Reviewing the Top 62 Prospects at the Half: 11-19

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

11.             Dilson Herrera (20), stock up

            417 PA, .312/.366/.431, 69 R, 23 2B, 2 3B, 6 HR, 43 RBI, 30 BB, 68 SO, 17/22 SB
            Mets fans might never forget trading one month of Marlon Byrd and John Buck for Vic Black and Dilson Herrera (imagine what Alderson could’ve done with Billy Wagner!). People have been more excited lately about Dilson Herrera than Brandon Nimmo – I’ve even read some people think Dilson might end up in CF, which could lead to a competition between the two. People can always make a case for others, but I don’t think any Mets position prospect has had as good a year as Dilson. He’s tearing up the Eastern League of the AA at age 20 (!). Ultimately, Nimmo still has the higher upside, but Dilson is looking like a safe bet to be a good everyday 2B.

12.             Steven Matz (23), stock up

            2.41 ERA, 16 GS, 93.1 IP, 86 H, 31 R (25 ER), 26 BB, 87 SO, 5 HBP, HR, 388 BF
            What a difference health makes, eh? After missing all the time between high school and finally becoming a pro last year, it’s amazing that Steven Matz has progressed this far this quickly in my opinion. He’s got a mid-90’s heater (reached 97 MPH the one start I caught this year), a good breaking ball and a decent change-up from the left side. He’s handled righties slightly better than lefties this year after having a .112 OPS edge against righties in 2013 for Savannah. There’s not much else you can ask for from Matz, he’s very exciting.

13.             Michael Fulmer (21), stock holding

            4.43 ERA, 14 GS, 69 IP, 87 H, 40 R (34 ER), 21 BB, 54 SO, 6 HBP, 6 HR, 320 BF
            Fulmer’s total numbers for the season are inflated by two poor outings in his first three starts of the season – 15 ER allowed on 20 H in 6 IP sandwiched a start of 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R. He has a 2.89 ERA and .702 OPS against in 56 IP since then. Michael Fulmer has struggled against lefties this year, as he’s allowed a .843 OPS against and has only struck out 13.4% of lefties (compared to 21.6% of righties). Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s promoted to AA at some point in the second half.

14.             Gabriel Ynoa (21), stock up

            3.87 ERA, 17 GS, 100 IP, 117 H, 47 R (43 ER), 15 BB, 78 SO, HBP, 7 HR, 352 BF
            Control maestro Gabriel Ynoa was promoted to AA for three starts before the break and had a stinker followed by two strong starts. He had three starts with 6+ ER allowed with St. Lucie before his promotion, and 9 with 2 ER or less allowed. He doesn’t have the swing and miss stuff you want from a top of the rotation starter, but he’s starting to have success as a 21-year old in AA, and he’s a smart pitcher – definitely exciting.

15.             Jacob ∂eGrom (26), Graduated

            3.18 ERA, 12 GS, 73.2 IP, 70 H, 26 R, 28 BB, 72 SO, HBP, 5 HR, 307 BF
            SUCCESS! Best surprise of the season, he has been truly ∂eLightful.

16.             Cory Mazzoni (24), stock holding

            4.29 ERA, 4 GS, 21 IP, 21 H, 10 R, 6 BB, 23 SO, 90 BF
            A spring training injury set Cory Mazzoni back this year, but he recently finished his rehab tour of the lower minors and was then promoted to the 51s rotation for the second half. In other words, his season is just about to begin. Astromets Mind covered his last start for Binghamton and came away impressed with his fastball/change-up combo.

17.             Domingo Tapia (22), stock holding

            4.08 ERA, 14 GS, 70.2 IP, 67 H, 32 R, 34 BB, 33 SO, 4 HR, 303 BF
            A report like this is a nice thing to read when a pitcher with Domingo Tapia’s talent puts up a 1 SO: 1 BB rate over several months in their second stint with the FSL. Can’t add much with a report like that available, but I will say that he’s succeeded in the minors with the help of high groundball rates – 53.4% this year after 55.3% last season.

18.             Victor Black (25), graduated

            1.69 ERA, 23 G, 21.1 IP, 16 H, 5 R (4 ER), 12 BB, 22 SO, 91 BF
            Success! Those are just his major league stats, but his minor league stats were very similar, except Vic Black was walking nearly a batter per inning.

19.             Jeurys Familia (24), graduated

            2.06 ERA, 45 G, 48 IP, 39 H, 16 R (11 ER), 19 BB, 40 SO, 2 HBP, HR, 201 BF
            Success! After consecutive rough outings to start the year, Jeurys Familia has been the man. 55% groundball rate so far.

Epic @USGS map reveals the Red Planet's geology in unrivalled detail http://t.co/ZZT57QzoTI pic.twitter.com/NXjgaCAAy2
— EGU (@EuroGeosciences) July 17, 2014