CHRIS SUERO: A WALK MACHINE, PLYING HIS TRADE IN BINGHAMTON
INJURIES:
A) Soto return? Fairly soon. Tonight, in fact, against the Twinkies.
- Obviously, Soto is huge to ANY hopes of a Mets team rebound.
- Soto was .355/.412/.516 pre-injury.
- How will that affect Carson (9 for 63 through Sunday) Benge?
B) Polanco return? Not fairly soon.
I read this: Wrist soreness popped up postgame on April 14 in addition to his Achilles discomfort, which he had been dealing with since late March. No timetable or rehab progression has been announced yet.
- couldn’t make it through mid-April. “Good”, expensive acquisition.
C) Lindor return?
- He returned TOO SOON? 22 games, just 1 RBI.
- His 3 run homer Tuesday was the entire Mets’ offense. Just 4 Mets hits.
- Devin Williams simply SUCKED in relief, to lose it. 5 batters, no outs.
12 STRAIGHT LOSSES! WHAT!!
WHEN WILL THIS NIGHTMARE END? ANSWER: IN A LITTLE OVER 5 MONTHS.
LAD’s Edwin Soto? El Azucar will miss months with elbow chips surgery.
Call him Mr. Chips. Or Senor Chipotle.
I wonder if that relates in any way to his stint in the mid-March WBC?
WHERE THE PROBLEM LIES
The team’s record is abysmal.
Some blame the pitching.
But the Mets were 16th in ERA through Sunday. That is mediocre.
But the Hitting?
Despite 11 opening day runs, the team is DEAD LAST in scoring.
Blame the hitting. Therein lies the problem.
FIREWORKS ON THE FARM
Ronny Mauricio hit THREE HRs! Now 8 for 15, and 5 HRs, in last 4 games!
And Jonah Tong was also awesome in AAA on Tuesday. Christian Scott reportedly to start for the Mets on Thursday…how long thereafter until Mauricio and Tong resurface in Queens?
Since Benge is now 9 for 66, I think he and Mauricio should immediately switch places.
Minor Leaguer Hitter Prospects Progress To Date:
Here is how most of the top prospects are doing (thru Sunday’s action):
TOP 30 PROSPECT HITTERS
AAA:
- Ryan Clifford: Up to .254/.338/.429; pace of Ks way down in recent games
- Nick Morabito: .262/.333/.443 (3 HRs in 61 ABs)
- - Each also homered Tuesday, giving Nick 4 and Clifford 3.
AA:
- AJ Ewing: .356/.473/.489, 8 of 9 steals
- Jacob Reimer: .136/.269/.295 - SLOW START
- Eli Serrano III: .256/.365/.488 - six XBH
- D’Andre Smith: .171/.293/.343 - SLOW START
- Chris Suero: .242/.469/.606 - 14 BB, 3 HRs, 10 RBIs!
- Marco Vargas: .143/.263/.184 - SLOW START
HIGH A:
- Colin Houck: .256/.346/.326 - heating up. Two 3 hit games in his last 3.
- Daiverson G.: .220/.407/.341 - walking a lot. .407 OBPs are nice.
- Mitch Voit: .212/.268/.385 - picking it up lately.
- Antonio Jimenez: .130/.196/.283 - SLOW START
FULL A:
- Elian Peña: .333/.426/.474 - just 9 Ks in 68 ABs! Soon-coming STAR?
- Randy Guzman: .200/.344/.440 - 3 HRs, 11 RBIs, picking it up
- Simon Juan: .178/.245/.200 - YET ANOTHER SLOW START
- Others who weren’t top prospects, but are doing quite well for Lucie:
- - AJ Salgado: 315/.406/.537 - AJ IS SOCKING!
- - JT Benson: .353/.450/.588 - JT IS ROCKING!
- - Sam Robertson: .302/.455/.326 - 11 of 11 in steals; 10 RBIs! Sammy!
I will cover top prospect pitchers on Sunday, giving them a little more time to develop their early season track record.
Overall? Some hitter disappointments so far, but it is still early.
And except for in St Lucie, it is still chilly, which can’t favor hitters in the top 3 minor league rungs of the Ladder Climbing To Queens.
LASTLY…
Trevor Bauer opened the season for the LI Ducks, going 4 innings, 2 unearned runs, 5 hits, 3 walks, 8 Ks, 93 pitches.
If he had Mets bats backing him, he surely would have lost.
Tom,
ReplyDeleteWe appreciate those prospects reports. The prospects doing well makes it a little easy to swallow what we see from the Mets daily losing streak. I see hope for the future, it just needs to get here soon.
Thanks. The pitchers come on Sunday.
DeleteI’d sure like to know what is wrong with Reimer. I was disappointed that he did not start in AAA this year. And in AA, he is 6 for 49 so far (.122), with 20 Ks. Parada also a big disappointment so far at 6 for 38, but he has walked 9 times. And fanned just 9 times, so maybe some bad hitting luck for him so far.
I have to remind myself that Eastern League weather in the first 3 weeks is many times awful for hitters. Richmond, in southern Virginia, is hitting .302, but Binghamton just .194. New Hampshire is far north, but is hitting .299. Who knows?
DeleteThe prospect progress is the only place that Mets fans can take solace. C'mon Ronny, make us feel good!
ReplyDeleteIn the Shake My Head category, ex-Mets farmhand Bryce Montes de Oca pitched in 4 games, spanning 2.2 innings. Typically, he allowed one hit, but hit 2 batters and walked 3. And, typically, he is on the 7 day IL.
ReplyDeleteAnd Tom Szapucki and Matt Allan are not pitching this year.
ReplyDeleteFormer Met Anthony Kay is pitching well (2.60) in relief for the White Sox.
ReplyDeleteI confess to not paying much attention to the standings, since if the Mets keep losing, the standings are irrelevant. But I just realized that the Phillies are 8–15. Wow.
ReplyDeleteTom, may I add to your report:
ReplyDeleteManaea and Diaz have exactly the same malady. Diaz got operated on immediately, Manaea continues to pitch and will probably shut it down mid year and prepare for a strong return in his walk year next year.
Can you imagine how excited the Orioles and Phillies are with those spanking new contracts for Alonso and Schwarber? And the Mets wanted Schwarber.
Seems to me thw Mets are stuck in perpetual big game hunting. I can’t say that I knew much about O’Hearn, but if Stearns was looking for a two year stop gap at first base, did he consider the guy at all? I would think he fit better than Polanco did.