Tom Brennan - Wyatt Young’s Surprising Regression in 2023

Wyatt Young in a family pic.

I know the Mets are flat-out dominating this off-season, and I'm unavailable today so the Mets probably signed Yamamoto and Snell yesterday when I took my eye off the ball, but I still want to take time to focus on other topics.

Not sure after his significantly regressive 2023 that Wyatt Young deserves his own article, but here goes.

After 2022, I thought he might, quite soon, be a cheaper Mets utility infielder alternative to the not-quite-as-short-height-wise Luis Guillorme.

In his 2021 post-draft cup of coffee in FCL rookie ball, the former 15th rounder, Young, hit a resounding .370. Sweet.

In 2022, mostly in AA and AAA, in his first full pro year, his slash was a dandy .270/.369/.383 in 122 games.  7 of 10 in steals, 75 runs scored.

Impressive. Very impressive. 

Most impressive was when, after roughly just 100 pro at bats in 2021 and very early 2022, he was promoted from low A ball to a really offensively struggling Syracuse AAA team in April 2022 and put up a bewilderingly good .450 OBP for 3 weeks to kick-start their offense, while batting lead off.

I was rooting for him. Writing and speculating about him. 

That first full year’s slash line in the high minors impressed me so much I listed him at this time last year as my # 16 Mets prospect. Simply put, he produced.

I actually wondered, based on that fine first year output, if we’d see the 5’6” Wyatt Young in a Mets uniform in Queens in 2023.

WYATT AT THE DISH

In 2023, though, Young plunged to just .220/.313/.287 playing at essentially the same minor league levels as he did 2022. 

Major regression.

Something clearly went awry in 2023, with a truly ugly power number. A mere 22 extra base hits, and just 5 HRs, in 569 plate appearances. Weight room time seems essential. A hitting and power rebound is certainly needed by him.

Couple in the fact that with the slew of recent infield draft picks and acquired infield prospects via trade, it would not be hard to conclude that Wyatt has gone from promising prospect to “borderline out-the-door” prospect in just one season.

He will need a big bounce back season to be relevant in this organization as a possible future major leaguer.

To be fair, defense matters, too, and he remains remarkably sure-handed.

He has made just 22 pro errors in 278 games, mostly equally split at two tough positions, between SS and 2B.  Gimpy Ronny Mauricio, by comparison, tallied 93 errors in 424 pro games in the field in the minors, a much higher error rate.

And Young also had 15 hits and 7 walks in his final 12 Syracuse games this season, finally showing some of that 2022 spark. 

In September he strung up his best monthly slash line of 2023, at .279/.364/.397, so, relatively speaking he at least finished strong.

And, while not being as fast as fellow 5’6” teammate Jett Williams, the 5’6” Young did try to make up for his offensive slippage by upping his steals to 16 out of 19 this year. 

(Which also means he stole 16 more bases and was caught stealing 3 more times than Daniel Vogelbach, and he remarkably stole 16 bases somehow without tearing an ACL, but I digress).

Oddly, Young has hit .273 in AAA in his career, but just .235 in AA, which is better than if the two were reversed. .273 in AAA makes a leap to the majors at some point at least a bit more plausible.

I wish him well in 2024. May he bounce back strong. 

“Un-regress”. “Re-progress.” 

Stop just competing, and once again out-compete, like he did in 2021 and 2022.

Do it while you're Young, Wyatt.

DEALS? All quiet on the Eastern Front.

AND…when is $700 million not $700 million?

Per a CNBC article:

If the rate of inflation is 3% through 2043, the end of the Dodgers’ payments to Ohtani, then his total before-tax pay would be about $462 million in 2024 value, with that final payment of $68 million worth only about $38.77 million in current buying power.

That 3% estimate, of course, could be wildly low — or high.