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Baseball America Mets Top 2018 Prospects

By John Sheridan

September 11, 2018 No comments

Andres Gimenez/Photo by Ed Delany, MMN

In an article by Mike Puma, Baseball America named the top minor league performers in the Mets farm system during the 2018 season.  Accompanying the slection of each player was a brief assessment from Mets Special Assistant to the General Manager JP Ricciaridi.

Best Player – Andres Gimenez, SS

Age: 20
Level: St. Lucie & Binghamton
Stats: .281/.347/.409, 29 2B, 5 3B, 6 HR, 46 RBI, 38 SB

Ricciardi Assessment: “He has got talent and he’s a very intelligent baseball player. He is going to be a gap-to-gap player with occasional power. A very solid player.”

Almost universally, Gimenez has been regarded as the top prospect in the Mets farm system.  This is partially due to his innate ability and baseball IQ as well as his drive and responsiveness to coaching.  The interesting debate with Gimenez will be where he goes from here, especially with him being blocked by two cost controlled players in Amed Rosario and Jeff McNeil.  That said, with Gimenez’s drive and his versatility, this is very good problem for the Mets organization to have.

Best Pitcher – Justin Dunn, RHP

Age: 22
Level: St. Lucie & Binghamton
Stats: 8-8, 3.59 ERA, 1.330 WHIP, 3.5 BB/9, 10.4 K/9

Riccardi Assessment: He still needs to be finished off a little bit, but he has got all the fastball you need and it’s got life. The slider is real good, (and he has) a great changeup and is a real good athlete.”

Entering 2017, Dunn was at least considered to be among the Top 100 prospects in all of baseball.  With his struggles last season in what was his first ever full season as a starter, many soured on Dunn.  This year, Dunn showed why those snap judgments were in error.  What was really impressive with Dunn was how he not only gained better command of his pitches, but also how he was able to last a full season in the rotation.

Keep An Eye On – Scott Manea, C

Age: 22
Level: Columbia
Stats: .261/.368/.432, 23 2B, 12 HR, 53 RBI

Riccardi Assessment: “He has got a chance to be something.  He has opened up some eyes this year. He has got power and a pretty good idea of what he is doing behind the plate.”

In his first two seasons, the undrafted Manea showed good pitch recognition with him drawing as many walks as he did strikeouts.  Despite the good eye at the plate, he hit for little to now power as evidenced by his hitting just one homer over his first two professional seasons.  In the month of July, a light turned on for Manea, and he suddenly began hitting for power.  Over the final 48 games of the season, he hit .273/.354/.483 with 15 doubles, seven homers, and 34 RBI.