Tom Brennan: New Favorite Minor League Guy; Criticism Where Criticism is Due

 

HEY!! I SEE SOME GOOD THINGS WITH THIS GOMEZ GUY

When I look at hitters that are relatively new to the scene, I am interested in the tools.

 * Can they hit for average? 

 * Can they get on base? 

 * Do they have any power? 

 * Can they run?

 * Are strikeout levels good, or scary?

The defensive part very early on is hard to estimate. So leave that out for now.

I am distinctly unimpressed with any DSL stats, especially this early in the season, because the pitching in the DSL is simply barely professional, simply on the number of walks allowed. So, I am not looking there.

 So who is my favorite new-name, low Minors guy?

Vladi Gomez.

A 20 year old 5’11” lefty hitting, righty throwing OF/2B/3B, his FCL Mets slash line through the first 35 games this year, .341/.458/.482.  NICE.

20 steals in 23 tries, in just 109 plate appearances. And just 21 Ks. Power? Too early to discern from the stats. 

He will take a walk (14) or get HBP (6) to boost that OBP.

He has stolen 81 of 92 in his early pro career, nice.

He has been hit by pitch an amazing 32 times in 633 pro PAs. 

Somewhere, no doubt, MLB’s premiere pin cushion, Ron Hunt is smiling. 

Brett “I Don’t Like Pain” Baty, the “proud owner” of just 9 HBPs in 1286 MLB plate appearances, most likely thinks Gomez is nuts.

But Gomez GETS ON BASE. 

Baty’s career OBP is .295.

Nimmo, a clearly superior version of Brett Baty, has not been bashful. 

HBP 93 times in 4692 PAs. His career OBP, in part due to that, is .362.

Anyway, back to Gomez. Let’s keep it up there, Vladi. 

How about a promotion to St Lucie soon? 

He started out there well for 6 games in April (.391 OBP), so he certainly looks ready for bigger challenges.

Before I leave the Vladi scene, the Mets signed Vladi Guerrero (related to you know who) in 2024. 

He was a DSL bust, and is out of baseball already, having not yet quite turned 20.

His last season in 2025, he was up 99 times. HBP? Zero. 

Telling stat, to me, that HBP %.

CRITICISM WHERE CRITICISM IS DUE

“The Mets Suck” non-fiction book has oh, so many chapters.

Bo Bichette, tho’, deserves a reprieve. 

He was a sizzling .346/.361/.590 thru June 23.

But in June, thru June 23 (I wrote this a few days ago, so I did not update these miserable numbers):

Vientos is .194/.231/.387

Semien is .186/.260/.386.

Baty is .167/.262/.185.

Ultra pathetic. A whole lot of Pepto Abysmal from those three.

If those three jackanapes could do something amazing in June like hit .240, the Mets might actually win a few.

They might even actually NOT suck.

Also, thru June 23, Mets starters have the 4th worst starter ERA (4.87).

The worst, Colorado, can always be excluded for obvious reasons, so amongst teams that are under a mile in altitude, the Mets are 3rd worst.

And that sucks.

I AM TRULY IMPRESSED

Roughly 11 months after his Tommy John surgery, Dedniel Nunez is pitching in rehab games. If all goes well we will see him after the All Star Break. A tip of my cap to Dedniel.

METS WIN 3-0 BEHIND MCLEAN

1968 Mets low-scoring baseball is BACK! 

Very briefly, in the minors…

Morabito (scorching of late) and Voit (.250) had 3 hits apiece, and Clifford went 0-5 with 3 Ks. Now 117 Ks as June wraps up.

Luis Robert a hit and walk, and Polanco 0-3, for Syracuse in rehab.

Daviel Hurtado is putting up the organization’s best pitching stats, after his brilliant 6 innings of no run, one hit, 8 Ks pitching for Brooklyn. He has a sizzling 0.69 WHIP this year. A 21 year old lefty.