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BA Releases Mets Midseason Top 10 Prospects

By Dilip Sridhar

July 20, 2018 No comments

Andres Gimenez/Photo by Ed Delany, MMN

Baseball America released their Top 10 Mets prospects in their annual mid-season update. There was one mild surprise at the end with the rest of the list being mostly as expected.

Here is how they ranked these players:

  1. Andres Gimenez, SS
  2. Peter Alonso, 1B
  3. Jarred Kelenic, OF
  4. David Peterson, LHP
  5. Justin Dunn, RHP
  6. Anthony Kay, LHP
  7. Ronny Mauricio, SS
  8. Thomas Szapucki, LHP
  9. Mark Vientos, 3B
  10. Gavin Cecchini, 2B

The 19-year-old Gimenez is currently hitting .277/.344/.426 in St. Lucie with 29 XBH, and 27-for-38 in SB attempts. Baseball America said, “Scouts lauded Gimenez for his high baseball IQ when he was an amateur in Venezuela, and those forecasts have proven accurate in pro ball.” I agree with that assessment because Gimenez is producing 20% above league average despite being younger than most players in that league and he has not been overmatched at the plate. He should be able to handle shortstop going forward and should be solid in his all-around game.

Alonso is the king of exit velocity as we saw over the weekend at the futures game. He should develop into an above average offensive first baseman. His defense on the other hand might be an issue. That said, his work ethic is off the charts and he has constantly tried to improve on it.

I wrote about Kelenic yesterday over on MMN. Kelenic has an impressive skillset and the Mets should be really fortunate that he lived in Wisconsin as opposed to California, Texas, or Florida. He should be able to move faster than the typical high school player and could be the Mets top prospect by this time next year.

The previous first rounder, David Peterson, clocks in at fourth. Peterson has struggled in his initial run at St. Lucie but there is hope he rebounds. He is currently sporting a 6.82 ERA in St. Lucie but has backed that up with a 4.33 FIP. His 64% ground ball rate also gives reason to still be optimistic.

Dunn and Kay rebounded from slow starts to their careers. Dunn’s fastball has been controlled a bit better this year and his velocity has ranged from 91-96 MPH. BA has it at 93-94 but either way, it is playable for a starter. His command has been much better this season and his slider has shown more life to it. His K-BB% is 18.3% this year as opposed to 6.2% last year. Kay’s velocity is back to 95-96 MPH but he is still working on getting his off-speed pitches back to where they were pre-surgery (thanks a lot UCONN). He is in St. Lucie and has been pretty good there. He could have a cameo in Binghamton and that is a realistic place for him to begin in 2019.

Mauricio is a guy to dream on. He is tearing up the GCL and is just 17 years old. Considering how raw international prospects tend to be, this is an amazing accomplishment. He probably does not belong in the GCL but there is a bit of a logjam in Kingsport currently. There is a lot of promise to this young man and despite being a tall shortstop (6’4″), his footwork and arm should allow him to stick at SS.

Szapucki had electric stuff but will only return in 2019. If healthy, he should move quickly through the organization. The delivery is funky but the fastball can touch 97-98 and his curve is very much legitimate. Vientos is remarkably young (he’s younger than Jarred Kelenic) but he flashes solid raw power. BA said, “needs to clean up his plate approach and defensive fundamentals at his new position, but he’s well on his way.”

The surprise was Cecchini at No. 10. BA said, “Cecchini lacks a carrying tool outside of his bat-to-ball skills, but he’s a well-rounded, big league-ready player who can do a little of everything, including play all infield positions.” He can play a decent second base but saying he can play the whole infield is like saying Jose Reyes can be an adequate shortstop. It’s too bad Ceechini is hurt otherwise he might have been called up by now.

BA also mentioned Shervyen Newton, Jeff McNeil, Eric Hanhold and Ali Sanchez as players rising up the Mets prospects ranks.