Mets Announce Initial September Promotions - Thoughts, Alvarez/Goeddel/Guillorme gifs

Reviewing the first round of September promotions announced after the Mets game on August 31, 2014.

To the New York Mets:

LH RP Dario Alvarez

Savannah – 1.32 ERA, 20 G, 6 GS, 61.1 IP, 43 H, 2 HR, 95 SO: 14 BB

St. Lucie – 0.00 ERA, 4 G, 6.1 IP, H, 10 SO: 3 BB

Binghamton – 0.00 ERA, 5 G, 5.2 IP, 4 H, 9 SO: 0 BB

Totals: 1.10 ERA, 29 G, 6 GS, 73.1 IP, 48 H, 114 SO: 17 BB (40.1 K%: 6.0 BB%), .483 OPS allowed

            I’ve heard both positive and negative reports on Alvarez, but I’ve been impressed watching him a few times on MiLB.tv this season. He was overmatching hitters in the SAL with Savannah, and then continued to dominate against tougher competition in his small sample sizes with St. Lucie and Binghamton. Alvarez throws low 90’s heat, a mid-80’s change-up and a slider in the high 70’s, which is his best pitch in my opinion. If the slider is real, he can pair it with the good control on his fastball to be a very strong LOOGY. If the change-up works against righties, he’s more than that. He started some when injuries swept through the Savannah rotation, but I don’t expect him to be more than a reliever anytime soon. It appears that Dario was slated to be a minor league free agent, so this affords the Mets a chance to see if his stuff translates to the majors. It’s unclear how Terry will use him, but, if nothing else, he should get plenty of opportunities as a LOOGY. That said, he was strong against both lefties and righties this year: 37 K%: 6.6 BB%, .490 OPS vs. righties and 45.6 K%: 4.9 BB% .472 OPS vs. lefties.

From his 10-strikeout performance with Savannah on June 24, 2014

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From his 2-strikeout performance with Binghamton on August 18, 2014

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C Juan Centeno

AA – 83 PA, .286/.337/.351, 11 SO: 6 BB, 5 2B

AAA – 202 PA, .291/.343/.335, 26 SO: 15 BB, 5 2B, HR

Majors – 23 PA, .238/.304/.238, 4 SO: 2 BB

            He’s pretty much a known quantity among Mets fans at this point, as it won’t be the first cup of coffee for Juan. Offensively, he’s not going to provide much power, but he’s not going to strike out much either. Defensively, he has a good reputation for working with the pitchers, blocking the plate and throwing out runners. He wasn’t as successful throwing would-be base stealers out with Las Vegas this year, but the 51s starting staff has been pretty bad at holding runners on, so it’s not all on him. He didn’t look as sharp behind the plate in his short time with the Mets this season, but he’s generally better than that. He profiles fine as an acceptable backup catcher, which is the role he’s had almost exclusively in the minors. It’s not really that surprising that the Mets added the third catcher on their 40-man roster as soon as possible, most teams do, and once it was announced that Cam Maron was headed to Binghamton, Juan Centeno to the Mets was the obvious move.

RH RP Erik Goeddel

AAA – 5.37 ERA, 49 G, 63.2 IP, 77 H (17 2B, 4 3B, 6 HR), 64 SO: 30 BB, (21.6 K%: 10.1 BB%), .828 OPS against

            Goeddel was added to the Mets roster because he was already on their 40-man and they are in need of more arms for the pen. However, don’t sleep on him as a potentially useful bullpen option for September and the future. Goeddel features a fastball that consistently touched 95 MPH on the Las Vegas scoreboard, and two breaking balls that flash plus potential: a mid-70’s curveball and a mid-80’s slider. He didn’t throw his change-up often this season, but it was something he featured in his repertoire when he started. Earlier in the season, Goeddel was mostly fastball/curveball, but lately he’s been featuring a strong slider more often. This was Goeddel’s first season out of the pen, and he struggled to find consistency from appearance to appearance, although that is nothing new for him. Manager Wally Backman liked to use him for multiple innings at a time throughout the season, though he would often look much better in his first inning than after – perhaps he can do better in shorter bursts out of the pen. One other concern this September is his control, as he would go through stretches of batters where he’d have trouble finding the zone. Maybe this is looking for a narrative where there is none, but Goeddel seemed to improve within a few weeks of Frank Viola’s return to the Las Vegas 51s. Since June 26, Goeddel has a 4.28 ERA over 27.1 IP with 28 hits allowed (4 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR), a .672 OPS allowed, and a 30 SO: 7 BB (25.6 K%: 6.0 BB%).

From his 3-strikeout performance with Las Vegas on June 29, 2014

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CI Josh Satin

AAA – 440 PA, .289/.386/.439, 27 2B, 3B, 9 HR, 79 SO: 61 BB

MLB – 34 PA, .107/.265/.179, 2 2B, 10 SO: 5 BB

            Satin is another name I hardly need to introduce at this point. He had another typical Satin season for Las Vegas this year, showing plenty of patience, occasional bursts of pop, and acceptable defense at 1B/3B (mostly 3B). It seems like an odd time to promote Satin, as he’s not going to fill any obvious void on the Mets roster, and the 51s could use his bat (and glove) to finish out their season. I don’t have a problem with his September promotion, it’s the time that seems odd, as the 51s were stuck playing Andrew Brown at 3B in his absence when Matt Reynolds left Sunday’s game. (Reynolds had been hit by a pitch and stayed in initially)

To the Las Vegas 51s:

2B/UT L.J. Mazzilli

A – 284 PA, .292/.363/.428, 9 2B, 2 3B, 7 HR, 11/12 SB, 48 SO: 29 BB

A+ – 270 PA, .305/.357/.447, 19 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 3/6 SB, 33 SO: 16 BB

Totals: 554 PA, .298/.360/.438, 28 2B, 4 3B, 11 HR, 77 RBI, 14.6 K%: 8.1 BB%, 14/18 SB

        Although he is less heralded of a prospect, few Mets minor leaguers had better seasons in 2014 than L.J. Mazzilli, who hit plenty with both Savannah and St. Lucie. After a slow April, Mazzilli got really hot in May and rode that streak throughout the season. He had a relative lull as he adjusted to the FSL in July, but his .716 OPS was still better than the 2014 FSL average (.695). He’s been very hot of late, coming up with multiple hits in 10 of 16 games, with six extra base hits over that span. I’m looking forward to seeing Mazzilli at 2B, although he might get some opportunities at SS if Matt Reynolds is really hurt. He’s never going to be a starter at SS, but he might be capable in a pinch; he hasn’t had a SS opportunity since June 13 with Savannah, but he’s been on the same team as Gavin Cecchini and Phillip Evans, so chances have been limited. I wouldn’t expect this promotion to Vegas to be permanent, as I’d expect him to spend some time with AA to start next year, but it’s tough to predict what this front office is going to do. It wouldn’t be unprecedented for them to send him back down, as Dustin Lawley got a postseason promotion to Las Vegas last year, but then he spent all of 2014 with Binghamton.

To the Binghamton Mets:

SS Gavin Cecchini

A – 259 PA, .259/.333/.408, 17 2B, 4 3B, 3 HR, 7/8 SB, 41 SO: 25 BB

A+ – 268 PA, .235/.325/.352, 10 2B, 3B, 5 HR, 3/6 SB, 40 SO: 32 BB

Totals: 527 PA, .247/.329/.380, 27 2B, 5 3B, 8 HR, 10/14 SB, 15.4 K%: 10.8 BB%

            It’s unclear whether this is a permanent promotion for Cecchini, but I could see it, as his red-hot August has been very promising – 121 PA, .284/.405/.463, 6 2B, 3B, 3 HR and 14 SO: 21 BB. I changed my opinion of him pretty much right away this season (mentioned this first in my mid-season top 62 prospect review), as I got some glimpses of good defense at SS and some surprising pop. He ended up with a higher than ideal error total this season, but the tools to stick at SS are there. Although the final slash lines seem less than impressive, remember that Cecchini (20) is much younger than his relative competition – he was 1.5 years below the average age with Savannah, and 2.5 years below with St. Lucie.

RH SP Matt Koch

A+ – 4.84 ERA, 21 GS, 113.1 IP, 132 H (25 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR), 59 SO: 31 BB (11.8 K%: 6.2 BB%), .760 OPS against

            The B-Mets needed some an arm and Koch got the call – he last started for St. Lucie on August 31^st. The Mets 3^rd round pick from 2012 did not exactly have a standout season, but he has shown better peripherals lately - .697 OPS, 20.4 K%: 6.5 BB% over his four starts prior to Sunday. He held his opponent to two earned runs or less in eight of his first nine starts, but only managed to do that in five of his last twelve. I’ve barely seen Koch, so I have little else to add.

C Cam Maron

A+ – 416 PA, .282/.387/.362, 15 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 68 SO: 61 BB (16.3 K%: 14.7 BB%)

            Maron definitely improved his game in his second go around with St. Lucie, throwing his name back onto the Mets prospect roll call, though I have seen skepticism about his upside beyond backup catcher. He had a pretty interesting season with St. Lucie in my opinion, so I’m looking forward to catching a glimpse of him against Portland (and potentially Akron), although I’m not holding my breath on the Mets having another starting catching prospect just yet. If his defense is good enough to stick behind the dish, his plate discipline should afford him opportunities to be a backup catcher. If he can add some power, then he would start gaining consideration as a starting prospect.

RH RP Tim Peterson

A – 2.05 ERA, 19 G, 30.2 IP, 16 H, 44 SO: 4 BB

A+ – 5.70 ERA, 13 G, 23.2 IP, 29 H, 26 SO: 12 BB

Totals: 3.64 ERA, 54.1 IP, 31.5 K%: 7.2 BB%

            Throughout the first half of the season with Savannah, Peterson was “competing” with Akeel Morris for most strikeouts and innings pitched without allowing a run. Peterson has ended up with Binghamton while Morris continues to “add to his lead” with Savannah. Peterson has been used for multiple innings in six of his last seven appearances with St. Lucie, including three straight 3+ IP appearances. While his strikeout with St. Lucie continued to impress, his walk rate was suddenly not so impressive and his results have suffered. He has a noticeable split advantage while facing righties this year, but has still handled lefties at a better than average rate - .537 OPS against righties as opposed to .686 OPS against lefties.

To the Savannah Sand Gnats:

SS Luis Guillorme

Rk – 264 PA, .282/.337/.324, 10 2B, 28 SO: 17 BB (10.6 K%: 6.4 BB%), 6/10 SB

            The 19-year old defensive whiz gets to show off his stuff with Savannah due to their relative lack of depth on the middle infield, and Amed Rosario’s continued push for the playoffs with Brooklyn. Yeixon Ruiz had been doing an acceptable job for the Gnats as their everyday SS of late, and his offense had improved lately, but he’s not a standout defensive SS, and he’s not high on the Mets top prospect list. Guillorme is one of the several interesting shortstops with the Mets rookie teams this past year that will be competing for the spot with Savannah next year – Amed Rosario and Alfredo Reyes are the other two. It will be interesting to see what the Mets/Gnats do if Brooklyn gets eliminated Monday.

From his debut with Savannah on August 30, 2014

First hit with Savannah

First nice play with Savannah

To the Brooklyn Cyclones:

2B Jean Rodriguez

Rk – 197 PA, .312/.387/.422, 4 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR, 35 SO: 17 BB (17.8 K%: 8.6 BB%), 4/6 SB

            Rodriguez is about to turn 22 (September 3), so he’s a little older to generate much initial interest given his low level, but he’s being rewarded for a strong season with Kingsport, and helps Brooklyn fill their relative hole at 2B. I should get my first look at him Monday night on MiLB.tv.

In Sept mag: how this little galaxy might transform what we know about origins of galaxies: http://t.co/w9EfGS0lMa pic.twitter.com/bPGQNQhkvo
— Astronomy Now (@AstronomyNow) August 31, 2014