MACK - Tuesday Morning Observations

 

Observations –

 

So, we’ve reached midway through the season and this would be a good time for me to grade out the team and prospects in the chain. Just my opinions here, and, this is not based on potential. Instead, this is solely performance based.

 

            Carlos Mendoza – word I get is that the players both like and respect him. That’s one half of the job. The other two quarters are what your boss thinks of you and decisions you make during the game. I don’t think Mendoza has any problem with the brass, but I have to say that I have disagreed with some of the pitching changes he has made during the game. Especially pulling a productive starter and going to an overused pen too early. 

Rating:  B

            Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, J.D. Martinez, Francisco Alvarez, Dedniel Nunez, Jose Inglesias, Mark Vientos – I lop these seven horsemen together because they have carried this team to where they are now, a team in contention. Dees guys done good. 

Rating:  A+

            Harrison Bader, Starlin Marte, Luis Torrens, Pete Alonso, Jose Butto, Reid Garrett, David Peterson, Sean Manaea – Seven more B or better players. That’s now 14 B or better leaving almost 50% of the 26 playing at sub-par levels. Marte was hitting his way back to the A list before going down again. So far, Butto is a big plus. Peterson needs to go deeper or he will quickly move down to the C list.

            Rating:  B

            Brett Baty, Tyrone Taylor, Jose Quintana, Luis Severeno, Christian Scott – Had Severeno on the B list until he got clocked this past week. Baty’s rating is based on his AAA numbers. If it wasn’t for this he would definitely make the F list. Taylor is hanging on here.

            Rating:  C

Jeff McNeil, DJ Stewart, Adam Ottovino, Jake Diekman, Tylor Megill, Danny Young, Tyler Jay, Ty Adcock – There isn’t much I can say nice about this bunch. I believe, or all of them, that McNeil has the ability to bounce back in the second half of this season, but, past that, I don’t think the Mets can count on any of these to get them this season to the promise land. Lastly, I would firmly place Megill into the Syracuse SP1 slot. At best, going forward, he looks like a last ditch effort for the Mets rotation.

            Rating:  F

Minor League Players –

            Mike Brosseau, Ben Gamel, Pablo Reyes, Luisangel Acuna, Josh Walker, Cole Sulser, Douglas Orellana, Nick Morabito – the sad thing here is I currently only rate eight Mets minor league players based on their performance this season. This represents over 100 players on four affiliates. Yes, many top prospects have graduated and others aren’t playing up to their projected potential, but this list should be much bigger. Sulser has been lights out for Syracuse, but not in Queens. Brosseau could be good trade bait for a reliever rental.

            Rating:   A

            Ryan Bannon, Carlos Cortes, Rhylan Thomas, Luke Ritter, Yacksel Rios, Eric Orze, Nate Lavender, Josh Hejka, Jonah Tong, Kade Morris, Ronald Hernandez, Sebastian Castro, Jesus Baez, Boston Baro, Edward Herrera, Gregori Louis, Jimmy Loper, Jeremy Peguero, Wilson Lopez, Drew Gilbert – The star here has been the Latin catcher Hernandez, who has become the number one catching prospect in the chain. Hejka too. Tong and Morris have showed flashes but need to be more consistent at their levels. Baez was playing well until he was hurt. We may not see him anymore this season. Would like to see Ritter hit for average more, like Gilbert seems to be doing lately.

            Rating:   B

            Grant Hartwig, Blade Tidwell, Nick Lorusso, Nolan McLean, Justin Lawson, Jordany Ventura, Felipe De La Cruz, Jawilme Ramirez, Ryan Ammons, Christopher Suero, Marco Vargas, Zach Thorton – was hoping for a little more out of Hartwig this season. A lot more from Tidwell and McLean. The pleasant surprise here is Lorusso.

            Rating:   C

            Yolmer Sanchez, Jon Duplantier, Mike Vasil, Dom Hamel, Junior Tillen, Wilfredo Lara, Stanley Consuergra, Jeffy De Los Santos, Mateo Gil, Karell Paz, Christian Pregent, Joshua Cornielly, Ben Simon, Jeffrey Colon, Joey Lancellotti, Victor Castaneda, Jake Stevenson, Ernesto Mercedes, Juan Arnaud, Miquel Alfonseca, Saul Garcia, Kevin Villaviencia, Diego Mosquero, Collin Houck, Yohairo Cuevas, AJ Ewing, Willy Fanas, Jeffry Rosa, Estarling Mercado, Vincent Perozo, Alan Perdomo, Christofer Gomez, Franklin Gomez, Jack Wenninger, Nick Bautista – don’t be surprised by the amount of players in this category… be surprised on some of the top prospects listed here. Both Vasil and Hamel are hitting the wall at AAA. Houck, Ewing, Fanas, and Rosa are a real disappointment so far. The rest are, like all teams, minor league filler players.

            Rating:   F

            Sean Reid-Foley, Bryce Montas de Oca, Calvin Ziegler

            Rating:   Incomplete