PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (May 3, 2021) – The St. Lucie Mets are pleased to announce their Opening Day roster, which features the No. 1 prospect in the New York Mets organization and last year’s top draft pick.
Highlighting the roster are five of New York’s top 15 prospects according to MLB Pipeline. Catcher Francisco Alvarez, the Mets No. 1 prospect, will be making his full season debut. Outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, last year’s first round draft pick by the Mets, will play in his first minor league game when he takes the field for St. Lucie.
Starting pitcher Junior Santos (No. 11) and infielders Jaylen Palmer (No. 12) and Shervyen Newton (No. 15) round out the prospects ranked in the Mets’ top 15.
Youth will be a top theme for the Mets. After 32 seasons as an Advanced-A team, St. Lucie was re-classified to a Low-A team in Major League Baseball’s restructuring of the minor leagues. That means most of the Mets roster features players in their first year of full season baseball.
Alvarez, 19, was signed by the Mets as an international free agent out of Venezuela in 2018. He spent 35 games with rookie level Kingsport as a 17-year-old in 2019 and had an impressive slash line of .282/.377/.443. Alvarez participated in the Mets alternate training site in Brooklyn during the shortened 2020 MLB season. He was also invited to major league spring training this year.
Crow-Armstrong, also 19, was drafted 19th overall last summer but did not get to play in game due to the cancellation of the minor league season. He received an invite to major league spring training as well. Crow-Armstrong went to Harvard-Westlake High School (Calif.), which has produced major league stars Jack Flaherty, Max Fried and Lucas Giolito.
Santos, 19, will lead the pitching staff. He signed with the Mets as an international free agent in 2017. Santos made 14 starts for Kingsport in 2019. He struck out 36 batters in 40.2 innings.
Palmer, 20, was plucked by the Mets from their own backyard. He was drafted by the Mets out of Holy Cross High School in Flushing, N.Y., located roughly three miles from Citi Field. In 87 career minor league games Palmer has hit .274/.357/.413 with 16 doubles and eight home runs.
Newton, 22, is the most experienced of the ranked prospects. He played in 109 games for then Low-A Columbia in 2019. Newton has a slash line of .246/.360/.372 with 109 RBI in 266 career minor league games. He was an international signing in 2015.
MLB has increased the roster size of Low-A teams to 30 players. The Mets currently have 29 on their initial roster – 14 pitchers, four catchers, six infielders and five outfielders.
Joining Santos in the rotation will be Garrison Bryant, Joander Suarez (Mets No. 28 prospect and Opening Day starter), Dylan Hall, lefty Cam Opp and Luis Moreno.
The bullpen will feature Willy Taveras, Reyson Santos, Austin Faith, Colby Morris, Dan Goggin, Hunter Parsons, Franklin Parra and Justin Lasko.
Matthew Dyer, Jose Colina and Matt O’Neill are the three catchers behind Alvarez.
Infielders include Palmer, Newton, Warren Saunders, Jose Peroza, Branden Fryman and Yoel Romero. Romero had a brief call up to Advanced-A St. Lucie in 2019 and impressed, batting .240 and scoring five runs in nine games.
Crow-Armstrong, Tanner Murphy, Cole Kleszcz, LT Struble and Zach Ashford are the five outfielders. Like Romero, Ashford had a brief stint with St. Lucie late in 2019. He hit .353 in five games.
Romero and Ashford are the only players on the roster who have previously played for the St. Lucie Mets.
The Mets are under the guidance of first year manager Reid Brignac, who played in nine major league seasons for the Rays, Rockies, Yankees, Phillies, Marlins and Braves. Jerome Williams begins his first season as the St. Lucie pitching coach. Tommy Joseph will serve as the hitting coach. Jay Pecci rounds out the coaching staff as the bench coach.
The Mets will open the season on Tuesday at home against the Jupiter Hammerheads. First pitch at Clover Park is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. Call 772-871-2115 for tickets.
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