MACK - The Latest Top Five Lowest ERAs – Abner Mesa, Olmedo Barria, Dakota Hawkins

MACK - The Latest Top Five Lowest ERAs – Abner Mesa, Olmedo Barria, Dakota Hawkins

 

Period:     6-14 – 6-27

 

Abner Mesa      0.80-WHIP, 10-IP, 8-K, 0.90-ERA

Abner Meza is a young right-handed pitching prospect in the New York Mets organization.

Name: Abner Alejandro Meza

Born: May 6, 2007 (age 19) in Ahome, Sinaloa, Mexico

Height/Weight: 6'0" / 175 lbs

Bats/Throws: Right/Right

Position: Pitcher (primarily starter in the low minors)

Current Level: Dominican Summer League (DSL Mets Orange / Blue)

Meza signed with the Mets as an international free agent (undrafted free agent/UDFA) on January 18, 2025, for a small bonus of around $10,000. He was assigned to the DSL shortly after.

He is a low-level developmental arm who has shown promise in the DSL (Rookie-level league), with solid strikeout rates and generally good control for his age.

2025 Season (his pro debut year):   Stronger stint: 2-1, 1.67 ERA in 8 games (27 IP)

Career Minors (through 2026): 5-4 record, 2.88 ERA in 15 games (50 IP), 43 strikeouts, 1.08 WHIP. He has made mostly starts (11 GS).

Key strengths so far: High strikeout upside (K/9 often in the 7-11 range), low walk rates in better outings, and the ability to miss bats.

As a 18-19 year old in the DSL, he's still very raw and has a long way to climb through the Mets' system (FCL → Single-A and beyond).He is not a top-ranked prospect yet — more of a depth/sleeper international signee from the Mets' 2025 class — but he has performed well enough in limited innings to warrant monitoring.

 

Olmedo Barria    0.50-WHIP, 8-IP, 8-K, 0.00-ERA

Olmedo Elias Barria is a 19-year-old right-handed pitching prospect in the New York Mets organization.

Born: December 7, 2006, in Chepo, Panama

Height/Weight: 6'4" / 190 lbs

Bats/Throws: Right/Right

Position: Pitcher (RHP)

Current Level: Dominican Summer League (DSL) Mets Orange (as of 2026)

The Mets signed Barria as an international free agent on January 15, 2025. He is a relatively new professional who missed time with injury in 2025 (placed on the 60-day IL in May, activated in November) but has been active in the DSL in 2026.

Prospect Profile & Buzz

Barria stands out for his projectable frame (6'4") and exciting stuff. Mets prospect watchers have highlighted him as a "fun" pitcher to follow, with videos showing good velocity, movement, and strikeout ability in the DSL.

Recent updates from fans/prospect accounts note strong outings, such as multi-inning performances with solid strikeout-to-walk ratios (e.g., double-digit Ks in small samples early in 2026). He’s still very young and in the earliest stages of development, so he’s a high-upside arm to monitor as he progresses through the Mets’ system.

 

Dakota Hawkins    0.65-WHIP, 7.2-IP, 7-K, 0.00-ERA

Dakota Hawkins is a right-handed pitcher (R/R, 6'0", 208 lbs, born March 20, 2000, in Centralia, WA) in the New York Mets organization. He is a college undrafted free agent signee (Washington State) who signed in July 2023.

College: Played at Lower Columbia College (JC) before transferring to Washington State. In his senior year (2023), he went 5-3 with a 4.32 ERA, 92 strikeouts in 73 IP (All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention).

Pro Career: Began in the Mets system in 2023 (FCL and Single-A, scoreless in limited innings). He has mostly pitched at High-A Brooklyn Cyclones, with brief appearances at Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Syracuse. He has also seen some starting and relief work.

He has shown promise as a strike-thrower who has performed better in shorter/relief outings, and he has been part of notable feats like contributing to a combined no-hitter for Brooklyn.

Repertoire (Pitch Mix)

Hawkins works with a five-pitch mix, which he tunnels well off his fastball for deception. He pounds the strike zone, mixes effectively, and has good confidence in his breaking stuff.

4-Seam Fastball — Primary pitch, typically in the low-90s (e.g., ~92.5 mph in samples). Good spin and extension; he attacks the zone with it.

Changeup (circle-change grip) — His most-used offspeed pitch. Strong whiff rates; used for strikes and to get back into counts. His dad emphasized it from early on.

Splitter — Similar to the changeup but used more as a chase pitch (different movement/situation). Unusual to throw both, but he differentiates them effectively.

Slider — High confidence pitch; good whiff potential and horizontal movement. Often a go-to breaking ball.

Curveball — Used situationally (depending on scouting report and hitter tendencies); loopy breaking action.

Strengths: Excellent pitchability and mixing, tunnels pitches off the fastball, high strike-throwing rate, and adaptability between starter/reliever roles. Offspeed pitches (especially changeup and splitter) generate swings-and-misses.

 

 

 

Paul Articulates - Aggressive thoughts

The word "aggressive" is one of the most overused in sports.  How often do you hear a player interview where the player says they need to be more aggressive or the coach told them to be more aggressive?  How many post-success interviews start with a coach applauding a player for being more aggressive?

Aggressive can be good.  Aggressive can also be bad.  Very bad.  Let's start by defining the two sides of this coin and then move on to how it applies to the 2026 Mets.

Good aggressive is a "go get it" mentality where a player or a team plays to win versus playing not to lose.  Good aggressive is manifested in many ways:

Looking for a fastball on the first pitch in a zone that you can drive the ball.

Drawing a hard throw to second on every single.

Going first to third on a base hit to right.

Swinging on a grooved fastball on a 2-0 count, even after a walk.

Throwing strikes early in the count to get ahead.

Bad aggressive is forced activity where a player tries to "do too much" to turn adversity into recovery.  Typically it leads to greater failure and increased adversity.  Bad aggressive is manifested in many ways:

Pre-determination that you are swinging on the first pitch.

Gunning a throw from the outfield when there is no real play on a runner just to send a warning to the other team.

Attempted steal when you need multiple runs to tie.

Pulling a starter before the third time through a lineup even though he dominated the first two turns. 

The 2026 Mets have been guilty of "bad aggressive" way too much and have not shown "good aggressive" nearly enough.  This is a significant factor in their lack of success and probably stems from inadequate leadership in the dugout.  People may lament the firing of Carlos Mendoza because it was the players who didn't perform, but I would argue that with the right guidance to keep them on the "good" side of aggressive they may have done better.  That was not exclusively Mendoza's job, but he was in the strongest position to influence behavior.  So what are some examples of the "bad aggressive" that we have seen this year?

1) Quick hooks on starters to "not get in trouble" caused overuse of bullpen arms which impacted more than one game.

2) Free reign for batters to challenge pitches.  See my prior post last Thursday.

3) Every Mark Vientos at-bat.

4) Francisco Alvarez hits three home runs, then unleashes max effort swings in every successive at-bat.  He's going to hurt himself again.

5) Pinch hitting to get lefty-righty matchups even though the batter being removed is on a tear.

There are also plenty examples of not being aggressive enough that have hurt the team.  Here are a few:

1) Tim Leiper has been the least aggressive third base coach since Gary Disarcina.  He has guys going station to station that could easily take an extra base.  He has guys not even picking him up as they round second base.  There have been several players who have run through his stop sign and almost all have scored.  If there was a metric for runs not scored due to coaching decisions, he would have the most negative numbers in MLB.

2) Mets pitchers have walked 296 batters just halfway through the season.  This is an example of playing "not to lose" by nibbling at corners due to fear of the opponent getting a big hit.

3) The Mets are 25th out of 30 teams in stolen bases even though they have added speed to this year's team.  In 2025, Juan Soto had 38 stolen bases on his own.  At the halfway mark of this season, the entire Mets team has 39 stolen bases.  Why are there shackles on AJ Ewing and Carson Benge's ankles?  We miss you, Antoan Richardson!!

4) Even with the significant decrease in power on this year's roster, the Mets have not adopted a "move the runner" mentality.  There are very few bunts, either for base hits or sacrifice, and once again there is very little hitting behind the runner for productive at-bats.  A team that will hit less homers than last year continues to rely on homers to win ballgames.

I could go on, but I think you get the point.  The Mets need to loosen up, get some uniforms dirty, and play competitive baseball like kids on a back lot.  Swing like you want to hit, run the bases like your life depends on one more.  Go take the victory, and stop trying to avoid the loss.

 

Reese Kaplan -- Roster and Leadership Changes Have Finally Begun

Well, we’ve all had a few days to digest the blame shifting termination of Carlos Mendoza’s employment as skipper of the Mets.  The last time I looked Mendoza didn’t hit the ball, field the ball, steal bases, throw pitches nor do anything else on the field necessary to win ballgames.  Still, the club needed to make a tangible gesture to indicate they acknowledge that the David Stearns 2026 plan has gone completely off the rails but self accountability for a horrific roster construction is not apparently part of the current mindset.

Andy Green was a reasonable interim choice given his experience (albeit mediocre) as a former major league manager.  Many folks are already reading a lot into this move with an eye towards next season since this one is pretty much out post season competition for the folks who call Citifield home.  Having him holding the lineup pencil and making the day to day decisions is a safe albeit very much temporary choice to hold down the already pillaged fort while the club regroups for the future.

Already names are being bandied about for leadership that would be headline grabbing if not necessarily correct.  One name already surfacing in multiple places is Albert Pujols as a rookie manager.  No one is going to take anything away from the superstar status Pujols had during his long and very productive career as a hitter, but if you look at the best of the best in managerial history it’s not riddled with household name nor Hall of Fame level talents.  Was Earl Weaver a superstar as a player? 

Going into the Mets minor league organization there are no current Luis Rojas replacement types readily deserving promotion to the big chair.  Carlos Beltran’s name will obviously come up again and despite having a long association with the Mets, he has the same lack of experience in the dugout that Pujols would suffer.  What makes Beltran a bit more interesting is his all around skill defensively, offensively and on the basepaths.  Still, to correct what’s gone wrong has more to do with the guys in uniform who take the field than it does with whomever is making the defensive alignments and the stolen base decisions. 

Putting aside the managerial quandary for a moment, the other big issue for the Mets is figuring out who has a future here or as a trade chip.  Both Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing have already demonstrated enough talent that they are already written in ink for next season.  Many of the other minor league and fringe major league players are a whole lot less certain.  Nearly everyone has tired of the long failed experiments with Brett Baty and Mark Vientos.  Less clear is the potential for major league productivity for Ronny Mauricio whose injury history has undercut his ability to establish himself.  With Marcus Semien’s injury it is indeed reasonable to expect to see Mauricio 5 out of every 7 games until the expensive former Ranger returns. 

On the pitching side the David Peterson deal is long overdue as it was transparent that the southpaw has made very little of his major league career in a Mets uniform.  Until Clay Holmes is ready to take the major league mount again, you need to see how Nolan McLean, Christian Scott and any other fill-ins (like the up and down Zach Thornton) can do.  Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga have totally worn out their welcomes and it’s entirely possible that one or both could find themselves in the bullpen for most of the rest of this wasted season.  Freddy Peralta’s greatest value now is as a trade chip though his trade partner, Tobias Myers, is still very much in that Peterson/Megill fringe space that has not yet suggested he is solid going forward either.

Right now the Mets need to figure out who can possibly help in the future.  It is good news that Jorge Polanco finally hit a rehab assignment in Syracuse, but the word from nearly everyone associated with the club is that he’s prepping to be the new DH upon his return.  If that is indeed the case, then there is even less room for Baty or Vientos on the roster.  Jared Young is still being considered the regular first baseman but at age 31 and never having established himself anywhere he’s played the team must know that he like since departed M.J. Melendez and still here Eric Wagaman are what they are — spare parts. 

For now the upheaval has indeed started between Mendoza and Peterson, but it’s barely scratching the surface of long overdue changes that need to be made.  Here’s hoping the front office understands that the dearth of talent in the minors suggests that a prospect influx is a better approach than the ongoing delusion that the cast of characters not getting it done are indispensable to climb out of last place into what — an aspiration for 4th?

STRIKE NEWS - UPDATE

 

 

Strike News

 

Lots of good stuff in this update…

 

The latest proposal from the owners call for a max contract length of five years for free agent players switching teams, six years to retain their own players and no deferred contracts. Qualifying offers are gone and five years to free agency for players 30 or older.

Free agents would be limited to five-year, $202 million contracts. (That is 15% of the proposed cap number and would rise.)

Juan Soto's deal with the New York Mets was for 3x the years and 3.8x the dollars.

MLB proposes that the minimum salary rises to $1 million,

Union chief Bruce Meyer ain’t a happy puppy. He believes there will be an MLB lockout Dec.1. Says players will receive $500M pay cut if salary cap was in place. Calls the MLB’s international draft proposal, ‘Horrendous.’ Anticipates the union will have one more meeting with MLB before the All Star Game, which is similar schedule to the last CBA in 2021. Insists the players will not crack and not accept a salary cap under any condition.

 

Full details:

 

An increase in minimum salary — up to $1MM from the current $780K but only for pre-arb players who earn a full year of service or who have already reached two full years of service. (Twenty-two percent of players who have two-plus years of service are already arbitration-eligible as Super Two players.) The actual base salary for pre-arbitration players who don’t accrue a full year of service would be $900K.

Free agency after five years (rather than six) for players who are 30 or older when they reach that point as well as elimination of the qualifying offer system. In exchange for this, the league seeks to have free agent contracts capped at five years for players who change teams. A player re-signing with his prior team could sign for a maximum of six years. The size of those contracts would vary based on revenue under the cap/floor model. Based on last year’s numbers, the “max deal” for a player re-signing with his own team would be six years, $265MM.

Elimination of deferred money in contracts.

Creation of a “Cornerstone Player” provision that draws from the NBA’s Bird Rights provision.

Tom Brennan - They Say That Choking Up Is, Hard To Do

 (CUE UP THE SOUNDTRACK “WHEN YOU WHIFF UPON A STAR…”)

Or…“THEY SAY THAT CHOKING UP IS…HARD TO DO…”

A little play on words on an old popular pop song. 

Sung By Neil Sedaka. He was a real “hit”.

With strikeouts ultra-abundant in baseball, I wonder if choking up is passé.

Mark Vientos with any count of two strikes, through Sunday June 21?

.098/.143/.161 in 108 two strike plate appearances.

Two strikes, Career? .138/.201/.236. 

May I put it gently?   Preposterously terrible.

Has anyone ever seen him choking up? 

I am sure he must, except that I must have repeatedly missed it myself.

Jeff McNeil, meanwhile, a classic choker-upper, in his career?

.218/.297/.311 with 2 strikes. 

Far superior. A serious hitter.

Pitchers at 2 strikes have an advantage. McNeil has always neutralized it.

My admonitions to Mets hierarchical types are two-fold:

1) Have your lads do everything possible to not get to 2 strikes. SWING!

And…

2) When your lads do get to 2 strikes, get them to protect the dish as if they were defending their homes against an armed intruder. 

TOO MANY STRIKEOUTS. 

Down on the farm, the epidemic rages:

Syracuse? 638 Ks in 75 games. 8.5 per game.

Binghamton?  689 Ks in 69 games. 10.0 per game.

Brooklyn? 714 Ks in 68 games. 10.5 per game.

St Lucie? 677 Ks in 68 games. 10.0 per game.

Terrible. 

In those 2,718 K at bats for those 4 teams, I ran a quick calculation.

They are batting .000.

Brennan Advice? 

Go OLD SCHOOL…

Choke up. Protect the dish. 

After all, it’s YOUR DISH, and the pitcher is trying to bust up your china.

And pitchers? They can REALLY bust up “two strike china”.

Maybe Vientos, if he choked up, rather than simply choked, would be a still bad .160/.200./.230 this year on 2 strikes, rather than his unreal  .098/.143/.161.  

Do that .160 on 2 strikes over over a full season, and Vientos might even have a positive WAR, rather than a very-career-threatening negative 0.8 WAR.

He’ll be choking up if his career prematurely ends because he didn’t choke up.

ANOTHER DSL BEAUTY(?)

The two Mets’ DSL teams faced off against one another on Saturday, in a 7 inning game that featured just 9 hits, and ended 8-7.

15 runs on 9 hits seems like a lot, but in the 7 inning contest, they still managed to combine to have 21 runners left on base.

How? 

Well, there were 10 walks, for each team, as well as 9 hit batsmen, and 7 wild pitches. Wow. 

That’s a LOT of wild and wooly action in 7 innings. 

29 walks and hit batsmen in 7 innings? SMH.

Semi-pro ball caliber, maybe. Or, maybe less.

After all, the Braves’ DSL team has walked an astonishing 193 batters in 138 innings. 

The Mets’ 2 DSL teams’ pitchers, combined? 

“Just” 273 walks in 306 innings (8 per 9 innings).

ON A POSITIVE NOTE…

Exclude Benge’s fairly brief deep early season struggles, and he and AJ Ewing have simply been terrific. They combined for 4 hits last night.

Mark Vientos (0 for 3, .217) is probably hoping he gets traded to the Cubs.

Tom Brennan: Draft Power Arms & Power Bats; Unserious Hitting Prospects

I Was Very Pleased When the Mets Drafted 

This Guy’s Power Bat 

I have repeatedly written articles on effective drafting philosophy - simply:

Draft Power Arms and Power Bats.

I reached that conclusion because so, so, so, so many Mets draftees in recent decades just didn’t have a power bat or a power arm, or even world class sprinter speed, and therefore should’ve been passed on. 

Only draft players with the best tools - period - and most of those players won’t pan out, but a few each season will, and they probably will turn into stars. The Mets have had far too few hitting stars come out of their farm system via the draft in the last quarter of a century. 

Simply:

Draft power arms and power bats.

Case in point: 

In 2022, the Mets drafted Kevin Parada with the #11 overall. Good college power for a catcher, but they drafted a catcher with skills, not the most toolsy guy available. Mistake, seemingly.

- Parada has mostly struggled in the upper minors.

And then, with # 14, drafted Li’l Jett, an all around player of short stature. 

- Jett is now struggling at AAA in the Brewers system.

They could have drafted Jacob Misiorowski, instead. Regarding that lad, pitching against MLB HR leader Kyle Schwarber in a recent June game, the following was written by Matt Reigle, Outkick Sports:

“…the Misiorowski pitch was officially (clocked at) 104.5 mph, which was the fastest pitch ever thrown by a starting pitcher.”

“As hard as it was, though, there's a good chance Schwarber didn't notice it being much faster than any other pitch that at-bat. That's because all five pitches he faced were north of 103 mph, with the third pitch of the at-bat, a called strike, also hitting the 104 mark.”

He is a Jacob deGrom arm, but a higher performance deGrom model. 

The Mets passed on him.  I would have drafted that guy. Not the short guy, at # 14. Misio has a Power Arm Extraordinaire.

Sure, other teams passed on him, too, but one of those early Mets picks for Parada and Jett should have been for the Misio Man. Why?

Draft Power Arms, Power Bats.

That mantra also includes hyper-speedsters like AJ Ewing. Power legs.

Draft only top tier tools players only, until none remain on the draft board.

So, OK - make it Draft Power Arms, Power Bats, AND Power Legs.

Can you deviate? Yes, if you have a guy like Carson Benge that you are absolutely convinced cannot miss.

Otherwise, stick to the mantra.

TWO UNSERIOUS HITTING PROSPECTS

The Mets’ Top 30 prospects list has Ryan Clifford at # 2, Jacob Reimer at # 3.

Based on their 2026 results so far, those rankings are so unserious that I have to ask, “Are you serious?” 

Thru Friday:

Clifford was hitting .197, just 40 RBIs in 311 PAs, 113 Ks in 75 AAA games.

Reimer was hitting .212, just 17 RBIs in 214 PAs, 57 Ks in 50 AA games.

COMBINED? .206, 20 HRs, 57 RBIs and 170 Ks in 525 PAs.

That normally should exclude you from a Top 30 list altogether.

Past the basic stats, here is a key indicator they are unserious:

Just 2 HBP in 2026, in 525 combined plate appearances. None since April 26.

No one likes to get hurt.  But, as Mark Canha the ex-Met learned, learning how to absorb HBPs gets you on base, which increases your OBP, and higher OBPs make you more valuable. 

Mark was hit 141 times in 4,100 PAs. That added a lot to his career OBP. 

And, I contend, helped keep him in the major leagues longer.

One other huge negative: 170 Ks in 525 PAs?  Crazy high.

Do they teach guys to choke up and put the ball in play with 2 strikes anymore? 

Do these guys take too many pitches? 

I don’t have stats on hitting with two strikes for them. Using Mark Vientos as a proxy, Mark is simply horrendous on two strike counts. And he currently is a decidedly better hitter than these two prospects, by a wide margin. 

By extrapolation, these two need to stop being unserious on two strike counts.

I did see this excerpt from a 2024 Baseball America article on Clifford, confirming what I suspected: 

“While he has double-plus raw power, Clifford has one of the lowest swing rates in the minor leagues and can be too passive at times, especially when challenged by upper-level pitchers. He hit with two strikes nearly two-thirds of the time in 2024, with his chase rate nearly doubling in that situation.” 

It seems nothing has really changed there in 2026. 113 Ks in 75 games.

These two Mets prospects need to get SERIOUS, or they may never even get to that ballpark in Queens.

Clifford at least is durable. 

Reimer was again on the IL as I wrote this and has missed a huge amount of time to injury (mostly in 2024, and to lesser degrees in 2025 and 2026). You need to play a lot to improve.

C’mon, guys. Get SERIOUS. Your career clocks are ticking.

MACK – The Latest Hot Bats – Anthony Delgado, Bohan Adderley, Yonny Hernandez

 

 

 

John From Albany keeps churning out this list and I keep sending it your way.

 

Period 6/15-6/24                              

1B/LF Anthony Delgado/DSL Orange -   .471/.609/.588/1.197

Anthony Delgado is a 19-year-old minor league outfielder (also listed at 1B) in the New York Mets organization, playing in the Dominican Summer League.

Born: January 27, 2007 (age 19) in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Height/Weight: 6'0" / 190 lbs.

Bats/Throws: L/R.

Signed: As an undrafted free agent (UDFA) by the Mets on January 15, 2024.

He is a low-profile international/development signing who began his pro career in the DSL.

2024 (DSL Mets Orange): 27 games, 67 AB  .194 AVG, 13 H (2 2B, 1 3B), 0 HR, 0 RBI (listed), 5 SB, 15 R. 

Strong walk rate → .386 OBP, .640 OPS.

Career Minor League (through available data): Limited to DSL so far, with a .188/.404/.275 line over ~80 AB, emphasizing on-base skills and speed over power.

Missed most/all of 2025 due to injury (placed on 60-day IL in May 2025, activated November 6, 2025).

He is a very early-stage prospect with limited exposure. His profile shows contact/patience tools and speed, but power is still developing (low extra-base output so far). No major prospect rankings or scouting reports appear prominently yet, which is common for DSL UDFAs at this stage.

 

Period 6/16-6/25

Bohan Adderley/FCL Mets      -      .571/.600/.786/1.386

Bohan Adderley is a 19-year-old (born November 10, 2006, in Nassau, Bahamas) outfielder/shortstop in the New York Mets minor league system. He stands 6'3" and weighs 180 lbs, bats and throws right-handed.

Adderley signed with the Mets as an international free agent in January 2024 (reportedly for around $350,000). He came from the International Elite (I-Elite) Sports Academy in the Bahamas and was one of the Mets' 2024 international signees. He initially had little interest in baseball as a child but returned to the sport around 2015, inspired by his older brother and friends. He has cited Bahamian MLB player Jazz Chisholm Jr. as a mentor.

2024 (DSL Mets Orange, Rookie): 47 games, .229 AVG, .356 OBP, 1 HR, 27 RBI, 27 SB in 188 PA. Showed strong on-base skills and speed but struck out quite a bit (26%).

2025 (FCL Mets, Rookie): 49 games, .175 AVG, .296 OBP, 3 HR, 15 RBI, 21 SB in 189 PA. Struggled with contact but maintained some power/speed.

Career Minor League Totals (through mid-2026): Roughly .209-.221 AVG, modest power, high strikeouts, but strong base-stealing ability (dozens of SBs) and improving plate discipline.

He primarily plays outfield (with some shortstop/infield experience) and is known for his athleticism, size, and speed.

As a toolsy, athletic prospect from the Bahamas still in Rookie ball at age 19, Adderley is a high-upside developmental player. His profile emphasizes speed and defense, with work needed on consistent hitting and reducing strikeouts. He has not yet reached full-season ball (e.g., Low-A). Mets fans view him as an intriguing international signee with potential to rise if he improves his bat.

 

Yonny Hernandez/Syracuse Mets      -      .444/.522/.667/1.189

Yonny Hernández (full name: Yonny Jose Hernández) is a Venezuelan switch-hitting infielder (primarily shortstop, second base, and third base) in the New York Mets organization.

Born: May 4, 1998 (age 28 as of 2026) in Maturin, Venezuela.

Height/Weight: 5'8" / 140 lbs (listed variably as 5'8"-5'9").

Bats/Throws: Switch / Right.

Nickname: "Mosquito" (due to his small stature and speed).

Signed: By the Texas Rangers as an international free agent in 2014 (signing bonus $200k).

He has brief MLB experience with three teams but has mostly been a depth player:

Debut: August 5, 2021, with the Texas Rangers.

Teams: Texas Rangers (2021), Arizona Diamondbacks (2022), Los Angeles Dodgers (2023).

Career MLB stats (69 games, 221 PA): .190/.286/.222 slash line, 0 HR, 10 RBI, 13 SB, 22 R.

Best year: 2021 with TEX (.217/.315/.252, 11 SB in 43 games).

Very limited pop (no career MLB homers, low ISO), but he draws walks at a decent rate and has speed.

He has not appeared in the majors since 2023.

Hernández is a classic speed-and-contact utility infielder with a long track record in the minors:

Strong base-stealer (hundreds of stolen bases career-wide).

2025 (with Mets): Solid .303/.380/.372 slash in 114 games across AA/AAA, with good on-base skills and low strikeouts.

He signed a minor-league deal with the Mets in December 2024 after time with the Brewers (released July 2024), Dodgers, and independent ball (Long Island Ducks).

As of 2026: Playing for the Syracuse Mets (Triple-A).

Strengths: Switch-hitter with plate discipline, speed (steals bases), and versatility across the infield. Good contact skills and low strikeout rates at times.

Weaknesses: Very little power (rarely hits for extra bases or homers). Small frame limits impact.

He's more of an organizational depth/utility piece than a high-upside prospect at this stage.

He's a classic "glue guy" type who can fill in at multiple positions and provide speed, but his lack of power has kept him from sticking in the majors long-term.

Tom Brennan - What Should You Call These Things?

We Should Call The Above: 

“ONE DOWN AND ONE TO GO”

First: 

Carlos Mendoza was canned as manager on Friday.

Answering Resse Kaplan’s April 17 headline: Should Mendoza Be Fired

You call it whatever you want.

I call it: LONG OVERDUE

Would this Mets team have done much better if Billy Martin managed it?

Second: 

The second lowest qualifying hitter’s OBP in the majors is E. Tovar: .254.

Mark Vientos is just short of “qualifying” PA’s, but his awful OBP is .255.

Basically, give or take a point, he is the equivalent of # 2. 

Besides OBP:

He stinks at fielding and base running, and at hitting with 2 outs and RISP, and is hitting under .100 when his at bats reach two strikes.

I call him: AN EX-NY MET, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

So should you, I surmise.

Third, and Final:

What player is getting $20MM this year, and has cost the Mets $10MM per RBI?

I call him: JORGE POLANCO. WITH 2 RBI’S. MONEY WELL SPENT.

By comparison:

Charlie Ferguson, as a pitcher in 1887, drove in 85 runs. Not paid $20MM.

I could go on indefinitely, but will stop here. 

Have you got any of your own that you want to add?

METS LOST AGAIN, DESPITE A STRONG ZACH THORNTON START

TOP 30 AND COLE MATHIS

Obtained in the David Peterson trade, Mathis was slotted in as the Mets’ # 14 prospect. 

Ryan Clifford is # 2, despite his batting .197 with 113 Ks in 75 games?

Totally understandable. Right?  NOT.

Me? I think we should switch Mathis to # 2 and Clifford to # 14, myself.

Mathis did not play on Friday night.

SIMON JUAN ELEVEN GAME HITTING STREAK FOR ST LUCIE

Juan has climbed to .199. Not thunderous, but a real improvement lately.

Reese Kaplan -- So Is This Trade a Start or an End?

Now that the first shoe has finally dropped, long overdue and certainly welcome, people are still left wondering what the Mets will do between now and the August 3rd trade deadline.  Losing David Peterson after his many years of varying levels of competence and ineptitude is not going to cause any Mets fans nor media types to experience agita as he was pitching to an ERA north of 6.00 and would leave as a free agent at year’s end anyway.  If anyone bet that Peterson would be the first member of the 2026 major league roster to be calling for a moving van, it would likely have come with fairly long odds.  Still, small as the return was it is somewhat reassuring to see the heretofore immobile and unresponsive front office to show they have a pulse after all.

While losing Peterson won’t really impact the Mets in a major way with Christian Scott expected back shortly to take his place while Zach Thornton keeps his seat warm, it does initiate some dialogue among anyone with a passing interest in the team about what will or won’t happen next.  Yes, it’s easy to say they should cash in by fortifying their prospect pool by moving veteran players who simply are not fitting or who are not long term solutions, but there is the flip side which is an annoying but accurate assessment of how the team should plan its immediate future.

Going into this weekend the Mets stand roughly 7 games out of the last playoff spot.  Read that sentence again.  The team that just recently dropped three in a row to the Cubs including the six error debacle on Wednesday’s game two currently stands with a record of 34-46 prior to playing the 4th game against Chicago, 14.5 games out of first place and sporting a winning percentage of just .425 while hitting the new low plateau of being 12 games under .500.  In order for the Mets to advance enough to sniff October baseball it would take a biblical level of injury catastrophes to multiple other teams before any opening would arise offering up a razor thin path to respectability.  Yes, it could happen.  So could winning the lottery.  I don’t buy tickets for that windfall either. 

For folks who live in the world of wanting to see something happen now rather than later, they are ready to push a house cleaning in order to use the balance of the 2026 miasma convert into something with long term implications of future success as new faces fill the locker room from the minors and from other teams.  They don’t want to see more M.J. Melendez or Jared Young types getting day to day playing time when it would be more beneficial to find the next Carson Benge or A.J. Ewing. 

As it stands right now the club doesn’t have a lot of wealth on the offensive side in AAA short of recently recalled Ronny Mauricio to cover for now injured Marcus Semien.  It’s not as if they could push Ryan Clifford or Nick Morabito into the everyday lineup and suddenly they morph into superstars.  The club needs higher level talents for the future and moving some veterans may be the way to get them. 

The longer you wait to make these deals has two direct impacts.  First, you are shortening the window of benefit for another team for the remainder of August, September and hopefully October.  Consequently the return in these trades will be smaller then than they would be now when they could benefit from the entire month of July as well.

From the Mets side, hanging onto the veterans could help justify the last gasp attempt to force themselves into respectability but part of a management team’s job is not simply to act like hopeful fans but also to bank on what is needed for the future.  If 5+ more weeks of Freddy Peralta and others is somehow the miracle drug we’re fairly certain it is not, then wouldn’t it make more sense to maximize the return to improve 2027 than accepting whatever scraps are offered up in August?

The Mets are saying this first trade is not a fire sale signal. Maybe that is true. Maybe it is not.  It is indeed unexpected and welcome.  Now what happens next?