The little speedster had a big season in the outfield for Savannah last
year, so what kind of prospect do the Mets have on their hand?
2015 with Savannah (including playoffs): 118 G, 493 PA, .278/.370/.424, 66 R, 22 2B, 12 3B, 5 HR, 61 RBI, 70 K: 59 BB (14.2 K%: 12 BB%), .319 BABIP, .146 ISO, 127 wRC+, 10.7 AB/XBH, 6.4% HR/FB, 50.1 GB%: 21.8 FB%: 19.3 LD%: 8.7 PU%, 14-25 on Stolen Bases
The
Mets signed John Mora out of the Dominican Republic as an 18-year old back in November
2011 and then sent him to the DSL. For most DR prospects, the story ends there,
but after a couple of seasons hitting well in the DSL, the Mets brought Mora
stateside to start the 2014 season in extended spring training and then the
GCL. The Mets would promote him past Kingsport after a big first month in the
GCL, and Mora went on to post a nice .292 average during his month in Brooklyn
(95 wRC+), which earned him a shot with Savannah out of the gate in 2015. And
he took full advantage of his shot with the Sand Gnats, tying for the team lead
in wRC+ (128) and XBH (39) during the regular season, without posting a crazy
BABIP (.320). He played all 3-outfield positions while with Savannah, spending
half of his time in CF and the other half split evenly between LF and RF. Below
I take a look at some trends from Mora’s 2015, and then share links to all GIF
and YouTube coverage of Mora.
 |
| John Mora's spray chart vs. LHP (left) and vs. RHP (right) |
Table 1 – John Mora’s 2015 Splits by Month
Month
|
PA
|
AB/XBH
|
BB%
|
K%
|
BABIP
|
ISO
|
wRC+
|
GB%
|
April
|
80
|
13.6
|
11.2
|
16.2
|
.352
|
.118
|
138
|
43.6
|
May
|
106
|
13.8
|
17.9
|
15.1
|
.191
|
.132
|
91
|
53.4
|
June
|
96
|
7.8
|
7.3
|
17.7
|
.371
|
.186
|
140
|
52.9
|
July
|
118
|
7.8
|
9.3
|
11
|
.364
|
.217
|
171
|
50
|
August
|
73
|
15.5
|
13.7
|
13.7
|
.327
|
.065
|
118
|
44.2
|
September
|
20
|
0 XBH
|
15
|
5
|
.250
|
0
|
85
|
62.5
|
Table 2 – John Mora’s 2015 Splits by Pitcher Handedness
Throws
|
PA
|
AB/XBH
|
BB%
|
K%
|
BABIP
|
ISO
|
wRC+
|
GB%
|
RHP
|
356
|
10
|
12.4
|
13.8
|
.304
|
.163
|
132
|
47.5
|
LHP
|
137
|
13
|
10.9
|
15.3
|
.357
|
.103
|
128
|
57.1
|
Table 3 – John Mora’s 2015 Splits by Home/Away
H/A
|
PA
|
AB/XBH
|
HR/FB
|
BB%
|
K%
|
BABIP
|
ISO
|
wRC+
|
GB%
|
Away
|
263
|
9.4
|
12.2
|
11.4
|
12.5
|
.319
|
.186
|
145
|
50
|
Home
|
230
|
12.7
|
0
|
12.6
|
16.1
|
.318
|
.099
|
114
|
50.3
|
Looking
at Table 1, Mora’s K% went from above average in the 1st half to
elite in the 2nd half, so it will be interesting to see how he fares
against more advanced pitching, and if he can continue to make in-season
adjustments. His pop-up rate also improved from the 1st half to the
2nd, going from 10.8% over the first 3 months to 6.2% over the final
3 months. His platoon splits look like a potential problem, but he owns RHP’s,
and that might actually help him earn a role at the highest level. He played
his home games at Grayson Historic Park, which was a known drain on lefty
production, especially power production, but his home/away splits are
surprising, because that's a great SAL ISO and HR/FB rate on the road (not to mention nearly 1: 1 K: BB). If he can always hit like he did on the road in 2015, his defense
in CF gets a longer rope, and he becomes one of the top prospects in the
system.
Table 4 – John Mora’s 2015 Splits by Batted Ball Type
Batted Ball Type*
|
PA
|
AB/XBH
|
BABIP
|
SAL BABIP
|
wOBA
|
SAL wOBA
|
Fly balls
|
78
|
6
|
.149
|
.189
|
.284
|
.341
|
Groundballs
|
181
|
29.2
|
.286
|
.252
|
.283
|
.243
|
Line Drives
|
69
|
3.3ª
|
.735
|
.734
|
.855
|
.788
|
*0-31 on pop ups; ª14th in the SAL, min. 40 PA
Table 5 – John Mora’s 2015 Splits by Batted Ball Direction
Batted Ball
Direction
|
PA
|
%
|
AB/XBH
|
HR/FB
|
BABIP
|
SAL BABIP*
|
wOBA
|
SAL wOBA*
|
GB%
|
Center
|
80
|
22.6
|
13
|
0
|
.312
|
.370
|
.345
|
.392
|
38.8
|
Opposite
|
69
|
19.5
|
13.2
|
4.5
|
.299
|
.320
|
.324
|
.334
|
30.4
|
Pull
|
205
|
57.9
|
7.1
|
11.1
|
.347
|
.302
|
.414
|
.372
|
63.1
|
*LHB only
On
the one hand, Mora pulled the ball a bit too much last year, but on the other
hand, he was just doing what he does best, and he does pulling the ball best.
He’ll have to show that he can use the whole field against more advanced
pitching and scouting, because otherwise teams will find a way to take
advantage of that. He uses a big leg kick as a timing device while the pitcher
is coming home, which allows him to get some nice pull power, but makes it
difficult for him to go to LF. Given his speed, I think he could steal infield
singles slapping the ball on the ground the other way, and may need to do
something like that when pitchers start refusing to come in against him. Fellow
Mets prospect Gavin Cecchini showed a big leg kick with Savannah in 2014, but
removed it entering 2015 to improve his contact numbers, and the tradeoff helped
Gavin have his best pro season at the plate. Mora doesn’t need big homerun power
with his speed, he just needs to find the gaps and run, so I think it would be
a worthwhile tradeoff for him too.
In
their 2016 Prospect Guidebook, Baseball
America describes Mora as, “a quick-twitch athlete who has plus speed,
solid-average range in center field, and a contact-oriented hitting approach.”
He’s looking to gap the ball and run (or pull it down the line and run), but he’s willing to wait for his pitch or
take a walk. He’s got the speed to handle CF and be a good base stealer, but
there’s work to be done in both areas. His reads and routes weren’t rated well
in CF, and his 58% stolen base rate is way too low for someone with plus speed.
The overall package reminds me a lot of former Mets outfielder Eric Young Jr.,
who learned to steal bases well, but has not been good enough defensively for
CF or offensively for LF. There’s plenty of time for the 22-year old Mora to
smooth out the rough edges, but right now, the package is looking more like an 4th
outfielder. I think he’ll take a big step forward in prospect rankings after
his exposure to the FSL this year, but unless he hits like he did on the road
in 2015, I don’t think it will change the projection much. That’s not a bad thing,
because EY proved he could be useful in the 4th OF role, and because
Mora might
have something EY never really showed: a big platoon split, with the advantage
against RHP.
2015 Astromets Mind Coverage
YouTube Video’s of John Mora
‘Honey
Board’ Player Of The Week (Cyclones action)
The Discovery Channel Telescope has spotted two comets that will fly past Earth this month. https://t.co/FYcrBek7o7 pic.twitter.com/Gbu5AdNH13— Science Channel (@ScienceChannel) March 19, 2016
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