Tom Brennan - MY METS PROSPECTS: #22 DAVID THOMPSON
David Thompson has been a solid, productive 3rd baseman since being drafted in the 4th round in 2015. Especially with RBI production.
He has 185 career RBIs in 1,114 ABs, certainly impressive.
His overall hitting has been solid, but not great....and great is what gets you starting major league positions. Just ask David Wright.
In 2017, his split was .263/..325/.429, and for his career, .261/.318/.415. Like I said....solid, but not great.
He needs to ramp up the offense in 2018 (most likely in Vegas) or the Mets will look to the free agent market for 3B next year, if they don't do so this winter. I'd like to see those .263/.325/.429 #'s of 2017 become .310/.375/.525 in Vegas in 2018 to get excited about Thompson.
Consider that Travis Taijeron has had those levels for slugging and on base % while hitting .270 the past 2 years in AAA, and few are clamoring to even have him as a part time outfielder in Queens next year.
I still have Thompson behind Wily Mo Flores, Thomas Javier Rivera and even Phillip Evans at 3B, and neck and neck with Jhoan Urena, who I ranked higher than Thompson due to his strong play at 1B, greater speed, and Urena's being 2 years younger.
Thompson, to his credit, finished strong down the stretch hitting .303 in August and September in 33 games, with a .546 slugging %. A harbinger of things to come? We will see.
Some detractors early on criticized his defense, but just 12 errors over a full 2017 season is clearly acceptable.
#22 ranked...good player, certainly, but 2018 needs to be better to boost him towards the bigs. At least that is how I see it.
I will add, in line with my recent draft article themes, that the Mets smartly went with David Thompson in the draft when they did...whether he succeeds or not, drafting a potential POWER bat was a good move. Punch and Judy hitters should be avoided and power bats like Thompson's drafted, as a rule, unless a lower power guy has super speed and/or D on his resume.
11 comments:
Thomas, I agree that Thompson should be considered neck & neck with Urena. But you have the former 10 slots down and the latter neck & neck with Jeff McNeil. Either one of them is too low or (my thought) two of them are too high.
Urena is being converted to a full time outfielder for 2018
Utensils is better off in the outfield. He will do fine if he just hits more. And I just happen to go out feeling like Jeff McNeil. I'm sure I am in the minority with Jeff, but I'm rolling with it!
Utensils?
We talkin' knives and forks now?
Tom, I love your loyalty to McNeil. I really do, but showing loyalty to marginal players gets in the way of being taken serious as a writer (hint... cough: T.T. cough).
I like Thompson, but the kid seems doomed on this team. I just can't see the Mets turning over the hot corner from Wright to a rookie.
Now my sources say... never mind...
he he...
So he’s most likely projected to be a AAAA caliber player or a utility infielder ? I guess every team needs a Bob Bailor
Utensils is what my smart phone respelled Urena to. NEVER trust your smartphone, if you're smart.
After McNeil's playing days are over, I am going to head his McNeil for Congress campaign. I am sure irrational on Jeff, that's for sure, Mack. Sometimes
Mack, Thompson is not making enough of a case the past two seasons with his bat to make his being considered for 3B in Queens a compelling proposition. He can change that with a break out 2018.
Mack, spoiler alert, since my articles on prospect rankings have a few weeks to go - Travis Taijeron is no longer in my Top 50 - he had his chance and really flubbed it by his ever-present inability to make enough contact - his likelihood of getting another meaningful opportunity with the Mets seems slim at best to me.
Ed Marcus, the Mets are too over-reliant on the Bob Bailors of baseball (I am glad you brought up his name, forgot all about him). They settle far too often, while an org like the Yanks doesn't. The Mets need to set an organizational goal that anything less than a top 10 offensive team in baseball is unacceptable.
I did an article last year on Jerry Koosman and why he wasn't in the Hall of Fame - the reason is simple: the 15 years he played with the Mets, they were in the lower half of NL teams' offense EVERY SEASON! How many losses would have been wins if he was pitching for 15 years with a top half offensive squad? I dunno...75?
Still, I am not relegating Thompson to Bob Bailor status in my mind - it all comes down to whether in 2018, he can do a lot better than his .270/.330/.435 line over his 2016 and 2017 in A and AA. By comparison, Rhys Hoskins in the minors in 2016 and 2017 was .285/.390/.600. Big gap. Wilmer Flores hit much better than Thompson in the minors too. Thompson needs a surge in 2018 to separate himself from the pack.
Mack, Dom Smith is talking utensils - he needs to switch to chopsticks
Hmmm, a 5-utensile player: knife, fork, spoon, chopsticks & ... escargot pliers?
I'm not concerned about Dom (yet). More power than expected, but less patience & contact... and his Gold Glove slipped a few squares on the periodic table. I hope it's a learning experience--one that benefits from a late, lost season exposure vs. a raw, rookie regular out of the gate. I don't think that spectrum of skills is a zero sum game.
No, Thompson is not taking over from DW, if he goes "Eric Campbell" on us in LV, however, he may very well see some time in Queens.
The guy I'm most anxious to see (& not on either Mack nor Thomas' list) in AZ & AAA is Kevin Kacz. His MiL stats seem very Nimmo-like albeit half the the HR's & half the K's per AB.
David Thompson is legit Mets prospect. A Mets Top 10 in my book with real chance to be a Mets fixture for a long time. If not the Mets, than another team.
There's a very good reason for Thompson's second half surge - a change in his batting stance. He's very relaxed now, with a short, efficient swing that starts with bat on shoulder. He was a home run, and overall run producer in a big time college program and finally pulled it together as a pro in 2017's half.
He's a resilient young man, a former two-way heavily recruited baseball and football player whose had to work his way through several very serious surgeries to his throwing arm to be where he is. I think how he performs in 2018 could have big impact in how the Mets go forward at third base long term. If he shows himself to be a 20-30 homer corner infielder who plays reliable defense and overall solid Triple slash, he may get a 2018 second half call up and a chance to show he could be a long term solution.
LongTimeFan1, thanks for the great insights on Thompson. Just like Daniel Murphy accelerated mid-2015, maybe Thompson started his surge in mid-2017 with his (like Murphy's) adjusted/improved approach. I do like Thompson's K rate not being very high, so that prevents him having a Taijeron K Drag on his career. I hope you are 100% right on Thompson, and that I turn out to be way too negative.
Hobie, those are my favorite 5 utensils - the 6th one not so much. I was very high on Kaczmarski (the Nimmo comparison was a good one) heading into 2017, thinking he'd be .300 + and add power in AA - he did neither, so 2018 is a real "show me" season for him - put up or shut up time.
Post a Comment