BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – The Binghamton Rumble Ponies, Double-A Affiliate of the New York Mets, announced Monday that 1B Ryan Clifford was named the Eastern League (EL) Player of the Week for the week of July 21 – 27.
Clifford, the Mets No. 7 ranked prospect, in six games this past week at Reading slashed .522 (12-23)/.645/1.130 with a 1.775 OPS with four home runs, 12 RBIs, 11 runs scored, eight walks, and six XBH. Clifford now leads all of Double-A in HR (21) and RBIs (66) and is tied for the fifth most home runs in Minor League Baseball.
Clifford, 22, led MiLB (full season affiliates) this past week in OBP, OPS, RBIs, and runs scored. He finished second in the minors and first in Double-A in slugging percentage, and total bases (26). Clifford also finished tied for second in MiLB and tied for first in Double-A in hits, while finishing tied for second in MiLB and first in Double-A in XBH.
On Sunday, Clifford capped off his monster week finishing 3-for-4 with a career-high five runs scored. It is the most runs scored by an individual player in a game in franchise history. Carson Benge and Clifford also hit back-to-back home runs Sunday for the second time this week. It is the fifth time this season the Rumble Ponies have hit back-to-back homers, and Clifford has been a part of all of them.
On Wednesday, Clifford was 3-for-4 with two home runs, his second multi-homer game this month.
It is the second EL weekly award Clifford has received this year, as he also won the award for the week of May 6 – 11. This is the ninth EL award received by a member of the Rumble Ponies this season.
Clifford, an 11th round pick by the Houston Astros in 2022 out of Pro5 Academy in Apex, North Carolina, joined the Mets organization with Drew Gilbert in August 2023 as part of the trade-deadline deal that sent Justin Verlander to Houston.
4 comments:
I remember reading they’re trying to have him attack pitches earlier in the count, and if he’s improved in that department.
Tom will tell you he strikes out to.much
I will tell you it comes with the territory
I'm not sure yet if he has a future with the Mets at first, but I do like him as the 2027 DH
Mack, keep in mind that Benge is hitting .350. Clifford has that wind at his back, helping him. But good for Clifford. May his ignition continue. His HR lead is partly due to other players rotating in or out of AA. RBIs? He’s had Jett, Nick, and Benge to drive in.
His goal, despite his age, was to convince management that he could replace Pete OD 2026. He has a long way to go to make his case, obviously. He seems like OD 2027, but Pete could be resigned..
Angry Mike, I wrote exactly that about Clifford early this year: “we know you can draw a walk, now get aggressive to avoid Ks, and show us how well you can hit.” I’ve made the same case for Vientos and Baty, who seem to not be getting it, to be much more aggressive.
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