The “K Five”?
Sounds like the name of a Motown band, but there are more than 5 Mets minors guys who K (whiff) a lot.
In fact, not just one K-5. I came up with two K-5s.
Or, a K-10 on the Richter Scale.
Let’s break down the Mets minors’ ten top K artists, of the bat kind:
1) Kevin Parada:
He has 2 HRs and 3 other hits and 7 RBIs in his last 3 AA games. Signs of life, thankfully, but…
He’s also fanned 14 times in his last 7 games.
And 38 total times in 118 PAs this year. That’s a lot.
2) Jaylen Palmer:
17 Ks in 27 official at bats this year, and 200 in 415 official ABs in 2023 and 2024, which is very high. He also has 3 hits and 5 walks in his last 4 games, so there are recent signs of improvement.
3) Colin Houck:
The 1st rounder? Hitting .161 with 49 Ks in 29 Low A games this season.
4) Joe Suozzi:
He had a nice spring, but he's now 4 for 32, with 7 walks and 17 Ks.
5) Ryan Clifford:
He has been on base quite a lot in recent weeks, especially via an amazing 32 walks in 31 games, but has also fanned 43 times in 31 games. After he was acquired from Houston last year, in 2023 and 2024, he has 94 Ks in 63 games as a Mets farmhand.
6) Nolan McLean:
He has arguably the most power in the Mets minors, and one of the best arms, but has fanned 31 times in 61 PAs.
7) Stanley Consuegra:
After a power-filled 2023 in Brooklyn, and hopes to build upon that, Consuegra with the Cyclones in 2024 has regressed, with a rough 43 Ks in 27 games with just one HR and a .184 average.
8) Omar De Los Santos:
The speedster has fanned 26 times in 96 PAs, which is a high, but slower, K rate than 2023, but he is still hitting just .184, albeit with a remarkable 21 of 23 in steals.
9) Yohairo Cuevas:
In St Lucie, he went 4 for 5 Sunday, a welcome relief after a really cold season start, to climb to .187, but has fanned 40 times in 120 PAs.
10) Jose Hernandez:
He is currently catching in Brooklyn, and is 7 for 66 with 5 walks and 35 Ks in 72 PAs.
Honorable Mention?
Jeremiah Jackson:
.157 with 32 Ks in 27 AA games, vs. just 9 walks.
Ks galore for those above.
I occasionally am the bearer of bad news. OK, every time I write, but who's counting?
The stark K-10 reality is this:
a) The NY Mets have fanned just 290 times in 38 games, or an average of 7.6 Ks per 9 IP, a 20% rate per plate appearance.
b) As Mark Vientos can explain, I'm sure, it is HARD to be a hitter and get on, much less stay on, a major league roster.
c) The hitters above substantially exceed 20%, with 4 hovering around 50% in the K Dept. See ball, hit ball.
BATY V. BATY:
Baty thru May 12, 2023: .239 & .320 OBP
Baty thru May 12, 2024: .240 & .303 OBP
Note the vast improvement? I'm sorry, I don’t.
STEWART DOESN'T SUCK!
He has a .389 OBP, so no, folks, and a bunch of ribbies; he doesn’t suck.
NIMMO IS METS MVP:
Season-saving 2 run, come-from-behind walk-off HR in the 9th.
Prevents Braves from sweeping and Mets from being swept.
Mets MVP, hands-down.
BOTTOM OF LINE UP DOES SUCK
1 for 14, 0 RBIs from 6 thru 9.
Meanwhile, 9 of the Mets’ 10 hits from came from 1 thru 5, and all 4 RBIs.
Hard to beat other teams when the bottom half of the line up is comatose.
BEFORE last night's game, I wrote this in response agreeing with Mack's Sunday column's proposal to break up the Mets and save many shekels:
"The Mets have had roughly 1300 at bats this season. Roughly a quarter of them from McNeil (130), Bader (106), Nido (39), Short (9), and Wendle (32). Combined they have a ridiculously low 16 RBIs. They should be embarrassed. Ashamed."
Then you get a 1 for 14 and no RBIs from them just hours later.
The sad saga goes on.
In the battle for NYC's baseball hearts and minds, the Yankees of course are 27-15, 6.5 games ahead of the Mets. "Ahead of the Mets" is a recurring saga, isn't it?
More on that on Thursday.
MEGILL GREAT
In 14 rehab innings, 23 Ks, 1 walk, 9 hits, 1 run. Brilliant. Ready.
5 days from now, he’s back, so tell me, who goes?
10 comments:
Tom, of your ten names for strikeout kings, one just got promoted! Clifford is being moved up to AA to get him out of offense suppressed Brooklyn. At what point is the ballpark in Coney Island going to be deemed unsuitable for judging your own talent? Every single one of their ten worries me, but none more than Houck who hasn’t done a thing yet in pro ball and is at the lowest level.
As for Megill, it’s easy to say trade a struggling arm for a struggling bat and see if you get lucky, but who sits? We all think so highly of everyone and want Vientos and Baty to get a chance, so, who sits?
Further, it’s hard to see McLean as more than a pitcher. Many pitchers have enjoyed hitting long homeruns in batting practice, but if they didn’t have consistency, they are still just pitchers. I don’t like the problem Brooklyn is for judging the kids. I don’t like the strikeouts that I’m seeing from Parada and Houck, while the rest of them are merely filler anyway. And while no one likes the Mets anorexic hitting, is the worry about not striking out part of the problem? I remember when the Yankees in the 90’s wanted their players to take more pitches. The results weren’t good, but the team stayed with its vision and the players adapted and four straight World Series wins happened. I think the Mets should stay with their vision, but you need players with high barrel percentage for that. JDM is still elite, even this year. Let the rest catchup. By the Way, can you believe Narvaez’ RC+ is only 28 for the year? I just saw that on Fangraphs and puked.
Look at the Phillies and their best record in MLB. Who is their highest rated hitter by far? I’ll give you a hint: a couple of years ago he said that he hated playing in Citizens Bank park after making three errors in a game…. Leave Baty alone, he isn’t the problem. The problems are behind the plate, at first base, in Center Field and one of the highest WHIP in baseball.
Gus, Narvaez, I touch on this Thursday. I almost put it in today.
I do think Clifford should have been promoted, despite the Ks. I think there s/b a corresponding promotion of Rudick to AAA, and let Yolmer Sanchez sit, or go.
McLean is in a really tough spot. He should be in the FSL or FCL to learn to hit, if that is all he did. But his pitching should have him in AA. High A is unfair for his hit tool to develop. Of course, I doubt his ability to hit at the MLB level longer term. Too many Ks, even in college.
Gus, I suggested Cohen should do what it takes financially to swap team locations with the LI Ducks in Islip. Absent that, the Kingsport park was good to hitters when the Mets played there. I’d move the High A team there.
Gus, I’d start Megill, move Houser to the pen, and when Peterson returns, start him and move Quintana to the pen. Got see what the not-so-young-anymore youngsters can do this year. Houser and Q have zero chance of being Mets next year.
After Sept 5, 2019, Jose Quintana is 10-21. Good grief.
Houser is already in the pen. Q was fine for us last year, and merits a longer look before giving up on him.
When Megill returns, especially with only one day off between now and June 6, now is the time to try a 6-man rotation.
As for moving starters to the pen, that presents a problem. Our pen has the lowest ERA in the league, and Stearns has done a masterful job of rotating pitchers to/from 'Cuse to keep them fresh.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Tom,
We would certainly like to see the Mets return to Kingsport, Tennessee. We traveled there yearly on summer vacation to follow the Mets Appalachian League team. Great city and park to attend a minor league game. Raphael Pizza and La Carreta for some excellent dining. Do not see it happening, but we can dream.
D J, I think there is an Indy League, called the Appy League, there now. That league, I believe, was created after teams folded a few minor league teams about 5 years ago. So that won’t be happening…but no doubt it is nice there, and just as importantly, it seemed to be the best hitting park in the system.
Bill, I would use one of the 6 starts as a “pen game”.
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