Kingsport Mets: 2017 Season In Review

Taking a closer look at how the Kingsport Mets finished the season with a 29-37 record but just 3.5 games out of a playoff spot

What’s in this post:

-       Season Summary

-       Astro’s Awards

-       Coaches

-       Team Stats

-       Mets on the APPY Leaderboards

-       Promotions

-       Links to 2017 highlights (34)

What Happened

            Kingsport has long been a staple of the Mets farm system, offering New York a Rookie ball squad in the Appalachian League for all but one season since 1980 (stadium renovations in 1983 forced the Mets to the GCL for a season). And Kingsport has been the first minor league stop for some of the best talent to come out of the Mets system: from Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden in the early 1980’s to Jose Reyes and David Wright in the early 2000’s. While it’s unreasonable to expect any rookie ball player to reach the peaks those Mets legends reached, there were plenty of interesting Mets prospects playing in Kingsport last year that could be ready to put their name on the prospect map in 2018.

            The 2017 Kingsport Mets started the season with a 3-game winning streak, but those good feels quickly went away as they went on to lose 8 straight after that. The long losing streaks became a recurring problem for Kingsport, as they would go on to lose 8 of their final 11 games in July and then 8 of their final 10 games in August. So, what happened?

Brooklyn Cyclones: 2017 Season In Review

Taking a closer look at how the Cyclones finished the season with the worst record in the NYPL at 24-52

What’s in this post:

-       Season Summary

-       Astro’s Awards

-       Coaches

-       Team Stats

-       Cyclones on the NYPL Leaderboards

-       Promotions

-       Injuries

-       Links to Astromets GIF Recaps (20)

What Happened

            The Brooklyn Cyclones franchise played their first season in the New York Penn League (NYPL) way back in 2001 and didn’t have a losing season until 2015. Unfortunately for Cyclones fans, 2017 marked a third straight losing season for Brooklyn, and it was the franchises worst season yet. The Cyclones were so bad in 2017 that they finished 6.5 games behind the next worst teams in the league (the Auburn Doubledays and Batavia Muckdogs both finished at 30-45), and as the only team with a sub-.400 winning percentage.

            It’s not just that the Cyclones record was bad either, the team was bad at almost everything: they finished in the bottom half of all the major counting stats for offense except stolen bases (see Table 1 below), and they finished bottom third in all the major counting stats for pitching except batter’s faced and strikeouts (Table 2). At their worst, the Cyclones went through a 4-27 stretch between July 22^nd and August 25^th, which included a franchise record 14-game losing streak. Surprisingly, Brooklyn pulled off a 9-1 stretch after that losing streak, but then dropped four straight to end the season. Unlike the previous “Affiliate Season in Review’s” I’ve done so far, I think it’s pretty clear what went wrong for Brooklyn, but we can still take a closer look at this squad.

Columbia Fireflies: 2017 Season In Review

Taking a closer look at how the Columbia Fireflies finished last season with a 68-70 record in the SAL

What’s in this post:

-       Season Summary

-       Astro’s Awards

-       Coaches

-       Team Stats

-       Fireflies on the SAL Leaderboards

-       Promotions/Injuries

-       Links to Astromets GIF Recaps (95 + ASG)

What Happened

            Compared to the Mets three other full season squads, the Columbia Fireflies were relatively loaded when the season started, featuring seven players that ranked in MLB Pipeline’s preseason top-30. Then, as the season wore on, more top-30 prospects joined the roster, including a young shortstop named Andres Gimenez and a lefty with a strikeout touch named Thomas Szapucki. And overshadowing all of those top prospects was Tim Tebow, who was attracting sellout crowds wherever the team went, providing an atmosphere not often seen in A-ball, especially in April.

            With a loaded team and some Tebow magic, the Fireflies started 2017 with a 5-game winning streak during which they outscored their opponents 39-12. The good feels wouldn’t last long, however, as they finished the month just one game over .500 and with one of those top-ranked prospects already lost to a season-ending surgery (Blake Tiberi underwent TJ surgery). The Fireflies then battled to stay around .500 until the end of May, when everything suddenly clicked again and the team put together a 17-6 run to finish the first half. The surge catapulted Columbia into a playoff race, and they temporarily held first place, but the Fireflies couldn’t win out in Charleston, and the Greenville Drive rallied late on the last day of the half to jump one-half game ahead for a playoff spot. One key first-half performer was unavailable for the Fireflies final week of the half, as Max Kuhns had just hit the DL for an injury that eventually required TJ surgery.

St. Lucie Mets: 2017 Season In Review

Taking a closer look at how the St. Lucie Mets finished the season with one of the worst records in the FSL

What’s in this post:

-       Season Summary

-       Astro’s Awards

-       Coaches

-       Team Stats

-       Mets on the FSL Leaderboards

-       Promotions/Injuries

-       Links to Astromets GIF Recaps (4)

What Happened

            Of the Mets four full season teams, the St. Lucie Mets were arguably the one least stocked with top prospects when last season began. Yes, the Mets top-2 picks from the 2016 draft – Justin Dunn and Peter Alonso – were starting the season in the Florida State League, but there weren’t a lot of other top-25 guys on the squad. As the season wore on, a lot of players passed through St. Lucie, but while there was a lot of turnover, there was not a lot of help. The Mets expected a boost when three interesting prospects joined the team from Columbia at the start of the second half, but one got traded (Merandy Gonzalez), one got injured (Jordan Humpreys), and the third struggled to adjust (Michael Paez).

            Playing at the home of the New York Mets Spring Training facilities, the St. Lucie Mets get a lot of turnover every season. When Major Leaguer’s go on rehab, they often either start with the St. Lucie Mets, or join the team after a brief stint with the GCL Mets. As a result, the St. Lucie Mets roster count is always 50+, and they generally end up with 25-30 batters and 25-30 pitchers playing for them per season. Last year, that roster count reached 71, plus three position players were forced into action on the mound. That’s the most players to rotate through St. Lucie since 2010, when 82 players helped the team finish at 62-76. The constant turnover almost certainly played a role in the team’s struggles last year, but that doesn’t explain a 63-75 record, so what exactly happened?

Binghamton Rumble Ponies: 2017 Season In Review

Taking a closer look at how the Rumble Ponies finished the season with the second best record in the Eastern League

What’s in this post:

-       Season Summary

-       Coaches

-       Team Stats

-       Rumble Ponies on the EL Leaderboards

-       Promotions/Injuries

-       Links to Astromets GIF Recaps (117)

What Happened

            The Rumble Ponies spent almost the entire season with the second best record in the Eastern League, which earned them a spot in the postseason, where they lost to first-place Trenton in four games during the EL Division Championship Series. Binghamton slumped as a team in June, but then finished the year on a 33-11 stretch to push their record to 85-54. Between the rebrand and the team’s success, Binghamton saw a 10% boost in attendance, and that number could rise again in 2018 if Tim Tebow joins the squad.

            Among 2017 Mets affiliates, the Rumble Ponies stand out as the only stateside team with a winning record – both DSL teams finished with winning records. However, the success of a minor league team isn’t measured by wins, but by player development, and there were some big performances from unexpected sources in Binghamton last year.

Las Vegas 51s: 2017 Season In Review

Taking a closer look at how the 51s finished the season with the worst record in the PCL

What’s in this post:

       -       Season Summary
 -       Astro's Awards

       -       Coaches

       -       Team Stats

       -       51s on the PCL Leaderboards

       -       Promotions

       -       Links to Astromets GIF Recaps (56)

What Happened

            Last year was the 35^th season for Las Vegas baseball in the PCL and the 5^th season that the 51s were affiliated with the Mets. The Las Vegas Stars/51s have been affiliated with four Major League teams in their history, and even though this was a second straight losing season, the 51s still have a winning record overall with the Mets (365-353). In fact, the Mets are the only team with a winning record while affiliated with Las Vegas, as the previous tenants (Toronto) finished at 287-288.

            But the 2017 season was definitely a tough one for the Las Vegas 51s, as they eventually lost nearly all of their top players in promotions to the Mets, while getting almost no reinforcements sent from lower minor league affiliates. The season ended with a 56-86 record and several St. Lucie regulars filling out the lineup, because the Mets apparently did not want to mess with the Rumble Ponies playoff roster (which is fine). But even when the 51s had top prospects Dominic Smith and Amed Rosario going strong in the heart of the lineup, they were losing games more often than anyone in the PCL, so what happened?

Hibernation Over, Spring Training Is Here

Back to the baseball grind!

            Has Kristaps Porzingis bum knee bummed thee? Never fear, baseball is here! Did the crappy seasons from the Giants or Jets leave you filled with regrets? Tallyho, onto the baseball season we go! Do the Islanders, Devils and Rangers sound like groups of weird strangers? Ignore sports with nets, it’s time for THE METS!

            Although many players had arrived early again this year, Mets pitchers and catchers are due to report at Spring Training today, meaning Spring Training 2018 is officially underway!! This should be welcome news for NY sports fans, because we finally have some teams worth following again for the next 8 months.

            What that means around these parts is that I’m back and while most Mets outlets will be covering events around Spring Training camp, I’ll be reviewing all the Mets minor’s action I covered in 2017 (well, as much as I can before the minor league season starts on April 5^th). If you don't want to wait for my posts, you can find a list of all the Mets minor’s GIF recaps I’ve done the past 3 seasons here, including the 291 I did in 2017: 56 of Las Vegas, 116 of Binghamton, 4 of St. Lucie, 95 + All-Star coverage of Columbia, and 20 of Brooklyn.