IN FOCUS: Morning Thoughts - Roster Moves, Jonathan Santucci, Nolan McLean,

 

Morning Thoughts 

Regarding the Mets last night… I’m going to give David Peterson this one. This was his worse outing in two years which speaks to just how consistently good he has been. Even after this his ERA is still below 3.00. He had a bad inning that featured two massive home runs. David will be fine… as for the rest of the team, not much to write home about. You had a feeling that the Mets really didn’t solve their “hitting” woes when the night before was only highlighted by home runs. I told Gary Seagram on the phone yesterday that I needed to see more before I buy into the theory that the Mets offense had returned. Well… four hits against a questionable starter that had pitched badly in his past four outings, all four by two Mets (Franciso Lindor, Brandon Nimmo), and the bottom four going 0-12. This includes Ronny Mauricio with an 0-3, .180 showing. Back to one game back and home to play four against the Braves. Oh. Lindor homered and the Mets lost. Done with that stupid stat going around

There were a flurry of promotions yesterday in the affiliates…

3B Jacob Reimer and OF Carson Benge were promoted to AA-Binghamton

                OF Colin Houck was promoted to A+ Brooklyn

Reimer will immediately become the starting B-Met third baseman, while Benge will join Nick Morabito, Omar De Los Santos, sometimes Jett Williams, and Alex Ramirez in the their outfield.

Houck slips into the Cyclone outfield hole made when Benge left town. He’s joined there by AJ Ewing, Eli Serrano, Troy Schefler, and Diego Mosquera.

It will be interesting to see if more moves come out today on Day Off Monday, when most moves are made.

Let’s talk catchers. By now, even the astronauts in the space station know that Francisco Alvarez was reassigned to AAA-Syracuse and was replaced by Hayden Senger. Thrilled with the move and been calling for it for a while. Let him join his other floundering Baby Met, Mark Vientos and give them both until the fall to earn a return. But… did you notice that 21/year old Cyclone catcher (and sometimes capable corner outfielder or first baseman), Chris Suero, hit his 10^th home run yesterday? Last year (A+/A), he hit 9-HR in 377-AB. So far this year? … 10-HR in 190-AB. Knocked in 43 so far too. And, on the same team is prospect catcher Ronald Hernandez… so, why not kick Kevin Parada up to AAA-Syracuse from AA-Binghamton, promote Suero to the B-Mets, and allow Hernandez daily reps behind the plate in Brooklyn? I’ve had crazier ideas…

Wanna throw this in here… Miami starting pitcher, Sandy Alcantara’s last 4 starts: 23 IP, 2.74 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 19 K | 5 BB

Nolan McLean - NYM

Nolan McLean ranked as my 7th best Pitching Prospect in my June update, and he has continued to prove that he was deserving of that rank. After transitioning to a starter full-time in 2024, McLean has jumped through every level of MiLB rapidly and now finds himself knocking on the door in AAA. On the season he holds a 2.08 ERA and 3.55 FIP across 65.0 IP.

McLean’s bread and butter is his sweeper. It is an easy plus-plus offering thanks to its immense glove-side action given its mid 80s velocity. Pitches that hard should not sweeper that much! Another fascinating aspect of his sweeper is his ability to locate it in the zone, and in all counts at that. It keeps batters on their toes and is especially devastating to RHH.

A trio of fastballs give McLean the necessary weapons to deal with any opponent. His sinker makes up most of his fastball usage against RHH where its mid-90s velocity and running action works well on the inner third. His 4-seam fastball and cutter take on the fastball load against LHH, where they have been effective at limiting damage. His 4-Seamer plays well high in the zone thanks to its flat approach, while his cutter works all of the place due to its slight glove-side action.

McLean’s arsenal doesn’t stop there as he also tosses a curveball and changeup. His curveball exhibits that same overwhelming sweeping action as his sweeper, yet sits in the high 70s with more than a foot of drop. His changeup is still a work in progress, but has interesting characteristics such as its velocity and vertical separation from his sinker.

McLean’s ability to spin the ball gives him plenty of avenues to add pitches to his arsenal and has exhibited improved command while jumping through levels at a rapid pace. He is one of the most exciting pitching prospects in baseball and the biggest win from the Mets pitching development staff this season.