John From Albany: Interview with Cyclones Announcer Justin Rocke

 

Justin Rocke, Brooklyn Cyclones 

The Mets Minor League Broadcasters feature guys that know Mets prospects better than anyone.  They are also great to talk baseball with.

During the last week of the Brooklyn 2024 Season, I had the privilege to sit down with Cyclones announcer Justin Rocke.  We talked about Brooklyn's Season, Mets Prospects and recent Minor League trends.  

John From Albany:  How do you think the 2024 season's gone for Brooklyn? 

Justin Rocke: It's been a pretty successful season. It's been a lot of ups and downs...various different reasons with injuries, a little bit different this season as well with new front office and philosophies in terms of promoting guys. We've had a lot of guys move up this year. Not that we didn't have guys move up last year, but I think, after Jonah [Tong] went up the other day, I think we're now at 17 guys that have been promoted from here to Binghamton throughout the course of the year, April 27th until Sunday [September 1st]. I think [Brooklyn Cyclones Manager] Gilbert's and the coaching staff's done a great job of keeping guys involved, enthused and engaged throughout the course of the season...They've done a good job of finishing the season strong, a lot of guys are playing some of their best ball of the season over the last couple of weeks.

The story continues to be the pitching in the organization, top to bottom. Last night was the 13th shutout of the season for us, which continues to add to the franchise record, which is mighty impressive. The last couple of years, pitching-wise, and the organization has been really, really impressive.

John From Albany: You talk about the big changes from this year to last year. Besides the promotions and the way they tried to be more aggressive with that, what else do you see was a big difference this year? 

Justin Rocke: I think, honestly, the biggest difference was that they were a little bit more aggressive promoting guys up and down through the minor league system, particularly promoting guys from here up to double-A and beyond. I mean, you know, Sproat's already up in Triple-A, sort of like Scott started here last year and finished up in Triple-A by the end of the season.

I haven't see much change organizational philosophy-wise outside of maybe the fact that they have been more inclined to let guys go past their innings limits than they had in years past. It was obviously top-down line as recently as last week, you know, or is Jonah [Tong] even going to throw this week, because he's already shut down. And obviously, it's not the case, because he's now pitching in Binghamton with an extra week in their season.

I think they've done a good job of monitoring that stuff, while also allowing guys to push themselves a little bit more, which, quite frankly, I think to a certain degree, you need to do in order for guys to go deeper in ball games, last longer into the season and stuff like that. 

JFA: Who would you say are the biggest stars in the team that, if you say tell me about the 2024 Brooklyn Cyclones, who are the first players that would come to mind? 

Justin Rocke: I think it's sort of told in a tale of two parts. First half of the season, and really the first two months was Brandon Sproat, Ryan Clifford and Nolan McLean, and what they were doing here. Since the middle of May, early June, and beyond, it's been Nick Morabito and Jonah Tong and the success stories of what the Mets Player Development have been able to do with those two guys throughout the course of the year. Went from being top 100 prospect guys that are potentially going to knock down the doors to the big leagues, to guys that were maybe not as well known going into the season that have established themselves as real players in the organization.

I'd be stunned if Morabito is not the player of the year in the organization. [Editor's Note: Outfielder Nick Morabito was named the organization's Player of the Year on September 20, 2024.]

JFA: And who, and who should be the Pitcher? Sproat or Tong?

Justin Rocke: That's going to be a toss-up. Numbers-wise, you probably have to go Tong, but what Sproat's been able to do,  Sproat's unequivocally the better pitcher.

JFA: So, outside of the big names that everybody knows about, who would you say is the next player that you would want to mention as somebody that people should really be aware of? 

Justin Rocke:I mean, obviously, [Boston] Baro and [Ronald] Hernandez are dudes, but they haven't been here for very long. You know, I think a guy that's going to be very interesting to follow, especially the start of next year, because he'll probably be back here to start the year, is Chris Suero. Just a stupid good athlete, you know, had a really tough chunk of his time here, but has found a way to stay with it, and has, heated back up again over the last couple of weeks to finish out the year, which is very impressive. 

JFA: Where do you see him in the future, his everyday position? You think he'll be a catcher, first base, outfielder? 

Justin Rocke:I can honestly see him being more like, you know, a little bit of a Daulton Varsow type, a guy that can play infield and outfield, but does a lion's share of his play behind the plate. He's a ridiculously good defender at first base, for a guy that doesn't take a lot of ground balls there...and same thing sort of applies for him in left field. He's done a nice job in those spots. 

JFA: That's right, I've seen him make some really nice plays on, just on TV, in left field. So, I'm just curious about the catching aspects, because that's a key thing. If you can catch...

Justin Rocke: Let's put it this way, he's, you know, between him and [recently released Brooklyn Catcher Chris] Pregent, he's absolutely a better defender. I think Pregent's better at managing a pitching staff, but Pregent can't throw. Suero's the only guy on the team that's thrown out base runners. 

JFA: And, well, I guess we'll see how [C Ronald] Hernandez...

Justin Rocke: Hernandez has been better.  He hasn't thrown anyone out, but he's, you know, the play he made on Sunday night was...absurd. 

JFA: Are you talking about the throw from Omar [De Los Santos]? Yeah, that was great. [You can see the play and Game Recap by clicking here.]

Justin Rocke: That was amazing. And then he dove to third base. To get the guy at third, yeah, it was insane.

JFA: Who is the, out of the different players here, who would you say is the biggest clubhouse leader? I asked Keith Raad that question when he was here a few years ago...he said then it was Francisco Alvarez...and you can see it now in the major leagues, how he handles the pitching staff.

Justin Rocke: No, that's very true. I don't know if there's necessarily one guy that sort of, you know, rallies the troops... You know, honestly, who I thought that was in terms of just like a guy that hyped people up before he got traded was Wilfredo Lara. Before Suero had the walk-off hit and the crazy comeback against Jersey Shore, Lara stood there before he walked to first base [after an intentional walk] and literally just stood there to fire Suero up before he stepped into the box. [You can read more about this game by clicking here.]

But I don't know if there really is one static guy that's a clubhouse leader.  I think there's a lot of guys that get along well with one another. There's a lot of cohesion in the clubhouse, but I don't know, I mean, Johnny [Brooklyn Cyclones co-Announcer Johnny Gadamowitz], you can correct me if I'm wrong...I don't know if there's anyone that's really, you know, your prototypical leader. There were guys that earlier in the season that people gravitated to in terms of advice...the Stanley Consuegras, the Mateo Gils of the world, guys that had been around...especially when there was a portion of the season where we had a big chunk of older players and younger players. I think it's more of guys leading by example and doing things the right way. I do think there are some similarities in terms of just demeanor and stuff like that between Morabito and Jett to a certain degree. I haven't seen like your rah-rah leader guy that's going to start a players-only meeting and stuff like that. 

Click here for the rest of the Interview.