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| Eudor Garcia (28) and Wuilmer Becerra (31) have been a huge boost to the Sand Gnats lineup during their hot streak |
June 1-7, 2015
Keeping
track of the hottest minor leaguers in the Mets farm system.
Hitter of the
Week: Tough choice between the top two healthy OF prospects in the
system, but I have to go with Wuilmer Becerra and his 8 XBH over Michael
Conforto’s impressive AA debut week. When the season started, it seemed
unrealistic to think that Becerra would advance beyond the SAL this year, but
he’s done so well, and turned it on so much of late, that it’s now believable
to think that the Mets might pull the trigger once the first half race is over
in two weeks (division leader at the break earns a playoff spot).
Starting Pitcher
of the Week: A tip of the cap to several strong cases, but I couldn’t
overlook Logan Taylor’s two-start week. His K: BB ratio is not ideal, but
Taylor had his top two starts of the season last week, so hopefully this is the
start of a nice run.
Relief Pitcher of
the Week: In a relatively weak field, Ricky Knapp’s piggyback
appearance sticks out, and he’s been worthy of recognition over his past few
appearances for Savannah.
Team of the Week:
Not even a close competition, as the Sand Gnats were the only team with a .500+
record. They’ve been one of the hottest teams in the SAL lately, and their
sweep of Greenville brought them within 1 game of 1st place with 13
left in the first half – the division winner at the end of each half clinches a
playoff spot.
Las Vegas 51s 30-28
1-6
record
Pitchers
Steven Matz – 6 IP, 7 H, R, 4 BB, 5 SO, HR, 97 Pitches (63
Strikes), 6 GO: 3 FO; He lost a 1-0 game
for the second straight start, which proves that he is ready for the Mets.
Cody Satterwhite – 2.1 IP, H, 2 BB, 3 SO; After allowing at least one run in 6 of his
first 7 appearances, 12 of Satterwhite’s last 15 appearances have been
scoreless, with a 20 K: 4 BB ratio.
Batters
Johnny Monell – 8-21, .381/.458/.476, 2 R, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 2
BB, HBP, 4 SO, GIDP; Has yet to stop
hitting in AAA.
Matt Reynolds – 9-26, .346/.400/.577, 4 R, 3 2B, HR, 9 RBI,
3 BB, SF, 4 SO, CS; Reynolds had a hit in
all 7 games played last week and appears to be over that May slump. Expect the
calls for his promotion to return soon, and the same old conversations that
come with them. I support giving Reynolds a chance to start at 2B/SS/3B until
the Mets get healthy, but I imagine the Mets are hoping Dilson Herrera’s
imminent return will help solve the infield problems.
Travis Taijeron – 5-19, .263/.364/.579, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3
BB, 3 SO; Big Sunday bumped him onto this
list. Even though Taijeron’s average has been falling since his hot start, he’s
been providing solid power numbers, but he still strikes out too much.
Binghamton Mets 27-29
1-5 record
Pitchers
Luis Cessa – 7.2 IP, 4 H, R, BB, 8 SO, HR, 97 Pitches (65
Strikes), 8 GO: 5 FO; Cessa had his best
start since opening day, matching his season his in strikeouts from that start,
but took a 2-0 loss.
Robert Gsellman – 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 103 Pitches
(62 Strikes), 7 GO: 4 FO; Settled into
the start, and was much better than in his first outing, but took a 3-0 loss.
Dario Alvarez – 3 IP, BB, 4 SO; He’s been burned for some big innings this year, but still has 14/19
scoreless appearances while holding lefties to a .539 OPS (36.8 K%: 10.5 BB%).
Beck Wheeler – 3 IP, 2 H; 8 straight scoreless appearances after allowing a run in 6 straight.
Batters
Gavin Cecchini – 10-25, .400/.444/.520, 6 R, 3 2B, 2 RBI, 2
BB, 3 SO; It’s a real pleasure watching a
prospect have a breakout season like this, MiLB.tv is amazing.
Michael Conforto – 11-23, .478/.538/.783, 2 R, 4 2B, HR, 7
RBI, 3 BB, 4 SO, GIDP; My goodness
Conforto, what a first week in AA. He’s stood out everywhere he plays, and has
a real chance to be an impact bat for the Mets at some point next year.
St. Lucie Mets 28-28
3-3 record
Pitchers
John Gant – 8 IP, 5 H, 2 R, BB, 9 SO, HR, 5 GO: 6 FO; Gant was inconsistent with Binghamton, but
it wasn’t hard to see the foundations of a strong pitcher, so it’s no surprise
that he’s breezed through two starts in the Florida State League. Last weeks
start was his first of the season with less than 2 walks allowed, something he
accomplished in 8 of 21 starts during the 2014 season.
Logan Taylor – 2 GS, 0.69 ERA, 13 IP, 9 H, 3 R (1 ER), 6 BB,
5 SO, 20 GO: 9 FO, .506 OPS; The pitcher
of the week induced a 59% groundball-rate overall, which is how he’ll have
success, as his overhand motion generates nice sink on low-90’s heat.
Batters
Travis d’Arnaud – 6-10, .600/.636/.600, 3 RBI, BB, SO; His rehab will move to AAA this week, so
expect some nice power output, as he’s always mashed in the PCL.
Dilson Herrera – 5-11, .455/.455/.626, R, 2 2B, 3 SO; Also heading to AAA this week, and then
hopefully breaking out in the majors next week.
Jeff McNeil – 4-14, .286/.286/.500, R, 2B, 3B, RBI, 2 SO; Barely makes the cut this week, but is
riding an 11-game hitting streak, with a .400/.434/.580 slash over 53 PA during
the streak.
Stefan Sabol – 7-20, .350/.350/.450, 3 R, 2 2B, 4 RBI, 3 SB,
6 SO; Solid start to his FSL career, but
keep an eye on those strikeout totals.
Dominic Smith – 7-24, .292/.346/.500, 6 R, 5 2B, 2 RBI, 2
BB, 5 SO, 2 GIDP; His long hitting streak
finally ended, but Smith still had a nice week, and now has a .900+ OPS over
his previous month of play.
Savannah Sand Gnats 30-27
6-1 record
Pitchers
Martires Arias – 4 IP, 2 H, R, 3 BB, 7 SO, HBP, 98 Pitches
(63 Strikes), 3 GO: 2 FO; Arias was one K
shy of matching his career high through 4 IP, but the high strikeout total
drove up his pitch count, and he was out by the 5th.
Casey Delgado – 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R (2 ER), 4 SO, 84 Pitches (58
Strikes), 10 GO: 2 FO; Great start to his
minors career, but can he keep it up as the league learns what he throws and
adjusts.
Casey Meisner – 8.1 IP, 8 H, R, 2 BB, 3 SO, HBP, 90 Pitches
(60 Strikes), 7 GO: 6 FO; Sooo, yeah,
those last 7 starts of 2014 were not a fluke, as he has a 1.88 ERA over 57.1 IP
(6.1 IP/start), with a 21.5 K%: 7 BB%. He’s been so good that the Mets might
need to limit his innings down the stretch, but he’s yet to surpass 95 pitches
this year despite at least reaching the 7th inning in 5 of his last
6 starts.
Scarlyn Reyes – 7 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 SO, 92 Pitches (57
Strikes), 10 GO: 4 FO; It’s nice that
Reyes is getting good results in his first taste of full season ball, but as a
25-year old in the SAL, you’d hope for a better K-rate
Brad Wieck – 2 GS, 3.65 ERA, 12.1 IP, 14 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 16
SO, HR, 194 Pitches (132 Strikes), 11 GO: 5 FO; After only 6 strikeouts combined over his first two starts of the year
(9 IP), Wieck has had 6+ strikeouts in eight straight starts since (34 K%
during the stretch), including 9+ five times. It’s possible that he’s the PTBNL
in the Alex Torres trade, which would be a disappointing loss if true – not
that it’s disappointing to have Torres and his 2.61 ERA through 20.2 IP, but it
would be disappointing to lose one of the emerging prospects in the system.
Alberto Baldonado – 3 IP, BB, 2 SO, HBP; Baldonado has been excellent out of the
Gnats pen this year, holding batters to a .494 OPS, with better success against
righties, and a 30% K-rate.
James Duff – 2 IP, H, 2 SO; The Duff-man has allowed a .458 BABIP to lefties, which accounts for
his large L/R splits this year. Considering he’s induced a 60% groundball rate
from lefties (per MLBFarm),
it’s likely that he’s been a little unlucky in his SSS against LHB’s.
Ricky Knapp – 5 IP, 4 H, R (0 ER), 5 SO, 63 Pitches (46
Strikes), 6 GO: 2 FO; Not only has Knapp
been very good since rejoining Savannah this year (as you’d expect), but he’s also
been pitch efficient in a piggyback starter-like roll over his past 3
appearances.
David Roseboom – 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 SO; Also showing big platoon splits that appear influenced by a high BABIP
allowed to lefties (.429), which might have influenced by poor SSS luck (69%
groundball rate for the season, per MLBFarm).
Batters
Wuilmer Becerra – 12-28, .429/.467/.857, 7 R, 6 2B, 2 HR, 7
RBI, BB, HBP, 6 SO, GIDP; Mets fans will
always associate Becerra with that R.A. Dickey trade, and for good reason, as
it may turn out to be the fleece of the century. He offers the best combination
of power/speed/defense in the system, although his speed may end up graded average
by the time he reaches the majors if he gets too big.
Eudor Garcia – 9-28, .321/.367/.500, 5 R, 3 2B, 3B, 5 RBI, 2
BB, 7 SO; Been really impressed in my few
looks at Eudor this year, and he’s produced at a solid clip so far, although he
hasn’t really been drawing walks.
Jonathan Johnson – 6-22, .273/.393/.409, 3 R, 3 2B, RBI, 5
BB, SH, 3 SO; Travis d’Arnaud’s best
friend has likely earned himself a promotion to St. Lucie whenever McNeil’s
spot opens up, as he’s up to a nice .324/.410/.437 slash through 142 AB this
year.
Vicente Lupo – 4-12, .333/.385/.667, 2 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI,
HBP, 3 SO; Although he’s struck out a lot
this season, it was weird to see Lupo demoted to Brooklyn this past week, but
that turned out to just be a roster crunch move. He had 0 strikeouts in
consecutive starts for just the second time in 2015 last week.
Tomas Nido – 5-21, .238/.273/.619, 2 R, 3B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, BB,
6 SO; Really needs to improve his plate
discipline, but playing the position where good defense and solid power (.147 ISO
in the SAL is nothing to sneeze at) can outweigh a low OBP (just look at the
career Anthony Recker is having).
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— Universe Today (@universetoday) June 8, 2015
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