Paul Articulates – Who is excelling down on the farm?

Readers hear a lot about the prospects during spring training when there is tremendous curiosity about where everyone will end up.  Who moves up, who makes the big roster, who goes down for more development?  Well the rosters were set, the minors seasons began, and a little over a month in, we can now talk about some of the trends.

Certainly you have seen the success Mark Vientos and Christian Scott have had at AAA.  Vientos is always on the cusp of remaining on the big league roster, but has been bouncing back and forth as determined by other player moves.  Hats off to him for his persistence and drive to continue to perform at the AAA level when you know his heart wants to be in the majors.  Vientos has a .302 batting average and a .932 OPS with the Syracuse club thus far.  

Christian Scott has been another bright spot in AAA.  He was 3-0 with a 3.20 ERA and astounding 0.71 WHIP for the Syracuse Mets which earned him a call-up to the NY Mets for a Saturday start against the Rays.

The rest of this post is dedicated to the AA Rumble Ponies who started the season with 7 of the Mets’ top 30 prospects on the team.  This is a great place to catch future stars working on refinement of their skills.

In AA, number one prospect Jett Williams has been struggling.  He was slashing .179/.360/.308 with the Rumble Ponies before going down in late April with an undisclosed injury that has him on the 7-day DL until later this week.  But there have been some very good performances by some of the players that are definitely worthy of note.

Joander Suárez threw 6 1/3 perfect innings last Friday to close out Tylor Megill’s rehab start.  Joander, who had thrown a no-hitter for the Ponies last year, continues to pitch well.  He is 1-1 with a 2.60 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP which will probably get him promoted soon, especially if Christian Scott stays up in New York for a prolonged stint.

Blade Tidwell has had some hard luck leading to a 1-3 start, but he has pitched very effectively.  His 1.69 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 21 innings leads the team.  His 0.84 WHIP is also very impressive.

Max Kranick is back from injury this year, and has looked very good in two starts.  He has a 1.50 ERA and a 0.8 WHIP in six innings to date.

I think these three pitchers plus Scott who spent the year in AA are a testimony to the effectiveness of Rumble Ponies pitching coach A.J. Sager.  He was recognized last year as Mets Minor League Staff Member of the Year for his efforts last year. 

Sager’s pitching staff in 2023 set a Binghamton franchise record with 15 shutouts and took home five Eastern League honors.  He is doing it again, as evidenced by no less than seven pitchers with sub-1.00 WHIP on the staff.  To me, WHIP is extremely important because less base runners lead to more wins.

On the hitting side, there are a few standouts worthy of note.

Outfielder Matt Rudick has continued his momentum from a great season last year.  This year, Rudick leads the club with four multi-RBI games, and also has four multi-hit games in the 19 he has played so far.  He is currently on a six-game hitting streak and has been on base in the last seven games.  His 2 HR and 12 RBI also lead the club.  Last year in 61 games, Rudick walked more times than he struck out which exemplifies a disciplined approach at the plate and good bat-to-ball skills.

First baseman JT Schwartz continues to impress with both the bat and the glove this year.  He has come through in the clutch with three multi-RBI games and also three multi-hit games so far.  

Rhylan Thomas, who won a gold glove in the Mets organization as an outfielder, has had a stellar defensive career.  In 91 games last year, Thomas committed just one error this season and has only two over the first two seasons of his professional career.  This year he is not only doing it with the glove but also with the bat.  Thomas is second on the club with a .298 batting average and has a .379 on base percentage.

Finally, everyone wants to know how Alex Ramirez is doing.  He was a huge prospect in 2022, then had an off year in 2023.  In 2024, Ramirez had a great spring and was assigned to AA Binghamton to start the season.  There he has taken off again, slashing .298/.362/.429 with a club leading 13 stolen bases and 12 RBI.  His arm and fielding range are very strong, and the only thing he has to improve upon so far is his K rate.