Reese Kaplan -- What to See in Spring Training Besides Known Stars

When the spring training preparatory phase of a new baseball season begins many of us are anxious to see the star ballplayers who earn their multi millions by swinging the bat, swiping bases, flashing leather or hurling a baseball that batters are challenged to hit with any significant contact if they don’t miss it all.  Don’t get me wrong.  All of the at-bats by Juan Soto, Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, Mark Vientos and others are most definitely worth seeing as are the motions of pitches from Kodai Senga, Sean Manea, Clay Holmes, Edwin Diaz, Jose Butto, Dedniel Nunez and assorted hurlers.

The other part of spring training that is addictive for the prospect aficionados is the opportunity to see future Mets up against some of the best competition they’ve ever seen as well as embracing the top coaching and development advice to help them continue their progress towards the majors.  We all know the hottest names here — Jett Williams, Drew Gilbert, Ryan Clifford, Luisangel Acuna, Ronny Mauricio and yes, even Brett Baty.  On the pitching side of the ledger everyone wants to see Brandon Sproat and to a lesser extent Blade Tidwell.  Then there are the AAAA types who may or may not make the roster like Max Kranick, Paul Blackburn and Tylor Megill whose first two hurlers are new to Mets fans. 

However, if you dig deeper you see even younger players from the lower levels of the minors who are not as familiar to you.  Some names you know like highly regarded but thus far under performing catcher Kevin Parada and lackluster starting pitcher Mike Vasil.  Yes, they have pedigree and draft status on their resumes which might make them somewhat appealing to bargain unting trade partners but they’ve not yet put together the kind of professional statistics scouts envisioned when they encouraged the Mets to sign them.

Obviously there’s a long road from dominating in high school, college or independent ball before you progress your way up the ladder from rookie ball to AAA, hoping for that private conference with the manager informing you that the big club has summoned you up to The Show.  Injuries happen, holes in swings, control issues for pitchers and other flaws surface, some of which can be corrected with proper coaching while other things can interfere. Some of it is indeed physical but mental blocks can be harder to overcome.

Think about it a minute...you’ve always been the best on your block, the best in Little League, the best in high school and the best in college.  Now all of the sudden everyone you face also was the best in his playing history and your mutual rise to the top is pitted one against another.  What’s even harder to accept for some folks is the fact it’s not just your opponents.  Your teammates at your present level, behind you on the ladder and above you where you hope to play next are also trying their hardest to demonstrate that they are indeed major league ready prospects.

Now sometimes you find you are simply not able to achieve the performance as you had envisioned it and it means you must change positions.  An infielder could become an outfielder.  An outfielder could become a catcher.  A strong armed shortstop could become a pitcher.  A guy destined to give up ABs to a designated hitter may show more competence with the stick than with his arm.  The Mets are filled with multiple two-way players who eventually are told to stick to hitting or stick to pitching.  Hey, it worked for Jacob deGrom, right?