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2/12/24

Paul Articulates – Some serious competition


Spring training officially begins in two days – pitchers and catchers officially report to St. Lucie on February 14th.  Unofficially, many players are already there as you may have seen on social media.  There is an excitement to the beginning of spring baseball that always gets the players and the fans anxious to start.  

This year, the other reason that Mets players are reporting early is that they know it is going to be a competitive year.  I’m not talking about the team competing for a title, although they will give it a shot.  I’m talking about competing for a position and a career.  

The Mets have taken a different approach to filling the roster this year as you are well aware.  Instead of signing big names to big contracts, they have signed depth pieces to smaller, shorter contracts.  That means there are more players that are in tight talent groupings that understand very well that their playing time and their longevity on the roster depends on a good showing during this six week period before the team packs up to head north.

I’m sure that the coaching staff will have plenty of patience in evaluating the talent, because they understand that many different factors influence a player’s success.  But at some point during the six weeks they are going to have to decide who to keep on the MLB roster, who to send to Syracuse (AAA) or Binghamton (AA) for more development, and even who may be cut loose.

Let’s start with the non-40 man roster invitees: OF Drew Gilbert, RHP Dominic Hamel, LHP Nate Lavender, C Tomás Nido, RHP Eric Orze, C Kevin Parada, RHP Christian Scott, C Hayden Senger, RHP Mike Vasil and INF Jett Williams.

Nido has spent quite a bit of time with the big league club, and he has proven to be a very capable defender.  However, his bat has been inconsistent at best, and with Francisco Alvarez rising to the starting role and Omar Narvaez healthy, Nido has to really impress if he doesn’t want to spend his thirteenth professional season in the minor leagues.

In a similar vein, Hayden Senger is beginning his sixth professional season and has not yet reached the major league level.  He has been really solid defensively throughout his pro career but has not put up strong enough offensive numbers in the minors to get the call.  He had some huge clutch at-bats in the Rumble Ponies’ playoff run last year, and he will have to ride that momentum into a great spring showing to be considered for the roster.

The other eight non-roster invitees are young and hungry, so you can bet that they will bring plenty of motivation to the field.  Parada, who I wrote about last week, is in that battle of many catchers.  Alvarez, Narvaez, Nido, Senger, Matt O’Neill, Austin Allen, and Jose Hernandez are all rostered catchers at the AA, AAA, or MLB level.  That seems like too many to begin the season.

On the MLB 40-man roster, there are some clear starters like Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, and Brandon Nimmo that are not likely to be challenged for their starting position, but there are many with something to prove.  One could argue that Pete has something to prove as well with a long-term high value contract in his immediate future.

Starling Marte is out to prove that he is back to health and has not lost a step.  Nimmo, Marte, Harrison Bader, and Tyrone Taylor, and DJ Stewart will vie for three regular outfield starting jobs.  And don't forget about Alex Ramirez who was a highly valued prospect that had an off year in 2023 - he has an invite and plenty to prove.

In the infield, there has been so much written about the third base competition between Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, and Joey Wendle that I will not spend more ink on it – but you know the competition will be fierce because so much is riding on it.

Jeff McNeil is presumably healthy and needs to once again prove that he is an elite hitter.  His 2022 batting title is a great credential but with a rough 2021 year at the plate and lackluster start to the 2023 season, he needs to show how valuable he is to this team with all of the young prospects eyeing his second base position.

Earlier I mentioned some of the young arms that received invitees – Hamel, Lavender, Orze, Scott, and Vasil.  They join 23 other arms that are on the 40-man roster who will all be vying for consideration.  That is 28 pitchers for 13 spots, some of which are already locked for SP1-SP3 and the closer.  There is such a mix of upcoming young talent, experienced vets, and guys looking for one last shot that I think every pitch in every inning is going to count.

The Mets also have chosen not to go “get a bat” to fill their traditionally anemic DH position.  That means that there will be many players trying to impress with their bats to win some time in the DH slot if they can’t grab a starting position in the field.  Much has been written about the need to give Mark Vientos a long look at DH, but there are others who would like to convince Carlos Mendoza that there is another option. 

For all of these above reasons, I think that there will be a lot of hungry players competing hard this spring.  With such strong competition, the players that rise to the top will have an added boost moving into the regular season.  They also will have plenty of motivation to continue performing knowing that the others are close behind.  That should be some fun baseball to watch!


12 comments:

  1. Need a bunch of catchers this week

    Also this is the time guest coaches arrive

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  2. I am disappointed Gervase isn’t invited to camp, considering he could pitch in relief at some point for the Mets this year.

    Paul, if you could only pick one for a major league stint, would it be Nido, Senger or Austin Allen, who hit 23 HRs in the International League in 2023 in 324 at bats?

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  3. Was Gervase even a top 20 prospect?

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  4. https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/02/11/mets-director-of-player-development-prospects-spring-training-drew-gilbert-luisangel-acuna/

    This has an interesting amount of tidbits in it.

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  5. I just saw that this article is by subscription, but last night when I read it it wasn’t. He loves Acuna’s elite bat to ball skills and power potential. He needs more work on pitch recognition. Also, Lavender is featured as one of the five prospects saying that he is unaffected by the robo strike zone, did very well and is ready. Scott, Gilbert, and Williams are the other three and you won’t read anything you haven’t read somewhere else.

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  6. Lou, Gervase was a 12th rounder, but he fanned 96 in 57 innings, 2.05.

    Promoted to AA late last season, and in his last 5 relief outing, 7.1 innings, 1 hit, 17 Ks. Which is insane.

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  7. The "C Spot"

    Right now, it is all about Francisco Alvarez. Power "with hit consistency" at the plate, along with excellent defense will keep Francisco a Met for a long, long time barring any major injury. But I would not rule out "Let The Parada Begin" here soon too. The "Frank and Kevin Show" behind the dish for a decade or more, is more than fine with me. I like both.

    I just simply need to see a lot more "O" from O-mar Narvaez to be in on this acquisition. Could happen. Otherwise, I like Tomas Nido as backup out of the gate. He just has to prove his bat on the MLB level. I think he will. He may be shy. The top Mets pitchers liked him behind the dish a lot I noticed.

    The next 5 NY Mets top MiLB starters now percolating are all winners, each one. To me, it is a better crop than Jake, Noah, Wheels, and a boy named Matz. It's deeper. Who and when each one of these five comes up will be determined mainly by their own performances in 2024. Most were in AA RumblePonies for 2023. But we could see maybe 2-3 up this season second half. Time always tells. But all five starters have bright futures here with these NY Mets.

    I wrote last week here that I really believe that Tyler Stuart would be a tremendous ST invite for a serious look for the Opening Day 2024. He has what none of the other starters being considered for the rotation have, thats is something totally unique in his 3/4 delivery and awesome baseball delivered movement on his pitches. He locks batters up.

    Sure, you could say as a fan, "Well, that was just in AA Rumbleponies ball." But watch some more video on this guy, and the wheels will start turning in your head as well for him being here on Mets Opening Day. Tom here wrote on him quite a bit, if I recall correctly in 2023. And Tom was right on the moola. This 24 year old Tyler Stuart is like nothing I have seen in orange and blue in a long, long time.

    Please bring this man to camp! He may just amaze you too!

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  8. To answer Tom's question, I would give Allen a shot. Nido has had some great moments with the Mets, but he is a known quantity. I love Senger as a guy that gives his all on the field, but he really hasn't shown the batting skills to have a realistic shot at staying up. Allen is the guy we need to see.

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  9. Gus, thanks for the article. I was able to read it. Interesting point on Acuna's bat-to-ball skills. I would not have picked that up because he didn't hit that well in AA after the trade, but it could be pitch recognition that affected him.

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    Replies
    1. Glad you saw it Paul. Anything I didn’t remember to mention that is interesting? I was surprised to see it wasn’t subscription last night because the Daily News usually is - them and Newsday. Then today, the shoe dropped for me.

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  10. Austin Allen…I agree. If he hits even .190 but homers once ever 20-25 times up, not bad for a back up catcher.

    It would be cool if Matt Allan started, Austin Adams relieved, and Austin Allen caught in the same game.

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  11. One Last Point on the Starting 5 for '24

    Is it me (and it well could be here) but almost similar to most of the Wilpon Years, this current NY Mets ownership and management does not seem to be more creatively trying to fill their four and five rotations spots, to set up more team wins. As if going up against other team's four and five starters does not count the same in the win column, as do with the one thru three starter spot victories. It's just not true. They do.

    Instead, it seems that the NY Mets instead try to bring in affordable and available 30+ year old starters with sort of so-so stat credentials (at best) and not have higher expectations than this.

    Look, every win counts the exact same in the won column. It does not matter which starter in the rotation gets that win, because the team wins in the standings. They advance, with each win counting the exact same.

    So look at the pitchers currently vying for the four and five slots right now. The Amazing Kreskin (for goodness sakes) could not be able to choose between most of them at current, because each potential four or five starter has a so-so sort of up and down stat history, an injury, or an ERA around four. So it becomes a sort of "dartboard toss". Maybe this one will be more able to win games for the Mets, than that one. It's wishing and not more historically based in other words. An affordable option.

    So each and almost every season, it is the same exact thing with the four and five slots of the Mets' rotation. A new and wiser avenue is not explored.

    What would I much rather prefer is taking a "calculated risk" with a new younger pitcher like a Tyler Stuart in Spring Training. See what he brings to the table. It doesn't break up what the team has always already locked itself into during off season with their one thru five starter choices. But it could. And who knows here, maybe these NY Mets can actually get to the playoffs again this season because of trying such a "calculated risk" avenue of thinking.

    LGM

    (OUT)

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