From The Desk – Shervyen Newton, Andres Gimenez, Curt Schilling, Kevin Plawecki, Royce Ring

Good morning.

Fangraphs  Top 25 Mets Prospects –

         

   5. Shervyen Newton, SS

            Signed: July 2nd Period, 2015 from Netherlands (NYM)

           Age     19.7    Height 6′ 4″    Weight            180     Bat / Thr         S / R    FV       45+

          Tool Grades (Present/Future)

         Hit       Raw Power     Game Power  Run     Fielding          Throw

        20/40       50/60                20/50         50/50    40/50              55/55

Newton was the best of a small contingent of prospects who the Mets pushed right past the GCL and straight to advanced rookie-level Kingsport for their first American summer. There, Newton outperformed even the most optimistic expectations, hitting .280/.408/.449 with 23 extra-base hits. Newton is much more of a physical marvel on which to dream than he is a polished performer. At a very projectable 6-foot-4, he’s the size of an NFL wide receiver prospect and already has considerable raw power that projects to plus at maturity. It’s rare for infielders this size to stay at shortstop, but Newton looks natural and comfortable there even though he clearly hasn’t totally grown into his body yet and appears uncoordinated at other times. Even if he outgrows short, switch-hitting third basemen with power are extremely valuable. Newton has less bat control and feel to hit than his .280 batting average would otherwise indicate, and there’s a chance he’s always strikeout prone and doesn’t get to some of his power. But it’s unreasonable to expect a switch-hitting teenager this size to have fully sentient bat control, and the ceiling on Newton if everything actualizes is superstardom. This is one of the more high-variance prospects in the minor leagues.

Addy Baird  - @addysue - Remember when Julian Edelman (Matt Harvey’s fav athlete) stole Matt Harvey’s girlfriend and Matt didn’t show up for a game and got suspended for three days

MLB.com: 30 best defensive prospects   -- 1 for each team-

           

PC - Ed Delany

Mets: Andres Gimenez, SS, No. 1 (MLB No. 55)

The shortstop on our All-Defense Team, Gimenez reached Double-A in 2018 as a teenager. While he needs to add strength offensively, he has everything he needs to play shortstop defensively in the big leagues. He has plus hands, range and the internal clock to allow him to slow the game down.

Curt Schilling  'deserves to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame,' –

         

   Schilling, a three-time World Series champion -- with the Diamondbacks in 2001 and the Red Sox in 2004 and 2007 -- finished his career with a 3.46 ERA and 3,116 strikeouts. He never won the Cy Young Award, finishing second in voting three times.

He is perhaps most famously known for the "bloody sock game," Game 6 of the American League Championship Series against the Yankees, on Oct. 19, 2004. In that game, Schilling pitched despite having an ankle injury, and TV cameras focused on the blood visible on his sock during the game, which Boston won 4-2.

           

Purdue alum  Kevin Plawecki   embracing opportunity in offseason of change –

          

   After spending his first seven years in professional baseball with the New York Mets — including parts of the past four seasons in the major leagues — Plawecki was traded on Jan. 6. Those video clips provided the former Boilermaker a head start on learning about the pitching staff he will now handle.

Back in West Lafayette for Purdue baseball's First Pitch winter baseball banquet, Plawecki expected to be at the Indians' spring training complex in Goodyear, Arizona, by Monday. There he planned to load an iPad with better video clips of a staff that led the American League in shutouts last season.

Once pitchers and catchers report to spring training on Feb. 12, he can start building a rapport with his new teammates. In limited interleague play experience, Plawecki totaled only five at-bats against pitchers currently on the Indians. Three came against two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber.

Mack – I can’t refer to Plawecki using his first name since I technically never met him.

I tried to interview him twice when he was in Savannah. The procedure was simple… approach the media rep for the team on the field during practice, give him two names of players you’d like to interview, and wait for them in the dugout when the players took their 5pm dinner break. In both cases he blew me off telling the media rep that he wasn’t feeling well (of course, he went on and played those nights).

There are just too many players out there you can help build their careers. As Mr. Wonderful says, from that moment on he was dead to me.

New Names to Join the Fireflies  Coaching Staff –

        

   Royce Ring will join the Fireflies staff this season as pitching coach, replacing Jonathan Hurst who was with the team since the Inaugural Season in 2016. Royce was selected in the first round by the Chicago White Sox in 2002. The lefthander would go on to make his way to the majors in 2005, where he had stints with the Mets, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres and the New York Yankees. While with the Mets, Royce finished with a 3.47 ERA after appearing in 26 games.

After finishing his playing career in 2013, Royce joined the Mets coaching staff as pitching coach with the Gulf Coast Mets (Rookie) from 2014 to 2015. He was also the pitching coach with the Kingsport Mets (2016, Rookie) and the Brooklyn Cyclones (2017 to 2018, Short Season-A) before moving to Columbia this season.