Tom Brennan - Can Mets Minors Reliever Strikeout Kings Find Their Queens? Scores, Too

JACK LEATHERSICH WAS ONCE MY FAVORITE HIGH K PROSPECT

We all know two of my favorite failures that were minors strikeout kings:

Bryce Montes de Oca and Jack Leathersich. 

Pro ball Ks? Combined, the duo punched out a loud 673 in 432 innings. 

Nice, but their heavy-duty control issues (and injuries) did them in. 

End Result? Minimal MLB time for both.

Understanding that high levels of reliever Ks per 9 only seems to guarantee a trip to the upper minors, to see if control or other issues can be ironed out, who are this year’s….(drum roll)…

MIGHTY METS MINORS K KINGS?

I will only add positive information below on those who have reasonably controlled BB and WHIP levels. Why? 

If you walk too many dudes, you will not arrive in Queens soon, if ever.

And what are “too many walks”? I will just say 4.5 per 9 innings, or higher.

As such, I highlighted the 6 of the 12 relievers listed that had relatively low walks, with only 2 of those six (Nate and Saul) being fairly LOW in BBs:

AAA

Nate Lavender - his arrival in MLB is when, not if. 23 IP, 9 BB v. 39 Ks.

 - his one early 5 run outing inflated his ERA.

Ryan Lambert - 7 day IL. 14 BB in 16 IP. Yikes.

Dylan Ross - a walk per inning. Yikes.

AA

Saul Garcia - pitching great over last 8 weeks. 36 Ks, 25 IP, 8 BB.

Brian Metoyer - 34 Ks, 10 BB, 23 IP. 29 years old, but still battling.

Jefry Yan - recently bumped to AAA. 20 BB, 50 K in 29 IP. Also 29.

Gabriel Rodriguez - 21 IP, 33 Ks, 19 BBs.

HIGH A

Garrett Stratton - 44 Ks, 29 IP, 15 BB.

Chris Gomez - 38Ks, 24 IP, 16 BB.

Hunter Hodges - 36 Ks, 25 IP, 11 BB.

Juan Arnaud - 28 Ks, 21 IP, 13 BB.

FULL A

Zach Mack - his making the list was automatic. 20 Ks, 13 IP, 6 BB.

The total walks per inning for this group of 12 is really quite disturbingly high.

FCL METS? NO ONE LISTED. WHY?

120 reliever walks in 138 IP. Just unreal.

Besides control-conscious Nate and Saul, the next Mets relievers from the farmlands may have to come from less wild converted starters.

Which tangentially leads me to a related “missing persons”  question…

Perhaps only Ernest Dove our favorite Prospect Hugger can answer it: 

Whatever happened to Calvin “I only appear to be Matt Allan” Ziegler?

His last two “seasons”?  

In 2023 & 2024, just 7 IP, but 0 hits, 1 walk, 16 Ks. Tantalizing snippet.

None of those 12 relievers listed above ever did anything like Calvin.

YOU WANT SCORES?

Senga not sharp, in another dull Mets loss, 5-3. Three runs scored in two games in a hitters park. Geesh.

Syracuse wins, 6-3. Four in the 8th did the trick, despite only 5 Mets his in the game. Clifford two Ks, now up to 97 on the season. Alzolay (1-0, 3.60) gets the W. 

Binghamton (24-40) had 3 hits, including 2 hits in the 9th, in another dreary loss. Paul Articulate’s guy, JT Schwartz, had a double and HR. The HR, to dead center, broke up a no hitter. Best hitter of a brutal bunch, hitting well over his last 16 games. Brendan Girton (8.41 ERA) had another terrible outing.

Brooklyn lost 6-4. Three of their standard ration of 6 hits were by Daiverson Gutierrez, who surged all the to .181.

St Lucie won 10-3. Four guys had 2 RBIs, and the pen recorded 7 one hit shutout innings, including Zach Mack (1-0, 2.35). 

Both DSL squads lost, 4-1 and 8-4. 

The FCL Mets enjoyed their Tuesday off. I hope they all headed to the local batting range.

PROBLEM OF GETTING ON BASE SOLVED!

Just do like DSL opposing player Diego Alambarrio. 

He faced the Mets DSL team on Wednesday and got HBP 3 times. 

Making it 5 times plunked already in 31 pro plate appearances for Diego.

Who needs a bat? Not Diego.

Brett Baty does, though. In 1,275 MLB PAs, hit just SEVEN TIMES. 

Diego should pass him in HBPs later this week. 

Maybe even today, who knows?

Ron Hunt would roll over in his grave with “Yah, Yah, Ya Missed Me” Baty.