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| Carlos Cortes - Photo Courtesy of Ernest Dove |
I was glancing at the Athletics’ MLB player hitting stats to see how rookie Nick Kurtz did. ( Ans.: Great).
As I looked, lo and behold, I found out the following, which I posted the other day, about one former Mets minors prospect whom I did not realize had reached the majors:
“I recently wrote about ex-Mets hitters who just DO BETTER after leaving the Mets’ organization. I just found another one:
In 120 at bats in his rookie MLB year, he hit an exemplary .309, with 8 doubles, a triple, and 4 homers, and a .543 slugging %.
His name? CARLOS CORTES, now of the Athletics.
While they had him, the Mets promoted him exactly how many times?ZERO.
How would they possibly have known with Cortes?
Well, I wrote this in August 2023, another article the Mets front office most likely ignored:
“Carlos Cortes, the forgotten AAA man, is hitting .292/.420/.583 in August after 3 AAA hits.”
Just too funny, I say to myself, as I grimace. Another gotaway.
The Athletics’ payroll, per Spotrac, was $79 million, which is less than the Mets paid in 2925 just for two players - Soto and Lindor. The As’ bargain-priced team had just 33 fewer runs and 5 fewer homers - and 34 more doubles - than the Mets.”
So, since I was on that As’ page, I thought I would do what I love to do:
Give the law firm of Cohen and Stearns some unsolicited, and hopefully not unheeded, advice.
My old super-aggressive A’s “buddy”, Brent Rooker, swung at 44% of first pitches. He ended up with 30 HRs (99 in the last 3 seasons) and 74 extra base hits (XBH). Not as good as his 2024, but 99 HRs the past 3 seasons ain’t shabby.
Star A’s catcher Shea Langeliers swung at 36% of first pitches, and in just 523 plate appearances, had 31 HRs, 63 XBH, and hit .277…when you hit .277, you don’t have to be quite as aggressive as Brent Rooker.
36%? Not passive, but not super-aggressive.
A’s Nick Kurtz and his unconscious .619 rookie slug %? He swung at just 28% of first pitches, which I interpret to be that pitchers worked him very carefully, giving him less of anything decent to swing at on the first pitch. Guy’s a freak.
A’s Tyler Soderstrom, 23, swung at 42% of first pitches….aggressive indeed. 25 HR and 60 XBH in 624 PAs, a heck of a performance at age 23.
NOW…ON TO OUR VERY OWN BATY AND VIENTOS:
Vientos got his first pitch swing rate in 2025 up to 33%, from 31% at mid season. He accordingly hit better in the second half as he got more aggressive, no surprise.
I’d recommend to his new coaches a 40% minimum first pitch swing target.
Why? Because in the huge number of at bats where he was at 2 strikes, he hit a horrific and minuscule .133/.206/.236.
But hit .333 on pitches where he concluded his at bat on a zero strike count.
Baty swung at just an extremely low 29% of first pitches, while hitting AA skimpy .161/.228/.243 on counts reaching any count with 2 strikes.
But, Baty hit a sizzling 32 for 76 (.432) on pitches where he concluded his at bat on a zero strike count. I like .432, how about you?
I’d target Brett’s first pitch swing rate to go up from a paltry 29% to 39%.
If Baty and Vientos hit my higher, aggressive first pitch swing targets, their overall numbers likely will skyrocket. In fact…
I guarantee it.
But don’t stop there, mon frere.
Move those far-out home fences in by 5-7 feet (and 8 feet in CF) , too, and heck, the Mark/Brett duo might just rack 80 HRs in 2026.
Neither being fast, they can have the added benefit of circling the bases as slowly as they’d like when they hit their many HRs.
I want to hear your aggressive thoughts. Do you want Mark and Brett to hit 80 homers in 2026, or not?
ARIZONA BASHING
I love Arizona Fall ball. Why? I love scoring.
On Saturday, Scottsdale scored “just” 11 runs. JUST?
Well, on Sunday, they led 13-3 - after just 2 innings. A 15-4, 7 inning win.
The Scotties have scored 92 runs in 10 games. Yeah, baby.
Even Kaopectate cannot stem the flow of runs out west.
I do have to mention that I love the season start of some dude named Esmerlyn Valdez.
10 for 20, an incredible 7 HRs, and 13 walks. Insane.
No, he is not a Mets prospect.
My suggestion? Sign everyone named Esmerlyn that you can find.
18 comments:
Happy Tuesday. You folks are a big hit with me.
Morning
Re: Carlos Cortes
The question seems to be should Cortes have been one of the five outfielder or two DHers for the 2025 Mets.
A player gets to be considered for something like this based on what he did for that team in the minors
In 2024, he hit below .250 for Syracuse
In 2023, he hit below .250 for Syracuse
In 2022, he hit below .230 for combined Binghamton/Syracuse
Fansgraph rates his arm as fringy with a 20/30 rating out of 80
So
Should he have replaced one of Nimmo, Soto, Marte, Taylor, and McNeil?
Re: Brett and Mark
I'm old fashined.
I only swung at a first pitch if I thought I could hit it. That means it normally had to be in the zone.
I have not been a fan of this "work for a walk" plan the Mets coaches created. I'm sure it also frustrated some players.
For me, Baty is my full time third baseman going forward regardless if he swings or not. So, work from there and set a new plan.
Vientos would be a platooned DH or first baseman if Pete leaves and no one decent is signed
Re: Kaopectate
Not sure if we ever used this word in a post before
It would be good to ask Cortes himself. I do recall he dealt with some injuries, and seemed to miss too many games, but his OBP was not bad and his Ks were low. You wonder if he just felt blocked and could not wait to leave, electing free agency last Nov. He suddenly hits .322/.414/.603 in the PCL, then put up the great MLB numbers I noted in my article with the Athletics. Vasil left and soared. Orze left and blossomed. Now Cortes. One needs to ask what is the organization doing wrong?
He is ambidextrous, so can you add his scores on throwing together? That would make him a 60 😁
But seriously, if I had a choice last November between keeping low K Cortes or signing Super K Siri, I would have opted for the cheaper Cortes.
Mack, I only want the evaluated hitters to swing at strikes on strike one. But, in Vientos’ case, we all saw too many good strikes watched for strike one, only to end up flailing helplessly at a 2 strike slider off the plate for strike 3. That can and should be fixed thru aggression. Some guys really hurt themselves trying to work the pitcher.
In Mark’s case, a sizable 54% of his at bats reached 2 strikes. In those 54%, over half his PAs, he hit .133/.206/.226.
Looked at another way, 46% of his at bats ended on 0 strike or 1 strike counts.
His numbers on those 46% were huge. 69 for 198 (.350), 28 extra base hits.
So, he should be trying to make that 46% climb closer to 60%. His overall numbers will climb, too.
He only threw righty in the infield. Then, only threw lefty in the outfield. Ya gotta wonder what hand he used in the shower.
but still... where would he have slotted into the 2025 Mets? I'm sure someone sat him down and told him he was going to have to repeat AAA again and he bolted
I still remember the day Juan Lagares reported to the Savannah camp for the first day/media day. I saw him and said out loud :Lagarus, what the hell are you doing back here?" He turned to the manger amd said "SEE? EVEN MACK THINKS THIS IS WRONG". He was pulled into a back office and you could hear him from the field. By the end of that day he had packed and shipped out to St. Lucie.
good plan, but we shall see... I just don't think he has the plate discipline to develop into a productive major leaguer
Re: Lazarus
It was the 3rd assignment of Savannah for him
Interesting on Lagares. He made money despite a so-so bat. I preferred his bat over Siri by a mile. And somewhat better than Tyrone Taylor. Lagares got hurt SO MUCH.
You remember that yarn I wrote how he became an outfielder?
I talked to him once bout his injuries and how he played the game
Said that all he ever wanted to do was catch the ball
Last October, all we heard was how the Dodgers hunt strikes. They don’t swing at balls very often. I recall the Yankees of the late 90’s did the same. How do you teach that?
It comes from the player called plate discipline
Usually comes with age
Boy, Vlad Guerrero is having some post season. And just 3 Ks in about 50 times up. Glad we kept Pete.
Tom's word is binding.
I think Cortes is like many talented AAA players that could perform in MLB if given a consistent shot. The A's were short enough on outfield talent that they were able to give Cortes a lineup spot and the confidence that he would stay there. If the Mets called him up under the pressure of a pennant race he would have failed the "tryout" and been sent back down.
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