Last week I had the opportunity to talk to some of the new Mets that came over at the trade deadline. You have heard from several of them so far. Here is number five:
Today’s highlight is Billy Amick, who came over in the Twins trade that sent AJ Minter to Minnesota. Amick is the only one of the five that was not ranked in the top 30 prospects upon arrival, but that doesn’t mean that he was flying under the radar. As a AA player with the Wichita club, Amick had an .820 OPS with 23 HR and 72 RBI and was among the top power hitters in all of AA this season. Upon his arrival in Binghamton, Amick continued to blast balls over the fence, accumulating 30 for the season before being quickly promoted to AAA Syracuse.
The Rumble Ponies media director appreciated Amick’s readiness to talk with the media – called him a pro. Amick saw plenty of media coverage when he starred for the University of Tennessee team that won the 2024 National Championship. Here is the interview:
Q: How does it feel to have such a great offensive night to announce yourself to Binghamton? <note: in his first game in Binghamton, the Ponies won 23-3 with Amick going 3-for-4 with two HR and 6 RBI>
A: It was exciting last night. We had a good offensive night and the pitchers threw well so there were a lot of good vibes in the locker room.
Q: How would you describe your game for people who haven’t seen you play?
A: Just doing what it takes to help my team win every single day. Showing up every day as the same person. That’s what it is all about.
Q: What are your thoughts on joining a new organization?
A: It is nerve racking for sure. I’m kind of quiet so it takes me a while to remember all the names and be myself, but it was really easy coming over to the Mets and I am very excited to be able to play.
Q: In your progression on your way to the ultimate goal of playing in MLB, what would you consider success this year?
A: I would say just getting better every single day. I would not point to anything particular that I believe is a weakness, but getting better as a baseball player and helping the team win is what I am here for.
Q: How do you like the coaching staff so far?
A: They have been great. They have all been good to me and they have done a great job of welcoming all the new players and getting us acclimated.
13 comments:
I cant help the thought of righty Clifford but we shall see. He looked great briefly for Mets org in Binghamton
His high Ks concern me, but he is blasting like Schwarber. 30 HRs in 367 at bats is pretty amazing.
95 RBIs in 100 games? Wow.
My last note on Billy: I don’t know his pre-2026 injury history, but he only played 77 games in 2024 draft year and 2025 combined. So he is ripping this year with very limited pre-2026 pro experience, so I am thinking patience before worrying about his Ks.
Others on this platform are concerns with K/AB%
Some at the obsession level
To me an out is an out
Would I be equally concerned with GO/AB% or FLO/AB%?
I think not.
Me?
You can surround 30HR/100RBI with any kind of outs and I'm just 🍑 keen with dat
Look for adjustments to AAA ball and metal umps
What is going to be interesting to see is what the Mets will do with guys like this in Winter Ball
Ernest,
The Mets have not started pitching most of the 2026 draft choices this year. are they holding them back to work with them in the pitching lab and starting them out in 2027? Is the old Fall League development program still in play for the minor league prospects to participate ?
Billy got rushed into AZ ball last fall. It did not go well. He did not play a lot. But he is a much more advanced hitter now.
He may just need to shorten up on two strikes, but I won’t pretend to have any cogent recommendations here.
He seems much closer to a minor league Pete Alonso than to Ryan Whifford, but Pete did fan less than Billy.
Interesting, perhaps only to me, is Billy was a 60th overall pick, while Pete was 64th overall. May their major league careers be THATCLOSE. Billy seems to be head of minors Alonso fielding-wise.
Ahead of, not head of
Clifford placed on development list this morning
In his first game as a Rumble Pony, he blasted two HRs. In his second game (that I attended), he K'ed three times. What I saw there was an overcommitment to the long ball - weight on the back foot, uppercut swing. He needs to tone that down as he moves into competition with pitchers that will exploit that approach with high heat and sliders off the outside corner. He should trust his power, not try to overuse it. Otherwise he is more likely to become Clifford than Schwarber.
I was told pretty early on that none of the pitchers looked they were ramping up to get into games this season. Not told a reason.
From 3rd ranked prospect pre-season to the development list. Egads. I would still have demoted him to St Lucie, in hopes he’d get red hot against pitching 3 levels down.
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