272 Brooklyn innings. All but Beck got promote to AA. Beck got promoted to the surgeon’s table and needed TJS.
Tyler Stuart and Christian Scott pitched extremely well and got promoted to AA.
Pen-wise, Daniel Juarez pitched briefly, but extremely well, for BC before heading to AA. Ditto for Benito Garcia, who had a brilliant 4.1 IP debut in AA Saturday nite. A tidy 2.20 ERA this year at all levels for Garcia.
Quinn Brodey and Manny Rodriguez tried switching from being not-good-enough hitters to the pitching mound, but both were mediocre hurlers for that level and the switch experiment failed.
Quinn did fan 34 batters in 27 innings, and it was fun to watch him try - tough assignment to go straight to High A and pitch. Tip of cap.
So that’s my Brooklyn Cyclones synopsis, and I’m sticking to it.
BUTTO BRILLIANCE:
Six 4 hit, one run innings, 6 Ks - he's really stepping up. He wants that 2024 rotation slot. ND in 2-1 Mets win over Miami.
SQUIRREL SIGHTING:
Jeff McNeil with go-ahead HR (10) in the 9th. He is hitting like a Squirrel again. 7 of his 10 HRs after the ASB.
Vientos RBI and almost had a second hit - he is in a groove now.
PLAYOFFS START TONIGHT!
Not the Mets, but rather the Rumbling Ponies.
Christian Scott will take the mound in game 1.
We need a title. Go Ponies!
THERE’S ALWAYS A CATCH IN METSVILLE
Going into Monday night’s games, back up catchers Omar Narvaez and Tomas Nido have combined for 27 for 166 (.163), with 7 RBIs.
Seven. Awful.
BUT their pitch framing is extraordinary. I guess.
Well, they’ve thrown out 7 of 56 base stealers, you want better?
7 RBIs, 7 caught stealing. Sweet.
Braves catchers? 31 HRs, 100 RBIs. But framing is what counts.
23 comments:
It's amazing that pitchers can be successful when they throw strikes and change speeds. Butto Has to get a good look in spring training to be in the rotation. He just proves you don't have to throw 100 mph to be successful.
My guess is Butto will secure a back-end rotation slot in spring 24
Butto is a guy you’d NOT want Citi fences moved in for.
To me, the 2024 rotation is a transition year that could benefit starters like Lucchesi and Butto
I have less confidence every day on the future of Hamel Vasil and the rest of.the Binghamton starters
My hopes is the Mets sign 2 quality arms to 3-4 year deals
Tom, have you heard the reason why Tidwell was pulled after 0.2 IP a few days ago? Hope he's not seriously injured.
Bill, no. I think it was just a 30 pitch pre-playoff tune up.
We’ll soon find out, though.
First AA playoff series is vs. Somerset (Yankees) and is a best of 3. Somerset was 84-53. Binghamton was strong after the ASB, finishing 74-61. Somerset has the edge.
Mack, I’d walk a mile for a Hamel. He had a bad May and June, but was excellent thereafter.
Minor "Subway Series", minus the subway?
Yeah
But reminds me of Mike Pelfrey
Shoulda made it.
But didn't
Why Mack? What gives you pause about the Binghamton starters?
Tidwell was taken out because he had reached a high pitch limit for a single inning. Late in the year, not a big deal. Still on course to pitch Friday in Game 3, if necessary.
Also, Carlos Correa going on IL for left foot problem. I think that’s the other foot, but seems this year he has had plantar fasciitis and that cannot get cured during the season. Should be 100% for next year.
Thanks Gus for the updates
No facts
Just a feeling
Tidwell has the most talent but I can't sign off on him for another year
All the rest need another year
Hope I'm wrong
Thankfully, we sidestepped Correa.
Aren’t you the guy who said the Mets had 20 great prospects.
27
Yep. They now do. But Peroza was in my top 30 earlier this year. Now, my guess is high 30s, as Mets have added, while he has regressed.
Butto was pooh-pooed earlier as a "soft tosser" when he failed to dominate in his first several tries as a spot starter for the Mets. Now, with some experience and maybe confidence, he is locating and getting outs.
You can win in the majors without a 96mph fastball. There was a guy named Glavine that went to the HOF without an overpowering fastball. I'm not saying Butto is the next Tom G, but let's give him a chance! He deserves it.
Paul,
I sure hope Butto gets a good look in the spring. I enjoy watching a guy pitch who isn't just trying to overpower hitters. Quintana is similar, and I look forward to his starts. I hope baseball in general starts moving back to guys like Glavine that are masters of location and changing speeds.
Is Butto another Dillon Gee?
Maybe Peterson,Butto,Lachesis and MeGill should be in the BP instead of Triple A guys with options.
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