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Reviewing the initial 2015 rosters announced for the Mets 4 full-season
affiliates: Las Vegas 51s, Binghamton Mets, St. Lucie Mets, and Savannah Sand
Gnats
Good
news everybody, Major League Baseball has begun and Minor League Baseball is on
its way! Last season the Mets had 3 full-season teams make the playoffs: Las
Vegas, Binghamton (won championship), and Savannah. This year, they might go
4/4, as these rosters are loaded – they’re not a consensus top-5 farm system
for nothing. Considering the Mets are carrying an extra relief pitcher for now,
with two strong relief options are on their way back from injures (Vic Black
and Bobby Parnell, who can rehab with Las Vegas for a few weeks), there will likely
be a lot of roster adjustments coming over the first few weeks. It seems
unlikely the Mets would hold a top prospect down a level just for the first few
weeks of the season – major prospects got their promotions in June during the
2014 season – so these roster adjustments are likely to be minor for now. With
full-season minor league baseball set to debut Thursday, let’s take a look at
the initial rosters that have been announced for the Mets affiliates. If you’re
interested in following along at home this season on MiLB.tv, you can find a
summary of the games that will be available for each affiliate here
– there are 249 scheduled, including nightly 51s games starting as Mets games
end.
Savannah, St. Lucie, Binghamton
Savannah, St. Lucie, Binghamton
Note: I plan to update with official 25-man rosters by
Thursday game times
UPDATE: Erik Goeddel has been promoted to take Jenrry Mejia's place in the bullpen - Mejia is backdated to Sunday. More roster updates to come.
UPDATE: Duane Below has stayed behind in XST to get stretched out into a long-man/spot starter role.
UPDATE: MiLB.com has Steven Matz listed as going for Las Vegas Thursday
UPDATE: Erik Goeddel has been promoted to take Jenrry Mejia's place in the bullpen - Mejia is backdated to Sunday. More roster updates to come.
UPDATE: Duane Below has stayed behind in XST to get stretched out into a long-man/spot starter role.
UPDATE: MiLB.com has Steven Matz listed as going for Las Vegas Thursday
The
51s will be anchored by strong pitching this year, but they have plenty of guys
to provide offense in the highest scoring environment in pro baseball. This roster
will feature the Mets consensus top-5 prospects at the same time if Brandon
Nimmo gets called up in time, and they will all play with Las Vegas at some
point regardless. The outfield is currently the weakest link of the 51s, especially
with the loss of Cesar Puello to the DL for now, but it should be one of their
strengths by the end of the season. Here is the initial
roster, let’s check it out.
Starting Pitchers
Noah Syndergaard (Las Vegas), Steven Matz (St. Lucie
Binghamton), Matthew Bowman (Binghamton, Las Vegas), Tyler Pill (Binghamton),
Darin Gorski (Binghamton, Las Vegas)
This
rotation has two studs, two interesting back of the rotation types, and a lefty
that might finish the season in the 51s pen. Thor (22) finished the season
strong with Las Vegas, so hopefully he can build on that and graduate from AAA
soon. Matz (23) got better as the year went on, so it will be very exciting to
watch every one of his starts on MiLB.tv this season – while I don’t like the
Vegas view, I want to track velocities for the interesting pitchers this season
when the 51s are at home. Bowman (23) really broke out in 2014, now he has to
do it again. Pill (24) came back strong from an injury that knocked him out for
most of 2013, but ended up passed on the depth chart by Bowman. Still, he
struck out ¼ of the batters faced in Binghamton over the last 4+ months, while
walking only ~5%, and generally pitching very effectively. Also, he might hit
some homeruns in the PCL. I’ve long been a fan of Gorski’s (27) – he’s
generally had a surprisingly good K: BB ratio despite less than overwhelming
stuff – but he walks a fine line as a starter.
Relief Pitchers
Jack Leathersich (Binghamton, Las Vegas), Erik Goeddel (Las
Vegas), Chasen Bradford (Binghamton, Las Vegas), Zack Thornton (Las Vegas), Duane
Below (Toledo), Scott Rice (Mets, injury), Hansel Robles (Binghamton), Cody
Satterwhite (Binghamton), Jeff Walters (Las Vegas, TJS, not back yet)
Any
one of these relievers could be useful to the Mets in 2015 and beyond, but none
of them have been dominant enough at AAA (with the Mets) to force the issue.
Robles (24) and Satterwhite (28) haven’t previously pitched in AAA, and they
both were very effective relievers for AA last season, so I’m curious to see
how they adjust. Bradford (25) became one of the most reliable relievers in
Wally’s pen by the end of last season, and didn’t allow a walk after the AAA
All-Star break. Goeddel (26) could get inconsistent for Las Vegas during 2014,
but perhaps his successes against big league talent will help his confidence as
he starts the season back there again – I like his heat and breaking pitches.
I’m glad Leathersich (24) gets to start the year with Las Vegas in 2015,
because he’s better off facing the toughest competition (and pitching
situations) in my opinion. Also, Frank Viola has been helpful for many young
Mets pitchers, so maybe he can help something click for Leathersich. Thornton
(26) was looking as good in Spring Training as he had at any point last year. Below
is a lefty with a little major league experience and expendable, so he might
see the Mets at some point in 2015 – he wasn’t on the initial tentative roster
released, so we’ll have to see what happens with him. If Walters comes back
pitching like he did in 2013, he might force his way back to the top of the
relief depth charts, as there was talk of him being the first relief call up
last season during spring training.
Catchers
Kevin Plawecki (Binghamton, Las Vegas), Johnny Monell
(Albuquerque, Norfolk), Nelfi Zapata (Savannah, Binghamton)
I’ve seen chatter online that
Plawecki (24) should be in the lineup nearly everyday, either catching, playing
1B, or at DH. I expect a boost in power from Plawecki with Las Vegas this
season, as he can generate more power than he is generally given credit for.
Monell (29) will get the main backup duties here, but Zapata (24) allows Wally
to use Plaw as a 1B/DH when desired.
Infielders
Dilson Herrera (St. Lucie, Binghamton, NY, 2B), Matt Reynolds (SS/2B, Binghamton, Las Vegas), Eric Campbell (Las Vegas, NY, Super
UT), Danny Muno (Las Vegas, INF), Wilfredo Tovar (Binghamton, MI), Brandon
Allen (Las Vegas, 1B/LF/DH)
The
regular infield to start should be Muno (26) at 3B, Reynolds (24) at SS, Dilson
(21) at 2B, and Campbell (27) at 1B, but we’ve all seen Wally use Allen (29) at
unexpected times. Those four infielders should provide solid offense for the
51s while around, and Allen was solid in 2014 too. It’s likely either Campbell
or Muno joins the bench when the Mets bullpen shrinks back to 7, so I think
Lawley or Boyd will come up to take over the vacated starting infield spot.
Castellanos is also an option anywhere on the infield.
Outfielders
I
am still a Puello (24) believer, so I’ll be annoyed if he’s not playing
everyday with this lot. In an unexpected development, Puello had to be added
back to the 40-man roster and retroactively placed
on the DL. He should be eligible for some minor league rehab time when
healthy, so the Mets might not have to risk losing him right away. But it’s
likely they’ll eventually have to expose him to waivers again, although he
cleared no problem the first time. I think Taijeron (26) is the most
interesting bat of the rest, as I think he is an AAAA bat at minimum. Ceciliani
(24) is likely the everyday centerfielder until Nimmo gets promoted. Vaughn (25)
got a solid total of PA after joining Las Vegas last season, but he seemed to
be more of the 4th outfielder, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that
happens again. Castellanos (28) is sticking around after an underwhelming
spring (.697 OPS, 35 K%), and we’ll see how much Wally wants to use him this
season. Johnson (26) is listed on multiple rosters right now, but his twitter
says Las Vegas. He can play all 3 OF positions well (but mostly plays CF/RF),
has above average speed, and could be a 4th outfielder type at the
next level – maybe more if he finds that gear that helped him go 44/55 on
stolen bases in 2013.
Hubble Finds Phantom Objects Near Dead Quasars http://t.co/ALQ7CDuaGg #astronomy #telescope pic.twitter.com/OzItYdW2fn
— HubbleScience (@hubblescience) April 3, 2015
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