Review the Top 62 Prospects at the Half: 30-39

Before the second half starts, let’s review how the consensus top 62 Mets prospects have been doing so far this season. Stats listed are combined minor league stats or major league stats if a player has graduated.

1-10 | 11-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50-62

30.             Jeff Walters (26), stock down (Out for the rest of the season)

            8.86 ERA, 21.1 IP, 38 H, 21 R, 8 BB, 14 SO, 3 HR, 104 BF
            A very frustrating season for Walters, who was struggling from day 1 of the regular season and then found out he had a torn UCL. He’ll be back on the radar at some point next year, but it’s going to be a very long path back to where he was when spring training broke this season. As the 51s closer from day one, there was an expectation that Walters would be one of the first bullpen guys up to help in the majors. Not only does he have a lot of rehab ahead of him, it’s also looking like the Mets and 51s should have more good, young bullpen options next year, so he’ll have to fight his way back up the depth chart.

31.             Cory Vaughn (25), stock holding

            324 PA, .219/.312/.329, 35 R, 13 2B, 6 HR, 27 RBI, 29 BB, 73 SO, 8/9 SB
            Vaughn had a sub-.300 slugging percentage when he got his promotion to the 51s, so I think that caught a lot of people off guard. It’s tough to be certain of how much influence the PCL has on stats, but Vaughn’s results have improved with Las Vegas, and it’s been a different approach early. The noticeable change in approach that I’m referring to is Vaughn hitting more groundballs at the expense of fly balls with Vegas (about a 12% exchange). It could just be a small sample size blip, but it would likely increase Vaughn’s BABIP/AVG potential. As for the power, his slight uptick in ISO with Vegas is nothing special – he was actually better with Bingo last year – but he’s hit two of the more impressive homeruns I’ve seen this year since the promotion, so it is a potential part of his game. With his ability to play CF in a pinch, he could make for a useful 4^th OF someday, but he’ll have to hit more first.

32.             Juan Centeno (24), stock? What stock

            174 PA, .290/.339/.342, 17 R, 5 2B, HR, 17 RBI, 12 BB, 21 SO, 2 SB
            I’m one of the bigger Juan supporters, but I haven’t the slightest clue what Centeno is doing on this list, let alone ahead of 30 people – he’s higher than a reliever who had 2013 major league success. He’s a backup catcher, and will either be backing up in the majors or at AAA for the rest of his pro career. I think he can be a useful backup catcher, but backup catchers are not prospects.

33.             John Gant (21), stock holding/slight uptick

            2.97 ERA, 94 IP, 91 H, 42 R (31 ER), 32 BB, 80 SO, 2 HBP, 3 HR, 398 BF
            Gant was consistent and very effective over his first 11 starts with Savannah, allowing 1 ER or less seven times and more than 3 ER just once (4 ER that once, three games with exactly 3 ER too). He’s been much less effective over his last five starts, although he does have two 10-strikeout games during that span.

34.             Wuilmer Becerra (19), stock holding

            69 PA, .258/.319/.435, 11 R, 2 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 4 BB, 19 SO, SB
            Thanks to this article, I think some Mets fans have had higher than reasonable expectations for Wuilmer since he came to the Mets in the R.A. Dickey package. Kingsport results for a 19-year old don’t matter much – it would be preferable to have some eye-witness reports – but he has done some positive things offensively in the past few days – 2 HR’s Tuesday and then 5-5 Wednesday. I’ll be looking out for any new reports on Becerra and posting them in the AMMMLD posts – Astromets Mind Mets Minor League Daily – so keep an eye out here.

35.             Rainy Lara (23), stock slipping

            4.72 ERA, 13 GS, 66.2 IP, 74 H, 39 R (35 ER), 19 BB, 46 SO, 7 HR, 286 BF
            Lara is a fastball/slider pitcher who is looking at a future as a reliever as soon as someone pushes him out of Binghamton’s starting rotation. Lara’s got pretty good control of the slider, and he’ll throw it to either side of the zone and in any count, but it’s not exactly a plus slider, and the fastball maxes out at 90 MPH. The bullpen might suit Lara, but if it doesn’t, he won’t be pitching stateside much longer.

36.             Casey Meisner (19), stock holding

            5.40 ERA, 5 GS, 23.1 IP, 27 H, 19 R (14 ER), 10 BB, 24 SO, 2 HBP, 3 HR, 110 BF
            Casey is a 6’ 7” string bean who’s been inconsistent for Brooklyn so far – not really surprising for a 19-year old that tall. I thought he looked good but inconsistent in the one start of his I saw this year, but don’t have much else to go on just yet. He’s scheduled to start for Brooklyn on SNY Thursday night (July 17^th), so we should all get a better view of what he can do.

37.             Robert Gsellman (20), stock rising

            2.89 ERA, 14 GS, 2 CG, 81 IP, 88 H, 34 R (26 ER), 26 BB, 61 SO, 8 HBP, 2 HR, 352 BF
            Gsellman is having a good season for Savannah, as he’s allowed 2 ER or less in 11/14 starts this season and has pitched into the 6^th inning in 10/14 starts. His curveball stood out the first time I saw him, as it buckled a lot of knees and showed some nice potential. He’s had 110 IP and nearly 20 GS worth of success in Savannah, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him promoted soon.

38.             Andrew Church (19), stock holding

            8.04 ERA, 4 GS, 15.2 IP, 31 H, 16 R (14 ER), 4 BB, 5 SO, 2 HBP, 83 BF
Church is too young and this sample size too small to see any changes in his evaluation. He was good enough to be taken in the 2^nd round of the 2013 draft and has merely 50.2 IP as a pro to his name, so I’m not too worried about results just yet, even if they have not been pretty.

39.             Darin Gorski (26), stock holding

            3.51 ERA, 18 G (17 GS), 95 IP, 95 H, 46 R (37 ER), 17 BB, 42 SO, HBP, 7 HR, 193 BF
            Gorski continued to show that he’s more than capable of handling the Eastern League of the AA to start 2014, and he’s had more success in his second chance with the 51s since a late-May promotion, but his time as a starter may be running out. The 51s rotation is going to be crowded in the second half and Gorski is the oldest of the group. Unless he excels from the bullpen, he’s on a career path similar to that of Pat Misch. Go Gorski!

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