T. Brennan: METS SPOTLIGHT: KACZMARSKI & MORA
Kaczmarski and Mora....Mora and Kaczmarski...
Interesting similarities between these two chaps.
Both are outfielders.
Both played very well in limited but (to me) unexpected Mets spring training game opportunities.
Both started the seasons with very poor Aprils.
Both, through May 30, are hitting .300+ in May.
Both have decent speed,
Both lack home run pop.
Both are lefty hitters.
Mora is 5'11", 195. Kevin is 6'0", 195. (Kevin has more hair?)
Dr. Evil was asked about them and told Mini-Me that the two were friggin' clones. Pretty close to true.
John Mora, a St Lucie Met who is turning 24 next week, is a career .273/.364/.382 hitter, who started with the organization with 2 years of DSL ball in 2012 and 2013. Over his 6 years, he has a modestly successful 72 steals in 129 career attempts. He has stalled in St Lucie, having hit .246 there in 2016 with 5 homers, and .249 so far this year. Mora once had 12 triples in a season, a clear sign that he hustles.
One can hope that his solid May (.302) is a sign his High A Ball stall is over. Defensively, he really tightened it up the past two years and has 38 career assists playing all 3 outfield positions, indicative of a decent arm.
Kevin Kaczmarski turns 26 on New Years Eve, so the AA everyday player needs to stay hot to move fast. Kevin started out with an exclamation point in Kingsport in 2015, winning the batting title at .355 there after being selected in the 9th round. In 2016, he started slowly for Columbia at .180 for April, but hit .294 the rest of the season split between Columbia and St Lucie, where he hit .301 in 42 games.
While he has just 8 career homers in 821 career at bats, he excels in doubles (50) and triples (17). Interestingly, a similarly sized Justin Turner, in his 814 at bats with the Mets, had very similar 57 doubles and 8 homers. Turner added a lot of pop thereafter, showing that it is not unreasonable to think that KK can add power too.
Aside from slow Aprils, Kevin hasn't stalled at all, and is a bit fleeter afoot than Mora, having stolen 41 of 58 in his career.
While he has just 8 career homers in 821 career at bats, he excels in doubles (50) and triples (17). Interestingly, a similarly sized Justin Turner, in his 814 at bats with the Mets, had very similar 57 doubles and 8 homers. Turner added a lot of pop thereafter, showing that it is not unreasonable to think that KK can add power too.
Aside from slow Aprils, Kevin hasn't stalled at all, and is a bit fleeter afoot than Mora, having stolen 41 of 58 in his career.
His career .305/.381/.437 mark since turning pro indicates he is ahead of Mora in vying for the majors, but he, like Mora, needs to stay hot to move up fast (worth repeating, so I did).
And by hitting .341 with a .430 OB% in May, he's shot up to .285 very quickly. However, he has just 8 extra base hits in 42 games.
Defensively, he has also played all 3 OF spots, although mostly LF and RF, and is very low on career errors, but has just 12 assists in slightly over 200 career games, so let's put him at slightly above average defensively.
So far, Kaczmarski seems similar to, but perhaps not as good a prospect as, Brandon Nimmo. With so few career at bats, I could be very wrong, and I hope he proves me wrong in the months ahead and gets blistering hot to prove it.
Winning the 2017 AA batting title (he still has 60 points to make up) would be a start, as would adding more homer pop to his repertoire.
I wish both these gents the best for the rest of 2017.
May they both become clones
of current starting major league outfielders -
with BIG pay checks.
with BIG pay checks.
11 comments:
Tom -
Both these old guys got to get moving, especially Kacz.
I get the feeling (could be wrong of course) that Kacz is REALLY going to take off from here thru the end of the year.
Kacz does have to figure out how to get rid of grandy syndrome (i.e., bad in April), because April counts too
Mora has much more to prove, IMO - one .302 month in St Lucie is only a good starting point.
Kacz is only a year-and-a-half older than his 2015 draft cohorts Maz, Thompson, Corey Taylor, PJ, & Siena & Dimino and Mora, so his progress is not especially stilted.
And you know, add Szap & Lindsay to that list and it's a pretty good draft (really only Desmond is in need of serious rescue attempt).
and, oh, BTW, Victor Cruzado was on Mora's 2012 DSL team and now he's in AAA. (Daily VC plug)
Hobie -
And your point adds to my statement.
Cruzado had no dificulty proving to Mets decision makers that he should now be in Vegas, not Lucy or Columbia.
And all those 'old guys' you listed... Maz, Thompson, Corey Taylor, PJ, & Siena & Dimino ... han't gone to Queens either.
This is a young man's game. 3 years of college can be a death sentence... 4 years definitely is.
Corey Taylor has had a disappointing year this year in AA until very recently - now that he seems to be getting going again, can he survive surfing the tidal waves in Las Vegas? My guess is a lot of the really older, mediocre Vegas pitchers could get bumped soon.
Tim Peterson's AA season of dominance hit a crater-sized pot hole last nite. Two good months of relieving does not a season make.
Hobie's got me on Cruzado Watch now!
Speaking of age, here is what MILB.com had to say about Humphreys:
0.54 WHIP in May, Jordan Humphreys, Class A Columbia: Reaching base in any fashion against Humphreys was nearly impossible for South Atlantic League hitters this month. The Mets' No. 29 prospect allowed only 12 hits and two walks over 26 innings. The most batters to reach in any outing against the 20-year-old righty was five (four hits, one walk), which happened over seven scoreless frames on May 24.
Humphreys leads the Minors with a 0.66 WHIP; no one else in the Sally League has a WHIP lower than 0.82.
we talk so much about MAJOR LEAGUE prospects here...
what is Humphreys, 21 years old?
THAT's a MAJOR LEAGUE prospect
Humphreys looks like a future top of rotation guy.
From my end of the Sun Room 21 & 24 look pretty much the same, like the 80's & 90's. OK, there was some decade divide between a Met WS and a Ranger Stanley Cup but I can't pinpoint much. (Wasn't there a Dukakis/Dole something or other?)
Now 18, that's significant (like the 50's).
Howie, 21 and 24...we can only wish!
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