ST LUCIE, WHERE STARS ARE BORN
Last week, I did a rundown on quite a few excellent hitters and pictures in High A, AA, and AAA. My Mack’s Mets pen ran out of ink, though, so I did not cover St. Lucie. So, I will today.
This is a low HR, low average league. St Lucie at .243 is one of the highest, and it’s 73 HRs are middle-of-pack. Second in runs scored at 607 in 114 games,in part due to a league-leading 566 walks and 3rd highest 227 steals. Encouragingly, hitting .268 while averaging 6.5 runs per game in the second half.
Who’s been doing well there? (Stats thru Tuesday):
It gets a little murky, of course, because some guys get promoted and are no longer in St. Lucie. But I will recap the good ones as best I can. If some guy only got promoted recently, but was doing well, I’ll mention them here.
Here goes:
AJ Ewing and Marco Vargas didn’t stay long. Why? They combined to go 44 for 109, with 25 walks. That’s a .515 OBP. Those are promotion numbers. They went up quickly.
AJ has been a beast all year.
Trace Willhoite was St Lucie’s best hitter, until he very recently left without a trace. The NY Post traced him to Brooklyn. Combined, the 24 year old has 15 HRs and 71 RBIs in 305 at bats, a great ratio, and is hitting .270 with a .382 OBP. And 15 of 15 in steals. Impressive.
Randy Guzman came up from the FCL and spectacularly hit .333/.393/.608 with few Ks in 14 games before a HBP sidelined him.
Bonus baby Daiverson Gutierrez, still 19, has played all season in St Lucie. His power is limited so far, with 11 extra base hits in 353 plate appearances, but has walked 49 times. Result? A .365 OBP. His catching is a work in progress, with 23 errors in 76 games catching and a 14% caught stealing rate. So he is a long ways off, but he is 19, with a promising bat.
22 year old catcher Vinnie Perozo is hitting .261, with a .372 OBP, but with 13 errors in 51 games. He’s been at St Lucie for a few years, so I am not sure of his upward trajectory.
-catcher errors are in part due to this being a high steal attempt league.
Trey Snyder is 19, and hitting just .224….but 60 walks and 35 steals in 101 games makes this a solid first season.
Looking forward to him moving up and having a solid season in Brooklyn in 2026.
Speaking of speed, 20 year old switch hitting OF Yonatan Henriquez has 31 steals and a .350 OBP with 8 HRs and 47 RBIs in 94 games. I’d keep an eye on this fella.
Hey, on Thursday night, he added a double and single in his first 2 at bats, with his 32nd and 33rd steals. I’d keep an eye on this fella. Oh wait, I already said that.
Colin Houck improved and got promoted to Brooklyn. Overall, the 20 year old former first rounder still strikes out too much, but shows some power, and a fair number of walks. The Ks coming down will be a priority for him (305 in 215 games in 2024 and 2025, somewhat improved this year). His .228 overall average at 2 levels is 22 points higher than hiss’s Lucie-only numbers in 2024.
Bonus baby Simon Juan is still 19, but hitting just .215 this year.
Pitchers? Aracena, Elissault, Dohm and Raimon 104.5 Gomez stayed a while, but got dealt at the deadline.
22 y/o righty Cristofer Gomez is 7-1 in Lucie and is adjusting to Brooklyn. Similar words can be said about 22 year oOr Juan Arnaud. High strikeouts and walks.
Jose Chirinos has long hair and a nice season-so far.
Hoss Brewer (24 year old free agent) was strong in relief for Lucie, and solid in the same role so far for Brooklyn. And the same can be said for 22 yr old free agent Hunter Hodges, recently bumped to Brooklyn as well.
Daviel Hurtado, a 20 yr old LEFTY has had a strong year between FCL and St Lucie. 1.68 ERA, a little more than a K per inning.
And 20 year old LEFTY Franklin Gomez has a 1.89 ERA between St Lucie and Brooklyn.
How these pitchers will fare against increasingly higher competition remains to be seen.
I WOULD BE REMISS TO NOT ADD THIS SENSATIONAL GAME INFO:
Friday night, St Lucie led 2-1 heading into the 9th. In the 9th, 10th and 11th, each team, however, scored 8 runs, with St Lucie winning 10-9. Cool. I love runs - and wins.
Undrafted 22 year old lefty hitting catcher Chase Meggers had two RBIs and is now 12 for 36 with 5 walks in his early pro career foray. 5 for 16 caught stealing so far, too, a good defensive catcher sign in the greyhound terminal known as the FSL.
Mets Need THIS Fixed
(Stats thru Tuesday)
The Mets can hit righties.
.251/.329/.438.
Those are 12th, 6th, and 3rd, respectively, among the 30 MLB teams.
You can go to war with that.
Vs. lefties? .226/.302/.363, which ranks 24th, 17th, and 21st out of 30.
Awful.
THAT needs to be fixed this off-season.
Somehow, Alonso is .289 vs. righties, but just .213 vs. lefties this year.
That makes no sense.
Can hard-working Pete solve that one?
Hank Aaron was higher against lefties by .018/.043/.066.
Willie Mays was higher against lefties by .005/.039/.051.
Much better vs lefties. Both of them.
So why is Pete 28 points WORSE against lefties in his career?
STANEK SUCKS, SO WHAT ABOUT HAMEL INSTEAD?
Ryne Stanek stunk to high heavens, again, on Thursday, as the Mets lost, again, and extended their putrid streak to 36 losses in 58 games. His ERA exploded to 5.65.
So, why not release Stinky Stanek and call up Dom Hamel?
Well on Thursday evening, Hamel started the AAA game, pitched one inning, and allowed 7 runs on seven hits. His ERA jumped to 5.83.
Dom might just need a little time to adjust to AAA?
After all, it was only his 53rd game in AAA in 2024 and 2025.
Sproat? He gave up a seven spot on Saturday. Unlucky 7’s.
Meanwhile, Nolan McLean is already the Mets’ # 2 starter behind Peterson, while Helsley is pitching like Stinky Stanek.
And Tylor Megill is pitching like Nolan McLean. 5 shutout innings, one hit, 65 pitches in Syracuse. Smoking hot is Mr. Megill.
I have a 3 syllable fix: Megill. Tong.
RYAN CLIFFORD JUST CHANGED HIS NAME
Ryan Clifford hit 2 HRs and added a single in AAA on Friday.
His new name is Pete Clifford. He hits a lot more like a Pete, not that he’s escaped batter-binding Brooklyn and Binghamton.
RJ GORDON MUST BE GLAD HE LEFT COLLEGE
I did not talk to RJ, but I surmise a lot. I am a surmising surmiser …
Here’s why I am glad Gordon left college.
His ERA in college at Oregon in 2022? 5.64.
No 2023. I can guess why. Surgery?
His ERA in college at Oregon in 2024? 5.13.
He fanned just 135 in 163 IP in those two seasons. 7.5 Ks per 9. Yawn.
Mets draft him in round 13. I guess they saw something they liked. Those college stats were not likable, though.
Smart pick.
This first pro year, he pitches in Brooklyn and Binghamton, straight out of college; through Tuesday he was 8-2, 3.36, 112 Ks in 101 IP. Great, huh?
I guess pro ball is so much easier. What else to conclude?
Keep up the great work, RJ.
(He just did, on Wednesday…adding 7 innings of 2 hit, 0 run ball, with 7 Ks - wow, dude, wow.)
- I have an idea…release Stinky Stanek, call up RJ Gordon.
LUKE RITTER THE CLOSER?
Well, not exactly. As the other Syracuse pitchers, including Hamel, gave up 16 runs in the first seven innings, AAA infielder Luke Ritter threw a scoreless 8th and 9th. Maybe Dom Hamel and Ritter should switch positions. Or Ritter can replace Stinky Stanek.
Actually, to my surprise, it was Ritter’s FOURTH relief outing this year. 5 IP, 7 hits, 2 walks. His zero Ks show that this is not likely a new career path. But that is up to Luke.
SANTUCCI CRUSHING AA
3-0, 2.34 ERA, .162 BAA, 1.04 WHIP, and 43 Ks in 35 innings and 7 starts since being promoted to AA.
He really is superb, ain’t he?
SOMETIMES, YOU’D PREFER A LACK OF CONSISTENCY
Mike Vaccaro of the NY Post noted this after Sunday’s 4-3 loss:
“ … this was the 53rd time this season the Mets have trailed after eight innings, and the 53rd time they have lost.”
Seems impossible, when you think about it.
I do have an answer for that:
Call up John Bay and Randy Guzman. Yeah, I know they’re in Lucie Land.
But they drive in lots of runs. And they can’t do worse than 0 for 53.
10 comments:
To me...
OF John Bay has not only been a gem of a find but also Lucy's best hitter this season.
Bay is also 24 years old, 3 years passed the average age for the level, so he should have gone up to Brooklyn by now to be in AA next year. What are they waiting for? To sell tickets?
Strange organization sometimes
Gus, I’d get Bay to Brooklyn ASAP. I am annoyed that sizzling Randy Guzman getting hurt on HBP has held him back. My guess is, St Lucie playoffs, then to Brooklyn. Yonaton HENRIQUEZ, too.
Tom, many times I ask myself, why do we see things so obvious but the organization doesn’t?
I realize that there must be other factors involved that we don’t know about. What I said about Bay may in fact be the case. You have this 24 year-old that you know will never be a prospect, so leave him there and let the team sell tickets. Oftentimes, it’s hard for me to believe that all the fans see something and the guys that are paid to do this job and have nothing else to think about and read all this material, don’t consider it.
John Bay has only played in 16 games - a total of 34 AB’s thus far in his pro career. It’s a stretch to say that they are “keeping him down” to sell tickets or anything else. He may be 24 (just turned), but despite putting up big numbers at Austin Peay, he went undrafted for some reason, and since he’s entirely new to the org mid-season, they had zero opportunity to even get to know him. It’s not surprising that they started him in low-A to see what they had, and while he sure looks like he could handle A+, and perhaps he’s the rare undrafted FA who makes it to the show (it does happen), three weeks of great hitting at the level is a far cry from organizational negligence. He could get a taste of A+ before the season ends, and he’ll almost certainly start there next year with a pro off-season and a full camp under his belt and a chance to move up quickly if he’s for real.
Lots of Bay RBIs
Bay played with Benge and McClean at Oklahoma State before transferring to Austin Peay.
I wonder if it’s possible that Bay, who was a college senior and figured to get offered peanuts ($10K is the minimum) if he was drafted despite an 1.100+ OPS as a senior, and either told teams not to draft him or didn’t submit his name to the draft (can you do that?) because he heard great things from Benge/McLean and wanted to sign as a FA with the Mets.
Great article Tom! Santucci is a BEAST, there’s no reason for him or Thornton not to have been included on Top 100 Prospects Rankings.
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