Tyler Oringer: Well, this one is obvious. If you’ve been following any of my coverage throughout the season, you know how much I love the future first baseman for the Mets. The fact that the 23-year old was not called up this season in order to manipulate service time for his age 31 season is beyond belief – but hey, let’s stick to the good part.  Alonso finished his 2019 minor league campaign (65 games at Double-A, 67 in Triple-A) with 36 home runs, 119 RBIs and a triple slash of .285/.395/.579. The changes to his swing from 2017 were real, and allowed him to drive the ball to more fields with major league power, while also advancing his plate discipline to another level. The former Gator saw his OBP jump from .355 to the aforementioned .395.  Alonso finished a full minor league season between Double-A and Triple-A at 23 years old with an OPS of .975. Yes, his defense is not good, but the bat makes him the clear MVP of the Mets’ system in 2018.

Breakout prospect of the year: Jeff McNeil

Alex Rosen: Jeffrey, Jarrett and I were all on McNeil as a future major league contributor before July (and as early as 2014 in Jeffrey’s case) but we’d all be lying if we said we saw this coming. Injuries limited him to just 21 games above A-ball in 2016 and 2017 but McNeil rode a vastly improved frame and a new stomp and pull approach all the way to Queens before the end of July. He’s been the Mets’ best position player since the day he arrived in Flushing – not to mention one of the best players across all of baseball – and gives the organization another cost-controlled above-average regular to build around.

“Cy Young”: Um… Justin Dunn and David Peterson… I guess

TO: DISCLAIMER: I don’t feel comfortable giving either of these guys a Cy Young vote here, but the Mets didn’t really have any impressive season showings from any of their developing starting arms. Dunn, a 2016 first round pick out of Boston College, was okay this season but did improve greatly from 2017. He did struggle a bit in Double-A but flashed some of the potential the Mets have seen, striking out 156 batters in 135.1 innings. Control has continued to be an issue for the 22-year-old, but next season should be a massive stepping stone in his development. I’ve always felt his relief potential was immense and he could be extremely valuable there, but it would be quite the stretch to move him to the bullpen any time soon. Like Dunn, Peterson was good, not great. The 2017 first rounder dominated full-season A-ball, but was knocked around by Advanced-A hitting, surrendering 74 hits in 68.2 innings pitched. The southpaw already has the control and movement to be a legitimate prospect, he just needs to serve up fewer hittable pitches as he goes on.

Platinum Glove: Luis Guillorme

TO: A favorite of mine who was handled as poorly as he could have been in 2018.  Regardless, Guillorme is already an elite defender. If given the chance to start at shortstop or second base in a full major league season, the 23-year-old would challenge for a Gold Glove.  Guillorme flashes some of the smoothest actions and fluidness that any middle infielder in the minors has shown over the past few years. There is a lot to love about Guillorme, if the Mets could just figure out a way to best utilize his talents.

Comeback prospect of the year: Justin Dunn

AR: Dunn’s full-season debut couldn’t have gone much worse, but he rebounded nicely and took care of business in 2018, tossing about 90 innings in Binghamton en route to winning the organizations minor league pitcher of the year award. It was more of “meh” season by top pitching prospect standards, but even that was markedly better than Dunn’s 2017 in the Florida State League. There’s still a ton of room for improvement, especially with the change-up, but 2018 was without a doubt a step in the right direction. The stuff came back, the command improved and Dunn’s now one step closer to the big leagues.

Most likely to have their service time manipulated: Peter Alonso Andres Gimenez

AR: Oh, this is for the future? (looks at personal pref list…) Andres Gimenez it is! Until the rules change in the next CBA, teams are going to hold down top prospects to gain that extra year of control. It’s going to happen to Gimenez too, unless the Mets find themselves in a pennant race in 2019 with a hole to fill. Nevertheless, Gimenez had a tremendous 2018 season across Port St. Lucie and Binghamton, solidifying himself as one of the best prospects in the game.

The Ty Kelly Memorial Roster Spot: Gavin Cecchini

AR: Cecchini was off to a solid start in Las Vegas before a foot injury sidelined him for the rest of the season. He’s seemingly been around for forever, though he somehow won’t turn 25 ‘till December, but his spot on the 40-man is hanging by a thread. The former first rounder has never really received an extended stay with the big league club, but seems like a prime candidate to hang around as organizational depth for a number of years.

Best early return from the 2018 draft: Ross Adolph

TO: Adolph was drafted in the 12th round of the 2018 First Year Player Draft, but has already shown his value in his first year in Brooklyn. In my live look at Adolph, he did not get any hits or even take good routes to the ball in the field, but the athletically built outfielder owned a noticeably advanced approach at the plate and looked the part. The Toledo alum put up some nice number with the Cyclones, OPSing .857 with 14 stolen bases and an affinity for chasing down balls in the outfield.

Most likely to receive the Dominic Smith treatment: Mark Vientos

AR: Vientos still has a long ways to go before he’s a viable major league contributor, but he’s an early round pick who might find playing time hard to come by at the big league level. Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez look to be franchise cornerstones in the infield and Jeff McNeil’s not going anywhere anytime soon, leaving Vientos without a future home on the dirt as of now. Of course, these things tend to sort themselves out, but it hasn’t with Smith at the big league level for one reason or another. A similar fate could be awaiting Vientos, though we’re at least a couple of years away from having to even entertain the possibility.

Most likely to pitch too many high leverage innings: Kevin Smith

AR: The Mets went reliever heavy on Day Two of the 2018 MLB Draft, using a seventh rounder to grab Smith, a crafty SEC lefty with starting experience. There’s likely some internal hope that Smith can start, but having seen him this summer, I can tell you with confidence that that ain’t happening. He’s a future LOOGY in the Jerry Blevins/Daniel Zamora mold who’ll probably be overused like Blevins was in 2017. To be clear, a major league LOOGY is a fine outcome here, but the Mets have an affinity for Smith that I just personally don’t see.

The Reliever of the Carousel of Relievers Who Is Legit:  Drew Smith

TO: Bad timing – I know.  Anyway, Smith possesses true back-end relief talent which has come through in his every stop in the minors and more recently, the majors. I wrote about Smith back in Week 7 of the Prospect Watch, and stand by those previous comments.  Smith’s fastball and slider combination poses the potential for some elite late-inning stuff which has already come to fruition in 2018. When Sandy Alderson traded a fading Lucas Duda for a relief arm, people were concerned, but it would not be crazy to me if Smith is closing with success for New York in the near future.

Biggest Disappointment: Desmond Lindsay

TO: When Lindsay was drafted in the second round of the 2015 draft, big things were expected. The centerfielder looked to have the tools, body, and pedigree to turn into a major league regular, but things have just not transpired that way. Lindsay is still stuck in Advanced-A ball, and has not shown any reason to get out of it. The right-handed hitting high school pick has OPSed .715 and .640 in consecutive seasons – and unless he makes the necessary adjustments to his approach, his athleticism may end up going to waste. Injuries have hampered the 21-year old throughout his short career, so there is still a bit of hope – but change must come fast.

Happiest Met to head to Syracuse: Nabil Crismatt

AR: If Crismatt pitched the entire season in Binghamton, he’d have been my choice for the Cy Young award. Unfortunately, we can’t erase those nine starts in Las Vegas and Crismatt will instead have to settle for the “Happiest Met to head to Syracuse” designation. His strong season in Double-A proved there’s a future major league contributor here, but the disaster in the desert muddied things. The Mets will need to protect Crismatt from the Rule-5 draft this offseason by adding him to the 40-man roster, which currently seems like a toss-up at best. He should absolutely be protected, but this is the Mets and they’ll let him go to Oakland, where he’ll suddenly become a No.3 starter.

Best trade deadline acquisition: Franklyn Kilome

TO: This is quite obvious, but not because the other acquisitions were bad – it’s because Kilome, the only player from the Asdrubal Cabrera deal with the Phillies, is that good. The 6’6,” 175-pound 23-year old, has shown to have an advanced upper-90s fastball along with an impressive curveball which has a swing-and-miss movement. In Double-A, Kilome struck out 125 batters in 140 innings, but did walk 61.  Kilome needs to work on his control, but the young right-hander does flash the stuff to succeed as a major league starter – and should see time on the big league club at some point next year.

Most excited to see in 2019: Thomas Szapucki

AR: Szapucki missed the entire season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, but is set to return to the mound in 2019. He’s only thrown a total of 83.1 innings in his brief career and will turn 23 next June, but Szapucki has undeniable upside that enticed virtually everyone who saw him. He flashed three potential plus offerings from a tough slot prior to the injury, giving him top of the rotation upside if he could simply stay healthy. There’s no question he’s behind the developmental curve, but 2019 could be a make or break season for the left-hander.

Tim Tebow Award: Tim Tebow

TO: Sorry, I just had to.

Photo credit: Brad Penner – USA Today Sports

Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Double-A)

Pitcher: Justin Dunn

After a disappointing full-season debut in 2017, Dunn returned to the Florida State League looking to rebound on what was essentially a lost season. In 2016, the Mets’ first rounder had a 5.00 ERA and walked 48 in 95.1 innings with Port St. Lucie before a shoulder injury ended his season. His second go-around went much smoother, with Dunn earning a well-deserved promotion to Binghamton after dominating FSL hitters to the tune of a 2.36 ERA and 51 strikeouts against 15 walks in 45.2 innings.

Dunn’s showed well in Binghamton thus far, striking out more than a batter per nine while keeping his walk rate in check. Jeffrey Paternostro, our lead prospect writer over at the main site, saw Dunn with Binghamton and thought his stuff was actually a tick down from where it had been previously. Instead of the mid-90s fastball, the pitch was sitting more in the 91-94 range. Dunn’s been thought to have a plus fastball, but that’s merely average velocity for a starter nowadays. He’s essentially a two-pitch pitcher at present, with a slider that flashes above average as well. Dunn is also working on developing his change, a needed part of the repertoire if he wants to succeed as a starter in the big leagues.

Although his numbers have been significantly better this season, it’s hard not to be a little disappointed with the reports on Dunn. His stock has increased from last season, but he looks like more of a No. 4 or 5 starter or a late-inning arm rather than a potential top of the rotation arm.

Hitter: Tomas Nido

Old friend Tomas Nido garnered some hype in the offseason as a potential major league caliber catcher, but was called into duty far too quickly due to injuries and struggled mightily in his first extended taste with the Mets. Nido’s likely always going to be glove before bat, but he’ll need to improve on a .446 OPS if he ever wants to stick around in the majors.

Nido returned to Binghamton, where he started the season, and has actually put up a decent line of .273/.297/.453 in almost 140 at-bats. He’s got 14 doubles and three home runs, fairly good numbers for a player who struggled severely a couple months ago.

Here’s where it gets worrisome: Nido has drawn just three walks this season and is repeating the level. While he’s not striking out an exorbitant amount, he’s not getting any free bases either. That’s a problem for a 24-year-old who’s never shown power numbers that may excuse that type of walk rate in the minors. Nido might and likely will have a career as a glove-first backup, but the bat isn’t anything to get excited about, limiting his potential impact at the major league level.

Pitcher: Harol Gonzalez

The aforementioned Jeffrey Paternostro loves him some Harol Gonzalez. The 23-year-old right-hander had a Jacob deGrom experience of his own in Port St. Lucie, winning a single game and losing six with a 2.82 ERA. With higher level affiliates in need of starting pitching, the Mets promoted Gonzalez to Vegas for a single start, and now to Binghamton, where he’ll presumably spend the rest of the season.

Gonzalez has a fringy fastball and his secondary offerings aren’t anything to write home about, but he’s had success at every stop in the minors, sort of like Nabil Crismatt. Crismatt’s got the better stuff, but both have a long track record of success. With Crismatt’s promotion to Las Vegas, Gonzalez took his spot in the Rumble Ponies rotation. He’s only made one start thus far, but this is the level where we’ll find out about whether his stuff can one day play in a major league rotation, or even the bullpen.

Port St. Lucie (Advanced-A)

Pitcher: David Peterson

Peterson’s first six starts in St. Lucie haven’t gone as expected. He’s got a 17:13 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 6.82 ERA, uninspiring numbers for a player many thought should be a level higher at this stage of his career. Part of the appeal in last year’s draft with Peterson was his polish as a college lefty who could move quickly, but it’s now unlikely he even moves to Binghamton before the end of the season.

The reports on his stuff as a whole have been down a bit since last season, and the peripherals back that up. Peterson’s still the best pitching prospect in the system, but the reports and results have been a little discouraging for the left-hander. He’s too good to struggle like this in Advanced-A though, so we’ll check back in a couple more starts to see if anything’s changed.

Hitter: Jeremy Vasquez

A sleeper name who got off to a great start in the Sally League, Vasquez was promoted to St. Lucie less than two weeks ago. He’s off to a rough start but it’s only been 11 games, far too small of a sample. The left-handed hitting first basemen is a hit-before-power prospect, a tough profile that puts a lot of pressure on the hit tool, especially for a 1B-only guy.

While he has shown doubles power, Vasquez hit just six home runs in almost 300 at-bats for Columbia. Vasqeuz should finish the season in St. Lucie and may possibly begin 2019 down in Florida as well. He’s a name to follow, I suppose, but expectations should be minimal. The reality is that as a 28th rounder out of college, reaching Double-A would be a win for the organization.

Hitter: Desmond Lindsay

The expectations for a second rounder are far higher than they are for a 28th rounder, and Lindsay has been a severe disappointment this season. The oft-injured center fielder has only taken 685 at-bats in four seasons and is struggling in St. Lucie to the tune of a .621 OPS. Lindsay’s striking out 26% of the time with a walk rate of 12.1%, but his slugging percentage is actually lower than his on-base percentage. He’s hitting just .208/.311/.309 this season and while the FSL does suppress offense, this is a new low for one of the Mets’ top prospects. All that being said, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that he wasn’t listed in our BP Mets midseason organizational review.

Lindsay has stayed mostly healthy this season – a win in and of itself – but it doesn’t really matter if his tools don’t start showing up in games. He’ll be eligible for the Rule 5 draft next season and the Mets will have an interesting decision on their hands. If I had to guess, Lindsay’s unlikely to be protected unless he starts to show some signs of becoming the major league caliber player the Mets thought he could become.

Photo credit: Gregory Fisher – USA Today Sports

2010

Round 1: Pick 7

Matt Harvey, SP (North Carolina)

This was the last year of Omar Minaya’s tenure as Mets’ GM, and he truly left New York with a bevy of talent in the minor leagues. Matt Harvey is obviously a popular topic of conversation right now for negative reasons, but Minaya knocked it out of the park taking him in the first round eight years ago. Pitching is fickle any way you look at it, and few pitchers in the history of baseball had the immediate impact Harvey did on the game. His debut in 2012 was impressive, his dominance in 2013 was nearly unprecedented, and after missing a season due to Tommy John surgery, winning comeback player of the year in 2015 en route to helping the Mets win the National League pennant cemented his place as one of New York’s best first-round picks ever. Injuries in recent years have sapped Harvey of what he once was, but let’s not forget quite how good he really was.

As for the rest of the Mets’ 2010 draft, Minaya left the new regime quite a parting gift in ninth round pick Jacob deGrom.

2011

Round 1: Pick 13

Brandon Nimmo, OF (High School)

Brandon Nimmo was Sandy Alderson’s first first round pick as GM of the Mets, and prior to his emergence last season, he was at risk of being proclaimed a bust. Nimmo was taken with the pick directly before Miami selected Jose Fernandez, and those comparisons will always be there, but the kid from Wyoming has begun to distinguish himself over the past 12 months or so. Nimmo plays like a seasoned veteran, has a keen awareness of the strike zone, is not fazed by pressure, and most importantly has fun and enjoys playing the game. He’s currently New York’s fourth outfielder but that has everything to do with how much talent the Mets currently have on the roster, as he’d easily be a starter most other places.

Round 1: Pick 44

Michael Fulmer, SP (High School)

Fulmer never threw a pitch for the Mets but holds a place in team history, as he was the centerpiece of New York’s 2015 deadline trade with the Tigers for Yoenis Cespedes. The big right hander has gone on to become one of the better pitchers in the American League, but that hasn’t changed the fact that it was a good trade for the Amazins’.

Other familiar names New York drafted this year include Robert Gsellman, Logan Verrett, Jack Leathersich, Tyler Pill, Danny Muno and Phil Evans.

2012

Round 1: Pick 12

Gavin Cecchini, IF (High School)

Cecchini was the second of three consecutive high school players Alderson drafted in the first round, and he is by far the one most at risk of the bust label. The Louisiana native has seen limited time in the big leagues to date, and while he has shown flashes at times, he clearly is not high on the team’s organizational depth chart.

Round 1: Pick 35

Kevin Plawecki, C (Purdue)

The Mets’ better first round pick from this draft was their supplemental selection: Plawecki, who has been far from a star but has at least proven himself to be a big league player. It’s well documented how the Mets are in the market for catching at the moment, and while Plawecki getting hurt sort of sent that into overdrive, they had already needed help behind the plate. Catcher is arguably the most difficult position to find a bonafide star, and if you can develop one that can at minimum be a strong contributor to your roster, you did well.

Some other familiar names New York drafted in 2012 include Paul Sewald, Tomas Nido, Matt Reynolds, Matt Bowman and Chris Flexen.

2013

Round 1: Pick 11

Dominic Smith, 1B (High School)

Dom Smith had long been viewed as the Mets first base successor to Lucas Duda, and I guess in some capacity he still is, although his top prospect status has certainly dwindled. During his first extended big league opportunity down the stretch last season the LA native hit on the interstate, and he failed to make a positive impression on new manager Mickey Callaway during this year’s spring training. Smith is currently hitting just .246 for Triple-A Las Vegas, and he’ll have to seriously pick it up for New York to consider pulling the plug on Adrian Gonzalez anytime soon.

Sadly, as a whole the 2013 draft was a disappointment for the Mets, as the only other player from that class to make it to Citi Field was reliever Kevin McGowan.

2014

Round 1: Pick 10

Michael Conforto, OF (Oregon State)

To date, Conforto represents the biggest draft hit for Alderson and his staff, and perhaps not coincidentally he was the first collegiate player they drafted this high. In Conforto, the Mets added a pure hitter who was in the big leagues in just 13 months, not only filling a roster spot, but becoming a critical component of a World Series team. Last season, the Washington native blossomed into a star, and he’s well on his way to becoming the club’s next face of the franchise.

The rest of this draft class was not quite as big a smashing success, as nobody else has reached the majors; the most recognizable prospect on the list is Dash Winningham.

2015

Round 2: Pick 53

Desmond Lindsay, OF (High School)

The Mets did not have a first round pick in 2015 as they had to surrender that selection to Colorado as compensation for signing Michael Cuddyer as a free-agent, so their first pick in the draft came at number 53 overall in the way of Desmond Lindsay. The Florida-born outfielder has unfortunately never hit for the power he was projected to as he owns only 13 career minor league home runs, and he’s failed to advance past High-A St. Lucie.

The rest of New York’s 2015 draft class is more promising, as Thomas Szapucki, David Thompson, Corey Taylor and P.J. Conlon are all considered viable prospects.

2016

Round 1: Pick 19

Justin Dunn, SP (Boston College)

Dunn was a much talked about arm leading up to this draft, and the Mets were absolutely thrilled to add him with pick number 19. His minor league career got off to a little bit of a bumpy start but he has figured it out of late, and he’s unanimously considered one of New York’s premier prospects. In St. Lucie this year, the right hander has been dominant, pitching to a 1.80 ERA in 20 innings.

Other notable Mets draft picks from 2016 include Anthony Kay, Michael Paez and Peter Alonso.

2017

Round 1: Pick 20

David Peterson, SP (Oregon)

Most scouts consider the left-handed Peterson the Mets’ top minor league arm, and New York is confident he’ll be on an accelerated track to the big leagues. The former Oregon Duck is currently pitching for the Mets’ A-ball team in Columbia, but they’re hopeful he’ll be able to advance to St. Lucie some time before the end of the year.

Another name to watch from this class is 3B Mark Vientos, whom New York selected in the second round, as the team believes he can ultimately become their first long-term answer at the hot corner since David Wright.

Photo credit: Andy Marlin – USA Today Sports

Triple-A Las Vegas 51s

Pitcher: RHP Chris Flexen

Flexen is a borderline top 10 prospect in the system because of his proximity to the majors and his relatively safe floor, not because he possesses ace-like upside. Although he made his major league debut for the Mets last season and already has nine big league starts under his belt, he was able to retain his rookie eligibility by virtue of coming up two innings shy of 50, which technically makes him still a prospect. The 6’3,” 250-pound right-hander sits 90-95 mph with his fastball and mixes in a knuckle curve and a changeup that are both slightly above average, as well as a slider that’s comfortably behind the rest of his offerings. Flexen’s major league debut wasn’t pretty, as his 7.88 ERA and 6.56 BB/9 were, how do I say this nicely, absolutely terrible. His biggest weakness is his command, which seems to come and go in spurts, but it’s definitively more bad than good. The Mets sent Flexen to Triple-A Las Vegas to begin the season, and the early numbers are conflicting to say the least. On one hand, Flexen holds a 3.60 ERA and has struck out 11 in 15 innings of work. On the other, he’s walked seven batters already and holds an ugly 1.73 WHIP. Now, there are three guarantees in life: death, taxes, and Jose Reyes not getting a h… oh different article sorry, Hansel Robles pointing at every fly b…my apologies again, I meant to say runs being scored in the Pacific Coast League. The ERA is very promising, but the seven walks in just 15 innings is a big concern for a pitcher who’s projected as a back-end starter. I prefer my No. 5 guys to be innings eaters with good command, not hit or miss guys with strikeout stuff and command issues. Flexen probably is what he is at this point, a No. 4/5 starter who has good stuff but lacks command, and all things considered, that isn’t a bad thing at all. In all likelihood, Flexen will make some major league starts this season; let’s just hope they come in September with the Mets up comfortably in the division.

Hitter: SS Luis Guillorme

I had the chance to see Guillorme live last week and let me tell you, it’s an absolute joy to watch him play baseball. In possession in some of the best hands in all of professional baseball, Guillorme makes highlight reel plays left and right and is nothing short of a wizard out at shortstop. He’s only about 5’9” and is a below average runner, but his instincts and hand-eye coordination make him one of the best defensive prospects in the minor leagues right now. Tyler Oringer took a more in-depth look at Guillorme earlier this month and is of the belief that he could eventually win a Gold Glove at shortstop. It’s unlikely that happens with the Mets though, as the team seems to have found its shortstop of the future in Amed Rosario, which means Guillorme’s long-term fit with the Mets may be at second. With less ground to cover, it’s not much of a stretch to say that Guillorme could be one of, if not the, best defensive second baseman in the majors right now. In his first taste of Triple-A, Guillorme has struggled to begin the season, as he’s currently slashing .224/.333/.306 with a 20.7% K-rate. Don’t expect it to continue though, as Guillorme has shown a knack for getting on base at every level of his professional career thus far. While he won’t ever hit for power or steal more than 10 bases, Guillorme’s all-world defensive abilities coupled with his ability to get on base will allow him to have a long and successful career in the majors.

Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies

Pitcher: RHP Nabil Crismatt

This was the hardest selection to make on the entire list, as Binghamton’s whole pitching staff has been outstanding thus far. There were many worthy candidates, such as RHP Tyler Bashlor, RHP Eric Hanhold and RHP Gerson Bautista, but for this week’s Prospect Watch we’ll focus on Nabil Crismatt and his unbelievable start to the season. In three starts for Binghamton, Crismatt has thrown 16.1 IP, holding a pristine 1.10 ERA while striking out 21 and walking only three. The 23-year-old spent the entirety of 2017 with Single-A Port St. Lucie, striking out 142 batters over 145 innings with a respectable 3.95 ERA. Crismatt’s best offering is his changeup and it’s his only above-average pitch, leading to most of us to believe the high strikeout totals won’t continue in the majors. Still, the minor league strikeout numbers thus far are fantastic and give him a relatively high floor as a starter. Add to that command that’s comfortably plus and it’s easy to see him as a big league starter. Crismatt projects as a No. 4/5 starter just like the previously mentioned Flexen, but they are completely different and win in different ways. I prefer Crismatt due to the plus command and high strikeout totals though, and I’m looking forward to seeing if he can keep this pace up.

Hitter: 1B Peter Alonso

I wrote up Alonso in my Double-A scouting notes piece here so I won’t go too in-depth, but I’d be remiss to leave him off this list. Alonso’s undoubtedly been the best hitter in the system thus far, slashing .340/.414/.620 with three home runs already for Binghamton. The former Florida Gator has done nothing but rake since his 2016 New York Penn-League debut and is quickly challenging Dominic Smith’s place as the Mets first baseman of the future. I don’t think it’s crazy to prefer Alonso to Smith at this point, but don’t interpret that as a shot at Smith, who still deserves a chance. If Alonso keeps this pace up, it’s going to be hard for the Mets to justify keeping him down at Double-A, especially if Adrian Gonzalez starts slumping. Alonso profiles as a future regular at first, but it remains to be seen if he’s going to get the opportunity to prove it with the Mets.

Single-A: Port St. Lucie and Columbia

Pitcher: RHP Justin Dunn (Port St. Lucie)

The Mets’ first round pick in the 2016 draft struggled last year in his first taste of High-A Port St. Lucie, but he’s been nothing short of terrific in his second go around. Dunn’s started three games for Port St. Lucie thus far and owns a dominant 1.26 ERA with 19 strikeouts across his 14.1 innings. He struggled with command issues in 2017, walking 48 against only 75 strikeouts, but his 19 strikeouts more than make up for the six free passes he’s issued so far. Dunn is the owner of absolutely electric stuff, but it remains to be seen if he can hold it throughout a full season. Dunn was in the bullpen at Boston College, but a move to the rotation in his draft eligible season proved to be a good one, as he proved he could hold his stuff while starting. The 22-year-old is one of the best pitching prospects in the system, but he has a long way to go before he receives the call. The first step in that process is continuing to dominate at High-A, and Dunn looks to be back on the straight path toward the big leagues. Dunn projects as a No. 2/3 starter on stuff alone, but his inconsistent performance impact that, and he’s more likely a No. 3/4 starter with reliever risk.

Hitter: OF Desmond Lindsay

Lindsay was a second-round pick of the Mets in the 2015 draft due to his five-tool potential, but injuries and inconsistent performance have impacted his ascendance in the minors. Scouts see Lindsay and dream of an athletic center fielder with plus hit and plus power, but it’s fair to say he hasn’t come close to realizing his full potential. In an injury-riddled 2017 with Low-A Columbia, Lindsay hit a paltry .220/.327/.388 while only swiping four bases. The Mets chose to promote Lindsay to begin 2018, and the results have been more of the same, as he’s slashing .237/.356/.289 in 38 at-bats thus far. Lindsay’s unsurprisingly dealt with a minor injury already, and his complete lack of doubles and home runs are extremely concerning. At some point in the near future, Lindsay is going to need to turn the potential he possesses into results. That being said, he’s still a 21-year-old that flashes five-tool potential, and you simply don’t give up on prospects like that. Lindsay is going to get plenty of chances, and if he can stay healthy for a reasonable amount of time, he’s got a chance to put it all together and become a major leaguer.

Photo credit: Gregory Fisher – USA Today Sports

Harol Gonzalez, RHP

The trend of my only seeing the best Harol Gonzalez starts continues. I watched him almost toss a perfect game in Kingsport a couple years back, then he spun six hitless frames last summer in Norwich. This time, despite getting knocked around more than I expected so far in the South Atlantic League, he cruised through seven innings, carving up the Lakewood lineup and featuring improved stuff across the board. Gonzalez has filled out some since my wife confused him for a ball boy in the Appalachian League. He’d still generously be referred to as an undersized righty, but the added bulk—and a couple mechanical tweaks—has given him more velocity, and he’s holding his stuff deeper into games than I’ve seen in the past. He touched 93 a few times and sat 89-92, which is a couple ticks higher than the past two seasons. He held the low 90s velo through 100 pitches, and the heater has more plane than I’ve seen in the past. I think it’s possible they’ve tweaked his armslot up to high-three-quarters, but I don’t have any video to check this theory against. Regardless, it’s a much better pitch now and his above-average command is still present.

Gonzalez has a full repertoire of offspeed pitches. The change is still his best secondary offering. He’s thrown a distinct traditional change and split before—and I believe he still does—although they bled together more than they have in past looks. The cambio ranged from 81-84 with the split action showing at the upper range of the velo band. Overall, the pitch shows good sink and fade and he maintains his arm speed well. He added a cutter/slider type thing, which sits 86-87 and features good late tilt, last year in Brooklyn. There is above-average command here too, and it works especially well off his sinking fastball. The curve is tighter that what he’s showed in past years, but it’s still a bit of a big, loopy breaker. He’s usually shown a tighter 12-6 ones in warmups, and this outing broke off a few of those in game action as well. He can keep the tight shape when spotting it for a strike, which is unusual at this level.

So the stuff has improved across the board. Gonzalez’s prior calling cards are still here too: advanced pitchability and the confidence to throw any of his pitchers in any count or game situation. There’s potentially four average or better offerings here now and plus makeup/mound smarts to help the arsenal play up.. Still, it’s a difficult profile: he’s a short, lean righty who has to make it as a starter to have a real major league role, as there isn’t an obvious bullpen fit for this profile. In the past I have pegged him as one of my acquire 3s, but that feels light now.

Desmond Lindsay, OF

There have been some furrowed brows and tweets of concern from #MetsTwitter about Lindsay’s slow start, but he looks like the same dude we ranked #5 preseason for good and for ill. The most important thing for Lindsay is he looks healthy. He moved well in center field and on the basepaths. When I saw him last season in Brooklyn, he was clearly compromised by his hamstring issues so it was difficult to get a feel for the athletic profile, although he *ahem* certainly looked the part. But now he looks like a decent bet to stick in center with more reps, and his jumps and routes compared well to his up-the-middle counterpart in Lakewood, Mickey Moniak. I didn’t get a useable home-to-first dig, but he’s clocked as a plus runner for me before and I have no reason to think that isn’t still the case. At the plate, he has quick hands that generate plus bat speed, although his eventual over-the-fence power may be limited by minimal loft and an all-fields approach. He is a strong kid though, and should yank enough mistakes to find 10+ home run power at his peak due to his average raw pop. Lindsay struggled with the more polished breaking stuff you see at this level, but overall I liked the plate approach. What he needs now more than anything else is pro reps, and I could see him having a decent second half as he continues to adjust to a full-season assignment, even if the final stat line—and don’t scout the statline—is unlikely to look too shiny given his slow start. I don’t see a reason to downgrade him at this point, although he is remains a very high risk prospect.

Luis Carpio, IF

My fondness for Carpio is well-documented. Labrum surgery derailed his 2016 season save for a few August DH appearances. He’s playing mostly second base now, and the arm was going to be stretched at short even pre-surgery. He might be a plus second base glove though, due to his excellent instincts and smooth, quick actions. The move to the right side of the infield puts more pressure on the bat though, and the early returns were a little disappointing. He’s just a bit over a year removed from going under the knife, but while his strong approach and contact skills are still present, the ball doesn’t jump off the bat the same way it did in Kingsport, and the bat speed looked fringy. That may come back, but it may not. There’s less physical projection now too as he’s filled out in the last two seasons. He’s quite young for the level, and I still think he’s the kind of polished player that will do enough at every stop to keep you dreaming on a major league future. But until the line drives get louder, Carpio looks more like a fringe utility guy than the potential regular of two years ago.

Blake Taylor, LHP

The player-to-be-named later in the Ike Davis deal—a trade that feels like it happened three full lifetimes ago for Mets fans—Taylor is still somehow only 21. In the interim, he’s struggled with performance and injuries, lost a year to Tommy John surgery, and finally made it to full season ball four seasons after being drafted. There isn’t much projection left at this point; Taylor has a mature frame with thick legs, but there’s enough stuff here at present to at least be intriguing. He sat 89-91, but he can cut it a bit, and it has some life up in the zone. His command of the pitch has improved, and he had success running it in to righties and splitting some lumber. His upper-70s curve had a nice shape to it, although he would cast it at times. It is a potentially average offering. He still throws a very forgettable cutter/slider thing, and I think I saw two changeups. There’s some deception in his delivery, and everything is very compact and repeatable. You are probably looking at a standard issue two-pitch lefty reliever here, but hey, that’s a major league role too.

Ali Sanchez, C

If Carpio was a little disappointing this week, Sanchez was very disappointing. I have advocated for him since the GCL—and yes, catchers are weird—but if I didn’t have better priors on Sanchez, I’d be tempted to call him a non-prospect. That is a pretty harsh grade for a catcher, as it doesn’t take much to be a viable emergency third catching option. So what’s changed? Despite pedestrian numbers in the complex and downright bad ones in Brooklyn, I’ve been fairly bullish on Sanchez’s bat. The swing I saw this year just had no oomph. He doesn’t use his lower half at all anymore, and while there is still enough feel with the barrel to make contact, it’s mostly bad/weak contact. There’s 20 power now, and the good contact tends to be short line drives up the middle or to the opposite field. The defense behind the plate was fine, but a little indifferent. He didn’t have to make any throws, but the reports are the arm is markedly improved at least. I have no special knowledge here, but Sanchez looked like a player struggling with a back or lower body injury right now. If he isn’t, well that non-prospect possibility looms a little larger.

Short Hops

LHP Jake Simon has room to grow into his wiry frame and an advanced curveball for the level, but there’s a lot of effort in the delivery at present and he was topping out at 90. OF Ricardo Cespedes underwhelmed again. The swing is mostly arms, all slash and chop and there isn’t much power there for how long it gets. He’s probably a corner outfielder long term too. C Brandon Brosher has 70-grade raw power and a plus arm, but the defense is still very rough, and he may not get the power into games enough to survive a move to one of the corners.

Photo credit: Reinhold Matay – USA Today Sports

Short Hops

The other Gonzalez in the rotation, Harol Gonzalez, is a joy to watch, with four pitches he can throw for strikes, and good feel for all three secondaries, the best of which is a slider with late cut. The fastball tops out at 90 though, and he has trouble holding even that velocity later in starts. There is enough pitchability here to beguile A-ball hitters, but it is tough to see a major league arm here without a significant velocity and stamina jump. The mini-Pedro aesthetic is fun though…The Mets tweaked 2016 third-round pick Blake Tiberi’s swing during his first pro summer, and that may have contributed to his short-season struggles. When his swing was right, the Louisville third baseman looked like the best hitter on that Brooklyn team. Expect plenty of Daniel Murphy—pre-Kevin-Long—comps if that happens more often in 2017…Jordan Humphreys is the less-polished version of Merandy Gonzalez, with a tick less velocity and a more inconsistent curve…shortstop Milton Ramos got $750,000 as an overslot third round pick in 2014 on the strength of his shortstop glove, but he struggled at the plate in his first go-round in the South Atlantic League, and may be stuck in a middle infield rotation with Carpio and 2017 fourth rounder Michael Paez…lefty Blake Taylor, who you may remember from the Ike Davis deal, will look to prove he is healthy after a 2015 Tommy John surgery. I liked what I saw in 2014 a bit, and he’s somehow still only 21.
Photo credit: Reinhold Matay – USA Today Sports

Thomas Szapucki, LHP

As a live-armed prep pick in the mid-single digit rounds, Szapucki’s 2016 wasn’t totally out of nowhere. But the jump from low-90s and a promising curve to mid-90s with sharp action and a wipeout curve is pretty huge, and the numbers Szapucki put up in both Kingsport and Brooklyn were absolutely staggering. A back injury ended his 2016 slightly prematurely, and while we don’t believe it to be a serious injury, back problems and pitching prospects don’t always go well together. If Szapucki continues to progress his stuff, and if he continues to run strikeout rates into the mid-teens per nine, our ranking of him as the 69th-best prospect in baseball will no longer seem nice by this time next year. He’ll probably open in Low-A Columbia as part of the traveling Tim Tebow Circus, but High-A and even Double-A are within reach for later in the season. — Jarrett Seidler

Andres Gimenez, SS

I got a question in a BP chat recently asking me to compare Kevin Maitan and Andres Gimenez. Sammy in Connecticut seemed a bit skeptical that there was really that big a gap between them as prospects. I’m fairly confident that Maitan’s surfeit of offensive tools is enough to make him a Top 101 prospect before he ever takes the field for a professional game, stateside or otherwise. I get the premise though. Gimenez was very highly rated in the 2015 July 2 class, and we have reports on him from actual games, granted ones from the Dominican Summer League. It’s all data of course, but the best data can be found behind home plate, which is why I will be trucking to whatever short-season affiliate he ends up at this year to find out if we were in fact a year too late on him. I expect to find a polished shortstop and an advanced hitter for an 18-year-old, like if someone used the upgrade meme on Luis Carpio. But I suspect Gimenez has the capacity to surprise me as well, which is why I keep gassing up the car for East Tennessee every year. And speaking of Carpio … — Jeffrey Paternostro

Luis Carpio, SS/2B

We ranked Luis Carpio as the third-best prospect in the Mets system heading into the 2016 season. We ranked him ahead of Dom Smith, Desmond Lindsay, and Robert Gsellman. (I say we, but I was driving that bandwagon, and my byline is on the list.) Then Carpio tore his labrum in the Spring. See, it’s not just pitchers! It was an aggressive ranking at the time for a kid that spent most of the 2015 season as a 17-year-old, but it’s rare to find that level of defensive polish and advanced hitting ability at any age in the short-season leagues. The injury was to his right shoulder, and his arm was already maybe better suited to the right side of the infield, but I’m antsy to check in on the still-only-19-year-old. He made quite the first impression. — Jeffrey Paternostro

Tyler Bashlor, RHP

The Mets turned some heads in 2013, when they handed a $550,000 signing bonus to their 11th-round pick, junior college reliever Tyler Bashlor. After signing with the club, he pitched in 13 games for Kingsport that year, but then didn’t throw another professional pitch until 2016, losing two full seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery. In a 2016 season that was spent primarily pitching out of the bullpen for the Columbia Fireflies, Bashlor showed why the Mets believed in him enough to give him more than half of a million dollars three years prior, posting a 12.16 K/9 and 2.50 ERA at the level. His fastball, which sits in the mid-90s and touched as high as 98 mph in 2016, is a legitimate swing-and-miss pitch that should carry him to Queens. The bigger questions for Bashlor are his secondary pitches and control. His command and control should figure to take strides forward in 2017 as he is another year removed from surgery. His slurve, which currently sits in the low-80s, is a pitch that could be improved upon (attn: Dan Warthen). If Bashlor is able to progress enough with command and the breaking ball, he will find himself on the fast track to pitching out of the Mets bullpen before too long. He figures to open this season in the bullpen for either St. Lucie or Binghamton. If all goes well, he won’t finish the season with the same affiliate that he began the year with. — Skyler Kanfer

Marcos Molina, RHP

The continuing saga of Zack Wheeler reminds us on a near-daily basis that Tommy John surgery is still anything but routine. Yet Marcos Molina has had, well, the “routine” recovery, popping back up about a year out from surgery. He used the Arizona Fall League as something of a rehab stint, throwing short outings and flashing the premium fastball/slider combination that made him one of the system’s best pitching prospects two years ago. With violent mechanics, a TJS in his background, and durability questions even before that, Molina still might be a reliever in the end, but 2017 represents his shot to get back on the fast track as a prospect. He could open as high as the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies, and a pitcher on the 40 in the high-minors is of course only a phone call away from The Show. — Jarrett Seidler

Andrew Church, RHP

The 2013 second-round pick spent years in the wilderness bouncing around the lowest levels of the system as an oft-injured project, largely falling off the prospectdom map. In a tale that’s been around as long as there have been pitching prospects, he showed up in 2016 a new man, coming out of extended spring in May to shine for Low-A Columbia, mixing in a fill-in stint in High-A Port St. Lucie and a late-August emergency appearance for hometown Triple-A Las Vegas. Once again touching the mid-90s with his fastball and featuring a promising slider, Church could start back at High-A or get a bump to Double-A, where I think I have a pretty good chance to see him in Binghamton’s late-May/early-June visit to Trenton. A full year of effectiveness should get him in strong consideration for both a spot on both the 40-man roster and high up on next year’s prospect lists. — Jarrett Seidler

Desmond Lindsay, OF

Beyond the trio of Mets prospects who made the BP 101 list, there is not a prospect in the Mets farm system with more upside than Desmond Lindsay. Lindsay, the organization’s top draft pick in 2015, is a centerfielder with all the raw tools that any scout would fawn over. In 2016, Lindsay’s performance represented his skillset, as he posted a .297/.418/.450 line with the Brooklyn Cyclones, including a .344 True Average*, 14.9 percent walk rate, and 19.4 percent strikeout rate. Unfortunately, since his senior year of high school, Lindsay has had considerable hamstring issues. They kept his sidelined for most of his draft year, which caused him to fall to the Mets in the second round, and they have continued to hamper him since signing with the club. Recurring injuries for a teenager could very well be the sign of, well, more hamstring injuries, or it could be something that a player as young as Lindsay, just 20, could outgrow. In the near-future, Lindsay could very easily be a guy who is being talked about as the next uber Mets prospect—or, in other words, the Amed Rosario of two years from now—or he could be a guy who is being talked about as the new Reese Havens. His performance and health in 2017, where he most likely will open in Columbia, will tell the story. — Skyler Kanfer

( * – Editor’s Note: For those of you curious, those numbers indicate that he hit about as well compared to his league as Joey Votto did compared to MLB.) 

Tomas Nido, C

The ride hasn’t always been smooth for the 2012 eighth-round pick, who prior to 2016 had never posted a minor league OPS higher than .660. However, over those first few years of his minor league career, his defensive game advanced from raw at best to his calling card. Due to his overall strong catching ability and above-average arm, he was able to open the 2016 in St. Lucie at age-22. Last season, his bat finally started catching up to his glove. In a full season in the pitching-friendly Florida State League, Nido posted a .320/.357/.459 line with seven homers and a .294 True Average in 370 PA. He more than halved his strikeout rate, going from a 25.7 percent clip in Savannah to a very respectable 11.4 percent in 2016. If he is able to combine his developed defensive skills with his newfound hitting ability, he has a chance to be a starting catcher. Nido, who was praised when he was drafted for having plus raw power, still has plenty of room to turn that power into game power. Doing that, in addition to potentially increasing upon his 5.1 percent walk rate from 2016, could make him a viable long-term answer for the Mets behind the dish. I look forward to watching Nido play in person in Binghamton starting this April. — Skyler Kanfer

Luis Guillorme, SS

If you are reading this website, you don’t need to be told that Amed Rosario or Justin Dunn or Desmond Lindsay are worth the price of admission. The implication in all these entries is that we want to see something new. There are guys here with 2016 breakout seasons that we didn’t get enough reports on. There are injured pitchers on their way back who have flashed major league stuff in the recent past. You want a sleeper or you want to know if the breakout guy is real. Prospects can change a lot from year-to-year, but I don’t expect I will be updating my priors much on Luis Guillorme. If anything, I worry a bit about his bat against Double-A velocity. But goddamn am I happy to have him within driving distance again. Rosario has the louder defensive tools and is a plus shortstop in his own right, but there is no one I would rather watch at the 6 than Guillorme. His defense has an ineffable quality to it. Immanuel Kant would suggest that’s his glove is far too functional in scope to have true aesthetic beauty, but I part ways with the German on that. Kant more famously wrote that one should “live your life as though your every act were to become a universal law.” Guillorme’s actions in the field set the bar too high for every other shortstop I’m afraid, but I am happy to see him synthesize utility and art in the infield as often as possible this year. — Jeffrey Paternostro

Tim Tebow, QB/OF?

Tim Tebow isn’t a real baseball prospect. He’s probably not going to make the majors, and if he does it’s likely to be in a cameo that he won’t have earned based on his own merits. But he is an elite athlete—a player so uniquely talented at football that he was a first-round quarterback despite a known and near-complete inability to make pro throws—and his transition to baseball will be nothing if not fascinating. Can he compete even at the lowest levels? He’s currently expected to open at Low-A Columbia, which is an appropriate level for what we suspect is his baseball ability, but a level where he’ll be about a decade older than the real prospects. Both Jeffrey and I are preparing for the circus for when Columbia comes to Lakewood early in the season. (We totally didn’t throw Tebow in down here because we were dividing a list of ten between three people and had one slot left over, no sir.) — Jarrett Seidler

Photo Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Desmond Lindsay, OF (Brooklyn Cyclones)

Lindsay has been battling leg injuries this year that limited him during Spring Training proper and kept him on the shelf even after short-season started. You might recall that he also missed most of his Senior season of high school due to a hamstring issue, which is one of the reasons he was still on the board for the Mets first pick in the second round. Multiple lower body issues for a player whose profile is a bit speed-dependent is concerning (Mets fans will no doubt remember a young Jose Reyes’s balky hamstrings), and even now Lindsay appears to be playing a bit compromised. He was moving at about 75 percent, and ran upright and stiffly. He was 4.7 down the line on a groundball you’d expect to get a good dig off of, and looked uncomfortable chasing down flyballs in the outfield. Unsurprisingly, he DH’d on the second of back-to-back looks.

The good news is the underlying profile here hasn’t changed. Lindsay still looks good at the plate. The bat speed grades out as plus, and he dropped the barrel on a low-inside pitch and parked major league fastball velocity. That’s power potential he didn’t really show last year. The approach is still more advanced than you’d expect given the swing-and-miss issues. And while more lost game reps in centerfield (a new position for him) are concerning, he still looks like a potential good regular, albeit one whose risk profile has gotten even murkier.

Peter Alonso, 1B (Brooklyn Cyclones)

Alonso, the Mets second-round pick out of Florida, is the guy that is going to get over-ranked on team lists this offseason. That’s not to say he is a non-prospect or anything, but people will get seduced by his stat line in a league that isn’t appreciably better than the SEC. The Mets like to load up their Brooklyn roster, and Alonso, among others there, could easily be at a full-season level right now. Would he have as much success there? Alonso’s stance is wide open and he stands well off the plate. He uses a medium leg lift to close, but he starts the whole process early and lets the leg hang a bit before getting it down. The timing here is inconsistent and often leaves his upper half trying to catch up. The swing itself has some length to the ball, the bat speed doesn’t jump out at you, and Alonso struggles with balls below his waist and spin generally. It’s a long-and-strong power profile, and those tend to struggle the first time they see higher-quality stuff. Even short-season arms have occasionally been able to exploit the holes (though they have many more times given him balls up in the zone he can both catch up to and get extended on).  

Those concerns aside, dude is strong. I wouldn’t blanch at the suggestion that there is 70 raw power here.  Alonso launched an F6 with almost seven seconds of hang time, and the next day casually poked a change-up into the right field bleachers. I thought it was a medium-depth pop-up off the bat. Here I will drop in the usual caveats about the pressure on the offensive tools for first-base-only college guys, though Alonso’s a better athlete than you’d expect, given that he is a very large man, and projects as at least an average defender at first. I half-suspect he shows up next April in full-season ball with a markedly different swing after a full spring of pro instruction, so perhaps I will be the one who “under-ranks” him.

Merandy Gonzalez, RHP (Brooklyn Cyclones)

It’s always nice to get a second in-season look at a pitcher. One start can show you what is possible, but subsequent ones help shade in some of the sparser outlines. When I saw Merandy in late June, I saw a shorter righty with a big arm, some command, and an advanced, if inconsistent, curve for the level. I liked Gonzalez as a prospect, but he wasn’t a hard scout. He reminded me a bit of 2012 Hansel Robles. Gonzalez is younger at the same level, and the raw stuff is a couple ticks better, but he is also rawer generally and lacks Robles’ feel for pitching.

In my second look Gonzalez struggled a bit. He lacked command of both the fastball and the curve in this outing and the issues got worse when he gassed in the fifth and sixth innings. However the change-up, which had been a total non-entity in the first start, at least flashed below-average a couple times. That sounds like damning with faint praise, but given what I saw in June (and the general state of offspeed in the Penn League), there is at least a bit of developmental potential peaking through. Early in this start, there were a lot more 95s on my gun than my previous look, and overall the four-seamer had a bit more life. The overall profile and projection hasn’t really changed, but the developmental path and potential pitfalls for Gonzalez are a bit clearer now.

Jordan Humphreys, RHP (Kingsport Mets)

The elevator pitch for Humphreys, the Mets 18th round pick in 2015, is something along the lines of: “He’s the version of Merandy Gonzalez you send to the Appalachian League.” He’s also a shorter, physically mature (almost stocky) righthander that works off a fastball/curve combo. His fastball only gets up to 94, and the curve is rougher around the edges, so you are going to need to squint and project a bit more to get the same end result out of the profile. On the plus side, the fastball has some life down in the zone, and the command wasn’t bad for rookie ball (although that and the velocity wavered some as he tired). The curveball (77-80) lacked a consistent shape, although his feel improved later in the start. Even the better ones showed a bit early, and were more of a lazy slurve. Humphreys did break off one good one, a downer 11-5 type. The changeup is firm (82-86), but functional enough for Kingsport. He maintains his armspeed well, but has trouble turning it over. In addition to the lack of projection, the arm action is a bit stiff, and he was working only out of the stretch, so the present-day screams ‘pen arm’ even more than Gonzalez. Still, I will always be a sucker for a pitcher with a bit of the ol’ Chad Billingsley ass.

Joseph Zanghi, RHP (Brooklyn Cyclones)

I was feeling lousy the last day of my  Brooklyn look. Too much sun and not enough water over the first two games, combined with two 11 PM manhattans on an empty stomach Saturday night made for an unplesany ninety-minute subway ride to Coney Island on Sunday. I wasn’t going to miss Szapucki’s start, but I talked myself into bolting after he got pulled. I still had a two-hour drive home (after the subway ride back), and enough notes on the position players to fill out these blurbs. Inevitably though, I stayed in my seat for a parade of short-season relievers, as a low-scoring affair trundled along at a three-hour pace. Zanghi, the Mets 24th round pick out of a junior college in 2015, finished things off.

I hadn’t seen Zanghi yet, so I threw a gun on him. 91, then 92. Okay, that is better than most relievers at this level, but hardly special. Then a few 93s and 94s, a hard slider that flashed plus. There is some effort in the delivery, and yes, I’ve joked about the 91-94 with a slider relief arm before, but those guys do pitch in Double-A. So I am sure #MetsTwitter will be asking me about Zanghi when he is striking out a batter an inning in Bingo in a couple years. Good thing I stuck around long enough to have an answer.

Nabil Crismatt, RHP (Brooklyn Cyclones)

I enjoy watching Nabil Crismatt pitch.

The stuff isn’t going to leap out at you, although Crismatt has made tidy work of New-York-Penn-League lineups this year. It’s a fun profile though. He stays closed and gets low. There’s an aesthetically pleasing lollipop curve in the high-60s that befuddles hitters and good feel for the change-up. His fastball doesn’t light up the gun, topping out at 90, but Crismatt knows how to mix his pitches and is comfortable throwing anything in any count. He’s in better shape this year too, and I suspect he will continue to outperform his profile as he moves forward.

But that isn’t why I enjoy watching Nabil Crismatt pitch.

As you may have gathered, watching lower-level baseball can be a bit of a slog. Crismatt works fast and throws strikes. In a league where pitchers look utterly confused about to what to do with runners on base, slowing the game’s pace to that of a Superflex film, his half-innings just hum along, getting me back to Sunnyside on a Saturday night before the kitchens close.

He can’t really be held responsible for my decision-making while there of course.

Photo Credit: Steven Branscombe- USA Today Sports

The Top 10

1. Steven Matz, LHP

Current Assignment: New York Mets

2016 to date: 60.1 IP, 2.39 ERA, 25% K, 5.3% BB, 54 H, 4 HR

Well this has gone well.

Before our national list came out, I argued hard for Matz over Julio Urias; I also think there was an case for Matz as the best pitching prospect in baseball over even Giolito. Being able to do it in the majors matters, and Matz had already shown flashes of that. He has taken another step forward this season–and my No. 2 starter projection on him might even end up low–although the command needs to get more consistent and he still has his own durability questions to answer. 30 starts and 180 major league innings this year will go a long way towards silencing the last concerns about the Mets southpaw.

Graduated (and pretty pretty good)

2. Amed Rosario, SS

Current Assignment: Advanced-A St. Lucie

2016 to date: 262 PA, .307/.359/.445, 7.6% BB, 13% K

Rosario is repeating the Florida State League, but is still one of the youngest players in the Sunshine State. On the preseason list I noted that his defensive tools were more advanced than his offensive ones, but the bat has begun to catch up in a big way. He’ll be in Binghamton in the second half, where I will get to see him live for the first time since 2014, but we already have big internal reports on him, and I had a scout sing his praises to me recently as well. The mothership starts our midseason top 50 list discussion soon, and Rosario will be in the conversation for the top half.

Stock Up

3. Luis Carpio, SS/2B

Current Assignment: Minor League Disabled List

Carpio was the most aggressive ranking on this list. I definitely stand by it, and I think he’s still a top-10 prospect in the system even after shoulder surgery that will keep him out for the whole year. The issue is with his throwing arm which may accelerate a move to the right side of the infield, but we won’t know that (or anything else) until he gets back on the field on the field in 2017.

Stock Down

4. Gavin Cecchini, SS 

Current Assignment: Triple-A Las Vegas

2016 to date: 177 PA, .314/.375/.409, 9% BB, 12.4% K

All Cecchini has done for the past season-and-a-half is hit. Well, he’s hit enough to be a valuable up-the-middle bat in the majors at least. He tinkered with a large leg kick in A-ball, and while that did give him a little more pop into the gaps, it left him vulnerable to offspeed. When I saw him the next year in Binghamton, he was using a simple toe tap to close from a slightly open stance and a flatter overall swing plane. This has improved his contact ability, but sapped whatever gap power he might have had. Cecchini is mostly a singles hitter nowadays, so I do wonder if major league arms will challenge him more once the book gets out, cutting into his on-base numbers despite his strong strike zone control.

The defense was always supposed to be the sure thing for Cecchini. He was drafted as an advanced shortstop glove, and although no pundits promised Gold Gloves, he was seen as about a sure thing to stick at short as you will find coming out of high school. But as a pro, Cecchini has struggled with the responsibilities on the left side of the infield. The arm is short for the position, and can be scattershot at times, especially when he has to reach back for more. The range is a step short as well, and he struggles with his actions at faster game speeds. He’s played every one of his professional games at shortstop, but it is hard to see him being more than a once-a-week guy there in the majors. At second base, there probably isn’t enough offense to be a starter unless he hits .280. But there is a major league role to be found when you can hit a bit and play up-the-middle.

Stock Holding

5. Dominic Smith, 1B

Current Assignment: Double-A Binghamton

2016 to date: 241 PA, .273/.324/.386, 7.1% BB, 15.8% K

Of course you should never scout the stat line.

But sometimes there are reasons for the stat line.

Stock Down

6. Brandon Nimmo, OF 

Current Assignment: Triple-A Las Vegas

2016 to date: 222 PA, .325/.403/.521, 11.3% BB, 16.7% K

Nimmo’s hot May and June has piqued Mets fans interest again, but there doesn’t appear to be a ton of real change here (unless you buy into the newest offseason swing/stance tweak). In fact, his profile really hasn’t changed in five years. Nimmo’s the Casey Stengel quip come to life; in five years he’s actualized his chance to be 23. That might sound pessimistic, but while he hasn’t figured out how to hit lefties, or added as much power as projected, Nimmo has several skills that will serve him well in the majors. He won’t kill you in centerfield, and he can get on-base and hit for average power against righties. He isn’t Jose Fernandez, and he isn’t left-handed Hunter Pence, a common comp during his first couple pro seasons, but Nimmo is potentially a useful long-side platoon bat.

I do think the risk here does get understated at times though. His overly passive approach might fall apart against major league pitching, but his first half in Vegas is a step in the right direction. Like Cecchini, Nimmo may end up a bit of a disappointment as a high first-round pick, but both should have significant major league careers.

Stock Holding

7. Desmond Lindsay, OF

Current Assignment: Extended Spring Training

I had hoped the Mets might push Lindsay to Columbia this year. It would have been an extremely aggressive assignment given the background (learning a new position, missed most of his senior season), but he impressed me in a brief cameo for Brooklyn at the end of last summer. A minor leg injury and a couple hit-by-pitches in minor league camp put the kibosh on that though. Lindsay will now head back to Coney Island, surrounded by a much, much better crop of prospects than he was last year.

Stock Holding

8. Wuilmer Becerra, OF

Current Assignment: High-A St. Lucie

2016 to date: 167 PA, .338/.370/.409, 4.2% BB, 15.6% K

Man, heck if I know.

For most of his pro career, Becerra looked like he was built right to factory specs for “right field profile:” A tall Venezuelan with a projectable body, he checked off every box: plus speed, arm, and pop. He was raw at the plate, but had a plan and a swing by the time he got to Savannah and you could easily see him growing into an everyday bat in a corner. Then he went to St. Lucie and hit like Tony Gwynn for two months.

Now it does go back further than that. The Savannah staff made some changes to his stance in 2015, and in the second half there he hit .291/.348/.355. Savannah’s home park was brutally tough on power, but that makes just 22 extra-base hits in his last 94 games and only one home run. If you want to hand wave some of the power outage, he has dealt with shoulder and back issues in 2016. I also got a positive scout quote on him recently, but there is a reason we don’t make Tony Gwynn comps.

Stock the heck if I know

9. Robert Gsellman, RHP

Current Assignment: Triple-A Las Vegas

2016 to date: 69.1 IP, 17% K, 5.9% BB, 67 H, 2 HR

Gsellman added a slider this spring in major league camp, and that, along with a small bump in velocity, boosted his K-rate from 12.7% in 2015 to 17% so far in this year’s campaign. That’s still nothing to write home about, but the slider would flash plus in my April look, and the organization has done a very good job developing this type of arm recently. The future projection here hasn’t moved all that much, but he’s another step closer to the majors after his recent promotion to Vegas–although his first start didn’t go well … welcome to the PCL!–and a better bet to reach that OFP now.

Stock Up

10. Ali Sanchez, C

Current Assignment: Extended Spring Training

No real surprise here. Sanchez is a long, long way away, between being a catcher and having just come stateside to the complex last year. He could start at either Kingsport or Brooklyn, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the Mets push him to the New York-Penn League to get some experience catching their new crop of arms.

Stock Holding

The five who were just interesting

Matt Reynolds, IF

Current Assignment: New York Mets

Reynolds was listed here in the winter due to the likelihood he would be able to help out the 2016 team. And he’s bounced back and forth between Vegas and Flushing this year, functioning as the 25th man and extra infield glove. He’s never hit all that much in Vegas, considering that it is Vegas, so he has fallen behind guys like Travis Taijeron, Ty Kelly, and TJ Rivera in #MetsTwitter’s ever-changing #FREE________ hierarchy. But he is younger and a better defender than those three, and is likely to have a major league job until the Mets trade for Juan Uribe in six weeks.

Raphael Ramirez, OF

Current Assignment: Extended Spring Training

Ramirez will be flanking Desmond Lindsay in Brooklyn with either Arnaldo Berrios or the next of our interesting five.

Ricardo Cespedes, OF

Current Assignment: Extended Spring Training

I think Cespedes heads to Kingsport, where it will be easier to get him centerfield reps (although I don’t see him sticking up the middle long-term). The Mets could get aggressive though and assign him to Brooklyn and Lindsay to Savannah. A lot of these decisions down to how guys look in extended Spring Training.

Gabriel Ynoa, RHP

Current Assignment: Triple-A Las Vegas 51s

Ynoa’s profile is exactly the type that you’d expect to get hammered in Vegas. He’s a strike-thrower with a 55 fastball and nothing else you would expect to miss bats or even barrels. And through 12 starts in 2016, Ynoa has again only struck out 12 percent of the batters he’s faced, and has seen his walk rate creep up . Yet somehow he has bobbed and weaved his way to a sub-3.00 ERA. Despite his success so far, Ynoa’s profile hasn’t really changed. He offers a four-pitch mix, with an average change and two below-average breakers. We are well-past the point of dreaming on a major league slider or curve here, but with a lower arm slot and a low-impact delivery, it’s possible you could develop a Robles-like reliever. For now, Ynoa will continue to start as long as the smoke and mirrors act holds up. And hey, it’s beats getting shelled, however you do it.

Marcos Molina, RHP

Current Assignment: Minor League Disabled List

Molina is still a few months away from throwing off a mound after Tommy John surgery late last summer.

Five more who are interesting … now

As Toby Hyde noted when we chatted with him in Episode 5 of For All You Kids Out There, one of the notable surprises for the Mets affiliates in the first half has been … the lack of surprises. But here’s five more names of note for the second half of the minor league season:

Andrew Church, RHP

Current Assignment: High-A St. Lucie Mets

The Mets second round pick in 2013 was a bit of a head-scratcher at the time. No one had really seen him pitch much in high school.  Coming into 2016, Church had thrown just 132 innings across three season, after losing parts of the last two seasons to injuries. And all of the three were spent in short-season ball. He popped back up a few weeks ago in Columbia, sitting 90-95 and throwing a slider. After two dominant starts in the South Atlantic League, he was bumped up to St. Lucie. He is still very much an unknown quantity, but in a pitching-depleted system, a healthy Church certainly qualifies as interesting.

Chris Flexen, RHP

Current Assignment: High-A St. Lucie Mets

Flexen spent much of 2015 rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, but once he got back on the field he showed plus fastball velocity and a developing curve. He could have easily made the interesting list before the season and had an argument for third-best pitching prospect in the system (not that it was a high bar). His 2016 has been uneven, but he has put together a string of strong starts recently and is still only 21. His long-term future is likely in the bullpen, given the fringy command and lack of a third pitch, but a strong second half in the Florida State League could get him top 10 consideration for 2017.

Kevin McGowan, RHP

Current Assignment: Double-A Binghamton Mets

When I saw Kevin McGowan in Brooklyn in 2013, he was a tall drink of water that could touch 95 and flashed a decent curve. After 190 innings of mediocre work as a starter in St. Lucie across 2014-15, the Mets converted McGowan to relief this season and he’s proceeded to strike out 27 percent of the batters he has faced, and walked just 3 percent. That’ll play. McGowan is still 92-95, but now uses a slider as his primary secondary. If he can keep missing bats in the upper minors, he has a real shot to be the first Franklin Pierce alum to play in the majors.

David Thompson, 3B

Current Assignment: Single-A Columbia Fireflies

I generally give guys coming straight from a long college season into the Penn League a bit of a mulligan. It’s their first time playing deep into the summer, and they are learning the specific rigors of pro baseball on the fly. That said, Thompson looked as bad as any first-or-second-day Mets college draftee I have seen on Coney Island. The bat looked slow, and he was overmatched by short-season offspeed stuff.

After a full offseason and a spring in the complex, Thompson has come out blazing in Columbia, hitting .296/.352/.487. The over-the-fence power that he showed in college hasn’t shown up in the pros yet, but 20 doubles in 50 games is a good sign. Thompson is a first baseman long term given his range and shoulder issues, and this may very well be just another example of a polished college guy whacking the Sally league, but it beats writing about another future reliever.

Ivan Wilson, OF 

Current Assignment: Single-A Columbia Fireflies

Wilson has long been a personal concern. When I saw him in Kingsport in 2014 he showed off a toolset that was the best in the system. Easy plus run and arm, you could throw a 70 on the raw if you were so inclined, and he looked like he’d be a good centerfielder down the line. If he could even hit a little, that would be a slam dunk top five prospect in the system, any system.

Just one small problem: he couldn’t hit.

I sat on him for three games that summer and he hit three absolute bombs, but he struggled mightily to pick up spin even at that level, striking out even 47 percent of the time in the Appalachian League. 2015 was marred by injuries, and I was a little surprised to see him pop up in Columbia this year. He’s gotten the K-rate down to 33 percent (which isn’t good, but better than I expected) and the tools are still in there. There still may not even be a Double-A player in here, but if you want a guy to dream on, Wilson’s given you a glimmer.

***

So with Matz’s graduation, and the lack of breakout guys, the Mets system is a bit down from where it was even in April. But four top 100 picks in this year’s draft should help replenish the thin system, and make the Brooklyn Cyclones a must-follow over the rest of the summer.

Photo Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports