Paul Articulates – Back in control

I have an affinity for watching the Mets’ AA affiliate the Binghamton Rumble Ponies.  To me, the AA ballplayer represents one who has overcome the challenges of adjusting to professional baseball, has risen above the crowd of aspiring ballplayers and is now playing alongside a good number of talented guys that will someday make the “show”.

There have been many that wore the Orange and Blue at Shea Stadium or Citi Field that have passed through the tunnel of the stadium in Binghamton which is now branded as Mirabito Stadium.  There will be many more.  

We have been blessed recently with a number of future stars in the much stronger Mets development system, and based on what we are reading this week from Mack on the draft there will be many more.

One player I would like to focus on today is Tyler Stuart.  Stuart has been a standout prospect in the organization since being chosen in the sixth round of the 2022 draft by the Mets.  The first thing you notice about Tyler is his size.  Six feet, nine inches, broad shoulders, square jaw – an imposing presence standing on the mound only 60’6” away.  

His mid-90’s fastball gets on the batter very quickly.  The second thing you notice is his confident, focused way of answering questions about his progress in the minors.  His eyes are fixed on the goal and he works hard to achieve it.

In 2023 he started 14 games last year for the single A Brooklyn Cyclones where he went 4-0 with a 1.55 ERA before being called up to AA Binghamton.  His combined 2.20 ERA was the best in the minor leagues last year among qualifying starters.  In the spring of 2024, Tyler was selected to pitch in the Spring Breakout Game this year and delivered a scoreless inning, throwing only eight pitches to induce three consecutive ground ball outs.  He was on a fast track.

Something happened at the beginning of the 2024 AA season that set him back.  He opened with a reasonable 3.45 ERA in April, but he was giving up a .306 average to opposing batters which seemed like a warning sign.  In May, the batting average dropped to .244 but his ERA bumped up to 3.98.  Then in June things really fell apart.  He registered a 7.90 ERA with a 1.83 WHIP and a .339 opponent batting average.  This was the first real test of how he would deal with adversity which every player eventually faces.

This post is not about his failures, but to predict that he is working his way through it.  Promising signs lately foretell a different Stuart on the mound in the second half of the AA season.  

It all started on June 18th, when Tyler Stuart picked up a win against Akron, yielding two earned runs in five innings with 2 walks and four strikeouts.  A solid outing compared to his earlier June starts, and a foundation to rebuild from.  Then on June 23rd he gave up only one ER in four innings with no walks and four K’s.  

The first of July signaled his return: 7 innings pitched, four hits, 2 ER, 1BB, and eleven strikeouts.  He followed that with two more stellar outings with one earned run and zero walks in each game.  Five solid starts, renewed control of the strike zone, and renewed confidence I am sure.  In those starts, he totaled 26 innings with 7 earned runs, 3 walks, and 27 strikeouts.

Watch for his next appearance, which will probably be on July 24th against the Richmond Flying Squirrels.  It should be a good one if this trend continues.

For more on Tyler Stuart, read his pre-season interview or listen to his chat with Matt Levine down in St. Lucie in March.

Paul Articulates – A closer look at Tyler Stuart

Tyler Stuart was on a roll coming into 2024.  He was an extraordinary pitching prospect who led the minors in ERA (2.20) among qualified pitchers last year.  He had a solid spring, and pitched a perfect inning in this year’s Spring Breakout game against the best of the Nationals’ prospects.

First, let me give you a few words about why Tyler Stuart was such a bright prospect.  He is an imposing 6’9” 250 lb right hander with a mid-90’s fastball and an arsenal of five different pitches he can throw for strikes.  He came into this season filled with confidence and excited about throwing his new fifth pitch, a cutter.  He is not a demonstrative guy, but you can tell from his presence that he knows what he wants to do and that is to impose his will upon opposing batters.

Unfortunately, the season has not gone as planned.  Stuart brought a 1-4 record with a 4.32 ERA into last night’s game.  In ten starts he had five no decisions and the 1-4 record and had given up 53 hits in 50 innings.  Something was not working.  I had to see for myself, so I attended his latest start for the AA Binghamton Rumble Ponies against last year’s EL champion Somerset Patriots (Yankees AA club).  It did not go well.

Stuart threw only two innings, giving up six hits, five earned runs, a walk, and two stolen bases.  What struck me was that those six hits were all very well hit, and almost all against his hard stuff.  His velocity was fine – his fastball was being clocked between 94-96 mph, and his curve ball was in the 81-82 mph range so he clearly had enough speed differential to keep batters off balance.  

The problem was that they did not seem to be off balance at all.  Credit the Yanks – they also hit Jordan Geber and Junior Santos pretty well after Stuart left the mound.  But this was more about Stuart’s struggles than the Yankees AA team batting approach.

Stuart dominated in the A and AA levels last year because he could throw all of his pitches for strikes.  He pitched ahead in the count and then used his mix to force little or no contact.  This year he has not been out in front.  Coming into last night’s action, he had thrown only 528 of 821 pitches for strikes (64%).  That is an acceptable ratio if you are throwing 100mph, but since everyone throws in the 90’s now, you have to command the strike zone to force light contact with a mix of pitches.

Setbacks such as this are very common in the minor leagues.  Pitchers reach a level where their stuff is no longer overwhelming to the opposing batters because the competition gets better at every level.  You learn from it, improve, and move on – or you fail to advance.  I still have a great deal of confidence in Tyler Stuart and I expect that last year’s pitching coach of the year AJ Sager is working with him every day to adjust the approach.  

Flash back to Stuart’s pre-season interviewinterview in April.  He was working to get more consistency in his pitches and learning to throw the cutter and pitch up in the zone.  The minor leagues are an experiment that either builds a successful repertoire or teaches you what you can’t do.  

I think Mike Vasil has been going through the same thing in Syracuse – a good pitcher finding out where the limits are.  Let’s hope that both are able to make the appropriate adjustments soon and continue their path towards the big leagues.

Paul Articulates – Get to know Tyler Stuart

Recently I had the privilege of being part of a media day interview with Binghamton Rumble Ponies’ Pitcher Tyler Stuart.  Tyler is the Mets’ #18 prospect in 2024.  The 6’9” 250lb right hander was selected by the Mets in the sixth round of the 2022 draft out of Southern Mississippi.  He started 14 games last year for the single A Brooklyn Cyclones where he went 4-0 with a 1.55 ERA before being called up to AA Binghamton.  His combined 2.20 ERA was the best in the minor leagues last year among qualifying starters.  Tyler was selected to pitch in the Spring Breakout Game this year and delivered a scoreless inning, throwing only eight pitches to induce three consecutive ground ball outs!

The following questions were posed by a variety of writers and news crew with Tyler’s answers documented below.  Once again I offer my thanks to Jacob Wilkins and the Binghamton Rumble Ponies for making Tyler available for the interview.

Question: Coming off a big season, what have you been working in the off-season to continue that production?

Stuart: Refining my strikes definitely, trying to pitch up in the strike zone as a target that I worked on in my bullpens, stretching out the pitch count again being consistent with everything.  Another thing, I added a cutter; something I am excited to use this year.

Question: What are some of the things you have talked to the organization about in terms of goals for yourself this year?

Stuart: Being consistent; I think that is the biggest thing along with adding the cutter to build upon last year’s success.

Question: I saw an interview you did earlier this year with Ernest Dove where you described trusting your stuff more and not worrying as much about the batters.  Tell us more about that.

Stuart: Obviously confidence is a big thing in this game – if you don’t have confidence in yourself on the mound and trust your stuff, then no one else is going to.  That’s one of the things I took away from my college coach – he told me to trust my stuff and believe in myself.  It has made me better.

Question: What is the relationship between yourself and Kevin Parada and some of the other catchers?

Stuart: It is awesome.  We have been talking quite a bit this spring on and off the field.  It is amazing when you are on the mound and thinking you haven’t thrown your change-up in a while and the catcher is calling the same pitch.  We’re just on the same page and it’s huge.  I think the whole pitching staff is on the same page with him.

Question: During spring training did you spend time with Jeremy Hefner and some of the big league pitchers?

Stuart: I was over there a few times and it was awesome. I didn’t get over there last year so this was the first time.  We had an awesome conversation and he instilled a lot of confidence in me.  He told me what to expect out there and what to use.  Like we were talking about earlier, he also told me to trust my stuff.

Question: Was there someone in the organization that was there to teach you the cutter?

Stuart: Grayson Crawford the AAA pitching coach approached me on the first day of camp in January.  I had never talked to him before and he said, “Let’s go work on a cutter”.  I had tried it before without success but he showed me a few things and I started to throw it and after just a few pitches it started cutting.  Now I am starting to get a feel for it.

Question: How to you adjust in this first week, going from 83 degrees in St. Lucie to 38 degrees in Binghamton?

Stuart: It’s just a mindset.  I am used to it – I was here last year so I knew what to expect.

Question: Last season the team made the playoffs.  What did you take away from those high-leverage situations that you will carry into this year?

Stuart: Being in those moments against good hitters and knowing what to expect.  The only thing that matters is to win, so we learned to handle that and compete.  That incredible game against Sommerset was a great experience.

Question: How excited are you and the staff to be getting some live ABs now, ready for the season?

Stuart:  We are super pumped.  There is a great bunch of guys in there and we are all ready to go. We have a good vibe in there.

Any Mets fan that wants to see Tyler Stuart in action can do so during one of his starts for the Rumble Ponies - but don't delay.  Based on his progress so far he might not be there for long!

Paul Articulates – A wonderful dilemma

Mets fans know that things don’t always go right.  Even good news is often followed by bad news.  So when the word started getting louder that the Mets had a ton of pitching talent in their minor league system, many just expected the other shoe to drop.  Well, it hasn’t.  We are in day 37 of a 41 day camp, and the Mets’ pitching has been just great.  Yes, Kodai Senga went down early with an injury, but when you look at the battle for the slots from the back end of the rotation through the middle relievers through the AAA and AA pitching staffs, there are a ton of guys that can fill a role.  This is a wealth of arm talent that only comes around once in a while.

Let’s take a look at the difficult choices that the front office, Carlos Mendoza, and Jeremy Heffner will be facing soon.  It was announced yesterday that Quintana, Severino, Manaea, Houser, and Megill get the rotation spots.  That leaves Jose Butto, Joey Lucchesi, an injured David Peterson, Mike Vasil, Dom Hamel, Christian Scott, Tyler Stuart, David Griffin, Blade Tidwell, and Joander Suarez in the battle for “next up”.  The great news is that except for the recovering Peterson, all reports are that these guys are pitching well.  Many have cited a new pitch or a mechanic they have been working on to improve consistency or movement.

 So how do you manage those choices?  I am sure that the organization will start with the progress that was being made last year.  If Butto and Lucchesi don’t make the MLB roster as middle relief and/or spot starters, then expect them to be SP1 and SP2 in Syracuse with the AAA Mets.  

The next group is doing their best to shine up their resume for the other slots.  Here’s some brief information on my favorites, along with some personal interviews during spring training by the media team of Jacob Wilkins and Matt Levine from the Binghamton Rumble Ponies who shared these moments with us.

Mike Vasil pitched with both Binghamton and Syracuse last year.  The 11th rated Mets prospect started 26 games in 2023 with a combined ERA of 4.65 with 138 strikeouts in 122 innings and a 1.22 WHIP.  The 6’5” 225 lb twenty-four year old throws a mid-90’s fastball mixed in with a mid-80’s slider plus a curveball and a change.  He gets a lot of swing and miss, and his WHIP would probably be higher if not for the adjustment to the ABS (robo-ump) system he had to make in AAA ball.  Vasil felt that he benefitted greatly from his Syracuse experience last year and although he may start the season there again in 2024, he is widely expected to get a call-up by mid-season. 

 Mike Vasil Spring Training Interview.mp4

Christian Scott was named pitcher of the year in the Mets’ minor system last year for good reason.  He pitched at St. Lucie, Brooklyn, and Binghamton last year with a combined ERA of 2.57 over 87 innings where he fanned 107 and compiled an eye-popping 0.86 WHIP.  Scott is another 24 year old pitcher with size, strength, and an incredible ability to manage the strike zone.  Last year he had an 8.9 K/BB ratio which led all minor leaguers (at least 80 innings pitched) and was fourth with a 3.6% walk rate.  His mid-to-upper 90’s fastball coupled with a splitter/change and a tight mid-80’s slider keeps batters guessing.  As the fifth rated Mets prospect I would also expect to see him start the season in Syracuse and have a chance for a call-up if he continues to pitch as well.

 Christian Scott Spring Training Interview.mp4

Dom Hamel ranks as the #14 prospect in the Mets system.  He was chosen to start the Spring Breakout game which shows the respect he has in the organization.  Hamel pitched for the Dominican Republic team in the World Baseball Classic before the 2023 season and gained tremendous confidence there playing alongside major leaguers.  His 2023 season in AA started out rough, but he came on in the second half of the season and pitched very well for the Rumble Ponies in the late season and the playoffs.  He features a low-to-mid 90’s four seam fastball that has great carry up in the zone and complements it with a late biting slider with spin rates up to 3000 RPM.  He also has the ability to use a curve, a changeup, and a cutter. 

 Dom Hamel Spring Training Interview.mp4

Tyler Stuart is an imposing 6’9” 250 lb righty that dominated high-A pitchers last year with a 1.55 ERA before being called up to the AA Rumble Ponies.  Stuart ranks as the 18th Mets prospect and threw a very impressive low pitch count inning in the Spring Breakout game.  His sinking low-90’s fastball complements his excellent slider with its two-plane break.  He had a low walk rate in both A and AA levels, and seems to be continuing that trend with his spring training outings.  I expect to see him start the season at AA but will likely finish the season higher.

 Tyler Stuart Spring Training Interview.mp4

Blade Tidwell had an impressive run last year, throwing a combined 116 innings for the Brooklyn Cyclones and the Binghamton Rumble Ponies that included a playoff start.  The 22-year old Tidwell is the 10th rated prospect with some impressive pitches.  He gets 18 inches of vertical break on his four-seam fastball and up to 20 inches of horizontal break on a sweeper.  That fastball has been clocked as high as 98 MPH so good luck if you have a bat in your hands when Tidwell is on the mound.  With improved consistency in locating his pitches, Tidwell is going to have great success.  I think his greatest attribute is his competitiveness, which shows out when he has runners in scoring position - he has a way of turning it up a notch to get out of a jam.

 Blade Tidwell Spring Training Interivew.mp4

I will be intently watching as this battle of arms plays out in the coming season.  All of these guys are poised to make their mark and I look forward to see who gets there first.  They need to move fast because there is another wave coming that is currently in the lower minors.

Paul Articulates – Get to know the prospects

The second half of spring training is always a very important time for baseball prospects.  They are in the home stretch of showing what they can do, and many are close to being assigned to the team that they will break camp with – whether that is an MLB team or a minors affiliate.

As you have seen from our weekday 11am posts, there are many prospects working their way up through the system.  We recently had a great opportunity to see some of the most compelling prospects showcase their talents in the Spring Breakout Game, where the Mets and the Nationals participated in a contest between their brightest future stars.

The stars were indeed bright for the Mets, who prevailed in the game 4-2.  The starting outfield  included Drew Gilbert in right, Jett Williams in center, and Alex Ramirez in left.  That’s right, Jett Williams was playing center, not a middle infield position for this showcase game.  

Some folks, including writers on this site have speculated that he could move there because of his speed and versatility.  Apparently great minds think alike!  The infield was loaded with talent as well, with Ryan Clifford, Marco Vargas, LuisAngel Acuna, and Jesus Baez showing what they could do.

To me, the stand-outs were Ryan Clifford who powered an opposite field double to drive in a run in the first and also scored one in the fourth; and the pitching.  Dom Hamel, Tyler Stuart, Blade Tidwell, Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat, and Calvin Ziegler all spent time on the hill and pitched well.  To me, I was really impressed with the ease that Sproat and Ziegler threw with.  They are both coming up from lower minors levels and Sproat was throwing consistently at 98/99MPH.  Both fanned two in scoreless innings.

Before and after the Breakout game, the Media duo from the Binghamton Rumble Ponies Jacob Wilkins and Matt Levine had a chance to interview some of the prospects.  Jacob was kind enough to share those interviews with the Mack’s Mets group so I include them below with a big thank you to the Binghamton Rumble Ponies!

Here are a few of the interviews with the players.  We will include a series of the interviews with a link on the home page so you can get a feel for some of our future Mets.

Tyler Stuart played in both Brooklyn and Binghamton last year, recording a perfect 4-0 record with a 1.55 ERA before being moved up to AA.  He is a 6’9” 250 pound right-hander that was selected by the Mets in the sixth round of the 2022 draft.  

 Tyler Stuart Spring Training Interview.mp4

Rhylan Thomas played at three levels last year as an outfielder and won the defensive player of the year award in the Mets’ minor league system.  Rhylan was a defensive standout last year and has very good speed which he put to use in the Spring Breakout game with an impressive dash from first to third on a base hit to center.  Thomas has put on 12 pounds of muscle in the off-season so look for more athleticism from him this year.

 Rhylan Thomas Spring Training Interview.mp4

Blade Tidwell also played in Brooklyn and Binghamton last season.  The 22-year old pitcher has always impressed me with his competitiveness on the mound.  He is at his best when runners are in scoring position.  Tidwell played his college ball at Tennessee where he was teammates with Drew Gilbert.

 Blade Tidwell Spring Training Interivew.mp4