2015 Monday Morning Mets Minors Players of the Week

What a soft and raw talent. Image from MiLB

May 25-31, 2015

            Keeping track of the hottest minor leaguers in the Mets farm system.

Hitter of the Week: Aderlin Rodriguez had a huge week, as nearly every hit went for extra bases. The former top prospect has been working with the highly regarded B-Mets hitting coach Luis Natera, and they have been focusing on Aderlin zoning pitches (fastballs), per B-Mets announcer Tim Heiman.

Starting Pitcher of the Week: Several worthy options here, but how do I not go with the top stud Steven Matz, even if he was limited to less than 80 pitches in both of his starts. Matz had been pitching so well that the workload was piling up too quickly, and the Mets want to save his bullets for September (and hopefully October), so I totally approve of this strategy.

Relief Pitcher of the Week: Casey Delgado gets the award for a very good first appearance in minor league ball, and he gets it over the rehabbing Vic Black for actually being a minor leaguer.

Team of the Week: The Sand Gnats had a better overall record, but St. Lucie won their way back to .500, leaving Savannah the only Mets franchise currently below .500.

Previous weeks: 4/9-19, 4/20-26, 4/27-5/3, 5/4-10, 5/11-17, 5/18-24

Las Vegas 51s 29-22

2-5 record

Pitchers

Duane Below – 1.80 ERA, 15 IP, 14 H, 4 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 4 SO, .597 OPS, 184 Pitches (132 Strikes), 21 GO: 11 FO; This year’s version of Dana Eveland? He hasn’t been missing many bats, but he has been inducing a lot of weak contact, and could be useful in the Mets pen, if needed – 5/25, 5/30

Steven Matz – 0.75 ERA, 12 IP, 7 H, R, 3 BB, 9 SO, 156 Pitches (102 Strikes), 20 GO: 2 FO; He’s ready to come up as soon as the Mets want/need him. Won’t be much starting depth behind him when he does join the rotation – 5/26, 5/31

Jon Velasquez – 3 G, 3 IP, 2 H, SO, .400 OPS; He’s thrown 5.2 scoreless innings since allowing 2 ER in his PCL debut

Batters

Brandon Allen – 6-19, (.316/.348/.526), 4 R, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 2 SF, SB, 5 SO; Wally really likes his clubhouse presence, and he has hit well in his time with Las Vegas

Binghamton Mets 26-24

2-5 record

Pitchers

Luis Cessa – 6 IP, 3 H, 5 SO, 94 Pitches (67 Strikes), 4 GO: 5 FO; He needs to start missing more bats again, but he’s been getting a high rate of groundballs all year – 5/28

Michael Fulmer – 6 IP, 5 H, R, 4 BB, 5 SO, 98 Pitches (54 Strikes), 6 GO: 2 FO; He’s been throwing his slider as his primary breaking ball, and it’s a nice pitch, but his curve is nice too. He’s throwing it less because he thinks it contributes to his injury problems – 5/29

Seth Lugo – 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, HR, 85 Pitches (53 Strikes), 7 GO: 5 FO; Spends all game painting the corners 5/31

Vic Black – 3 IP, 2 H, BB, 2 SO; He’s closer than Parnell, and likely to join the Mets soon – 5/25, 5/26, Fun radio interview

Matt Koch – 3.2 IP, 4 H, SO; He’s been great for Binghamton since moving to the pen, although his strikeout rate is still unimpressive

Paul Sewald – 3 IP, 2 H, 2 SO; He’s sustained an impressive strikeout rate throughout despite less than explosive stuff

Batters

Gavin Cecchini – 12-27, (.444/.484/.481), 2B, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 3 SO, SF; A lot of singles hit back up the middle this week from Cecchini

Eudy Pina – 7-25, (.280/.345/.480), 3 R, 2B, 2 3B, 2 RBI, 3 BB, SF, SB, 7 SO, 2 GIDP; He had been showing improvements in the strikeout department before this week, but he still drove the ball nicely for those 3 extra base hits

Aderlin Rodriguez – 8-23, (.348/.375/.913), 4 R, 4 2B, 3 HR, 7 RBI, BB, 2 SO, CS; What a great week, hopefully he can start breaking out

Josh Rodriguez – 6-23, (.261/.320/.522), 3 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, SB, 5 SO, 2 GIDP; He is a 30-year old crushing AA pitching. He’s either about to be out of a job or on his way to AAA, as more interesting prospects are filtering up.

St. Lucie Mets 25-25

4-2 record

Pitchers

John Gant – 6 IP, 3 H, R, 3 BB, 8 SO, HR, 7 GO: 2 FO; Gant’s only mistake in his first start with St. Lucie was crushed over the wall. He’ll be eager to earn his way back to AA

Kevin McGowan – 5.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 3 SO, 6 GO: 2 FO; He’s been strong through 5 IP over his last 4 outings

Robert Coles – 2 IP, H, BB, 4 SO; He had hit a rough patch for awhile, so hopefully this signals the end of that

Mike Hepple – 3 IP, 2 H, BB, 2 SO; 93-95 MPH with his fastball, just needs to improve his K%

Akeel Morris – 2.1 IP, H, BB, 3 SO; Still hitting mid-90’s after passing 30 pitches in his 2-inning save

Kyle Regnault – 4.1 IP, H, 2 BB, HBP, 7 SO; Indy League pickup could join Binghamton in June

Kelly Secrest – 3.1 IP, H, BB, 4 SO; Hard throwing lefty has been having a nice season for St. Lucie

Batters

Jeff McNeil – 11-25, (.440/.500/.480), 5 R, 2B, RBI, 3 BB, 3 SB, 2 SO, GIDP; Will either be heading to AA when L.J. Mazzilli returns Monday, or after playing in the FSL All-Star game in three weeks

Matt Oberste – 7-21, (.333/.391/.667), 7 R, 4 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 SO, GIDP; He’s shown power from the last side since last year, but is limited to 1B/DH right now, so the Mets should try him in LF

Amed Rosario – 8-24, (.333/.360/.458), 3 R, 2B, 3B, 4 RBI, BB, 2 SB, 2 SO, 2 GIDP, CS; He finished a great month of May with a big game

Stefan Sabol – 4-15, (.267/.476/.333), 2B, 2 RBI, 6 BB, SB, 3 SO, CS; Split between Savannah and St. Lucie

Dominic Smith – 10-26, (.385/.385/.692), 6 R, 5 2B, HR, 10 RBI, 3 SO; Few players have been hotter in any league since May 12^th

Savannah Sand Gnats 24-26

5-2 record

Pitchers

Martires Arias – 5.2 IP, 3 HH, 3 R, 2 BB, 8 SO, 2 HBP, 4 GO: 2 FO; This lanky starter is too old for the SAL

Ricky Knapp – 5 IP, 4 H, R, BB, 7 SO, 67 Pitches (49 Strikes), 3 GO: 1 FO; He’s done great in his two starts since returning to the rotation

Casey Meisner – 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 SO, HR, 95 Pitches (62 Strikes), 10 GO: 4 FO; There is no rush on Meisner, who just turned 20 on 5/22, but he is hardly being challenged in the SAL

Scarlyn Reyes – 6 IP, 4 H, R, BB, 6 SO, 96 Pitches (57 Strikes), 3 GO: 5 FO; Also too old for the SAL

Brad Wieck – 6.2 IP, 4 H, R, BB, 9 SO, 101 Pitches (72 Strikes), 4 GO: 3 FO; He’s been a strikeout machine over his past 6 starts

Casey Delgado – 4 IP, H, 3 BB, 7 SO, 59 Pitches (38 Strikes), 2 GO: 1 FO; Still know very little about what this guy throws, but he was an All-Star in the league he came from

Jimmy Duff – 3.1 IP, 4 H, BB, 6 SO; After a small hiccup, the Duff-man is back to his strikeout heavy ways

David Roseboom – 2 IP, H, BB, SO; The BOOM has been a strong lefty in the Gnats pen all year

Batters

Wuilmer Becerra – 9-24, (.375/.400/.542), 5 R, 2 2B, 3B, 5 RBI, BB, 5 SO; Reached base in 6 straight PA’s at one point

Jonathan Johnson – 9-24, (.375/.483/.458), 6 R, 2 2B, RBI, 3 BB, 2 HBP, 4 SO; Might be earning himself a shot with St. Lucie during the second half

Jon Leroux – 5-20, (.250/.375/.600), 4 R, 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 2 HBP, SB, 4 SO; Not many guys can say they allowed a walk-off HR and hit a walk-off HR in the same month (anyone else?)

Tomas Nido – 7-15, (.467/.529/.600), R, 2 2B, 6 RBI, BB, HBP, 2 SO; He’s looked good behind the plate when I’ve seen him, and he’s starting to show some of the power potential suggested when the Mets drafted him – this double goes a long way to the opposite field

J.C. Rodriguez – 9-22, (), 6 R, 3B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, SB, 3 SO; He’s one of the more interesting future utility guys in the system due to his ability to play SS

Astroquizzical: does a black hole have a shape? http://t.co/THXejH9Mc7 by @startswithabang via @scienceblogs pic.twitter.com/JmksyF4NEv

— Universe Today (@universetoday) May 31, 2015