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| Image from @MetsFarmReport |
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.
Note: I plan to update with official 25-man rosters by
Thursday game times
UPDATE: Matt Koch has been named the opening day starter, story here. The link also suggests that Michael Fulmer might start the season on the inactive list.
UPDATE: Fulmer will stay down in XST for a few turns in the rotation as he stretches out. He finished 2014 injured, so it's probable he's just behind everyone else after recovering this offseason, as it's been confirmed on twitter that he pitched with full health in Spring Training.
The
league champion B-Mets start the season with a solid roster that should be
anchored by a strong starting rotation. The roster is a mix of young talent
with upside and solid AA depth players, including several who are ready for AAA,
which should lead to another successful season in Binghamton. The team will
have 61 games covered by MiLB.tv this season, so I hope to get a lot of gif
coverage :). Here is the initial roster.
Potential Starting Pitchers
Gabriel Ynoa (St. Lucie, Binghamton), Matthew Fulmer (St.
Lucie, injury), John Gant (Savannah), Luis Cessa (St. Lucie), Matt Koch (St.
Lucie), Jacob Lugo (St. Lucie), Rainy Lara (Binghamton)
This
rotation features an interesting quartet of young right-handed pitchers, and a
couple of guys looking like spot fillers. Ynoa forced his way into the Bingo
rotation for the 2nd half of 2014, but while he kept his razor sharp
control in AA, he was less effective for the first time in his career. He’s
still just 21 until May 26th, and his secondary stuff looked
sharp in Spring Training, so I’d bet he’d be at AA for another 10-12 starts
in 2015 before forcing his way into the AAA rotation, which should have room
for him when ready. Fulmer (22) was on a roll with St. Lucie when he got the
late season promo to Binghamton’s rotation, but things seemed wrong from the
beginning of his start that night, as his velocity wasn’t near what had been
reported on St. Lucie radio. He’s healthy again, and hopefully this will be the
first year of many with no injury interruptions, as he’s got a great mid-90’s
fastball, good breaking balls, and a fringe change. Gant (22) skips St. Lucie’s
crowded rotation after a very dominant performance with Savannah last year. He
doesn’t necessarily have top of the rotation stuff, but Gant has consistently
gone deep into games with his solid stuff (I love his
big curve) and smart approach. Cessa (nearly 23) didn’t look too special in
his one spot start in AA last summer (it was on MiLB.tv), but finished the
season on fire over his last four starts for St. Lucie – 24.2 IP, 2.19 ERA, 16
H, .511 OPS, 24.5 K%: 4.3 BB%. Radio had him consistently reaching mid-90’s
early in his starts, but losing speed throughout the starts. Koch did not have
a standout performance for the 2014 St. Lucie rotation (4.64 ERA, 12 K%), so I
don’t have high expectations for his 2015, but he was named the opening day starter, so obviously the Mets see something there. Lugo (25) was a long man and spot starter last year. Lara (24) struggled in his first
season with Binghamton, and should not have a strong hold on his rotation spot.
Relief Pitchers
Domingo Tapia (St. Lucie), Chasen Huchingson (Binghamton),
Dario Alvarez (Savannah, St. Lucie, Binghamton, NY), John
Church (Binghamton, Las Vegas), Jon Velasquez (Binghamton), Paul Sewald (St.
Lucie, Binghamton), Adam Kolarek (Binghamton), Beck Wheeler (St. Lucie)
Despite
consistently high-rated stuff, Tapia (23) took a step backwards as a starter in
his 2nd go with St. Lucie during 2014, so the Mets will try him in
the pen from the start of this season. The Las Vegas pen is pretty stuffed, so
Huchingson (nearly 26) will be in AA for a 3rd straight season,
Alvarez (26) returns to the highest minor
league level he pitched at in 2014, Church (28) will just have to pitch his way
out of AA for a 3rd straight season, and Velasquez (29) will have to
improve on his Eastern League All-Star quality season from 2014. Sewald (24)
was very effective for St. Lucie before joining the Binghamton pen for the
stretch run and playoffs, where he was a little wild in a very SSS. Kolarek
(26) had a much better FIP (3.73) than ERA (6.07) last year with Bingo, but
didn’t look very effective when I saw him, and is returning for a 4th
straight season with Bingo. Wheeler (26) gets a lot of strikeouts (30+% the
past 3 seasons), but could get wild with St. Lucie last year (12.9 BB%), which
led to some big innings.
Catchers
Xorge Carrillo (Binghamton, Las Vegas), Albert Cordero (St.
Lucie)
The
Bingo catching duo of Carrillo (nearly 26) and Cordero (25) is the least
interesting group in this entire roster preview series, as neither figures to
be much more than catching depth. Carrillo has provided AA league average
offense in limited time the past two seasons with AA (only 336 PA), so he
should get the majority playing time. Cordero’s offense has stalled the past
few seasons, but he more than doubled his ISO up to .101 in 2014.
Infielders
Dustin Lawley (Binghamton,
3B/LF), T.J. Rivera (St. Lucie, Binghamton, INF), Gavin Cecchini (Savannah, St.
Lucie, SS), Josh Rodriguez (New Orleans, INF), Jairo Perez (St. Lucie, CI),
Aderlin Rodriguez (St. Lucie, 1B)
Cecchini (21) is the stud of this
group, as he finished the season showing mastery of the FSL after some initial
struggles - .862 OPS over his final 124 PA is nice, but the 10 XBH (3 HR) and
11.3 BB%: 16.9 BB% are very nice. Lawley (nearly 26) is getting a little old for
a prospect, but his power may prove useful in a bench role some day (he’s had
back-to-back 20+ homerun seasons). Rivera (26) came out of nowhere to be a
great utility infielder (.831 OPS) for the B-Mets down the stretch and in the
playoffs, unexpectedly spending most of his time at SS. Perez (26) is a super
utility player who busted out a nearly .200 ISO in 269 PA last season. Aderlin Rodriguez
(23) is a former top prospect in the system who is probably on his last legs,
but who still should have some of the best raw power in the system – he just
hasn’t shown it off in games since 2012. Josh Rodriguez (30) bounced around the
upper levels of the Mets system in 2012-13, but he’s just extreme depth at this
point.
Outfielders
Brandon Nimmo (St. Lucie, Binghamton, OF), Jayce Boyd (Binghamton, LF/DH), Eudy Pina (St.
Lucie, RF), Jared King (Savannah, St. Lucie, LF), Gilbert Gomez (OF, St. Lucie)
Although
Alderson suggested Nimmo (22) might start with AAA this year, he is back to
show his dominance of AA first. Nimmo had some big L/R splits in 2014,
especially at Binghamton, but he also showed
improvement against lefties during his time in AA. I think Pina (nearly 24)
has a lot of upside, he just needs to consistently deliver on his potential over
a full season – he had a 1.058 OPS over his best 150 AB stretch in 2014, with
25 XBH (14 2B, 3 3B, 8 HR) during the stretch. Boyd (24) will split time between LF and DH with Bingo this season, but he’d traditionally need to provide at least a little more power to fill those spots – he did finish with a 1.000+ OPS after 7/7, and a .200+ ISO in August. King (23) has a nice approach
from both sides of the plate, and is better than expected in the OF, but he
hasn’t shown much power yet for a corners guy (hasn’t played the infield yet,
but I could see him at 1B). Gomez (23) finally gets out of St. Lucie, after
parts of 4 straight seasons there, but hasn’t shown enough of a hit tool in the
minors to fulfill his potential. He does have a great approach at the plate,
and can cover any spot in the outfield, but he will need to hit his way back
into the discussion.
Distance of a Microlensing Event Measured for the First Time http://t.co/3xCwtL2OQZ by @astroengine pic.twitter.com/FfLKnF0cle
— Discovery Space (@Discovery_Space) April 7, 2015
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