A day after releasing his annual Minor League System rankings, in which the New York Mets placed 16th, ESPN’s Keith Law rolled out his Top 100 Prospects today on ESPN Insider. The Mets were represented by 1B Dominic Smith, LHP Steven Matz, SS Amed Rosario and SS Gavin Cecchini.
Here are some of his comments and analysis, you can read Law’s full comments here.
No. 29 – Dominic Smith
“Smith is one of the best pure hitters in the minors — and he has to be, considering he can play only first base defensively and has yet to show his raw power in games after two years of playing in some of the worst parks for left-handed power in the minors.”
“Smith is an exceptionally smart, low-heartbeat hitter who uses the whole field as well as any 20-year-old in the minors right now; four of the lefty hitter’s six homers in 2015 were down the left-field line. His swing is simple and direct, and he has unusual wrist strength to generate so much hard contact.”
“Smith is a 70 defender at first with a 70 arm, but his body has gotten far too big over the past year. Never svelte, he looked sloppy in the Arizona Fall League. We like fat hitters when they can hit, but Smith appears to be blowing off basic conditioning — even as he’s proving to be a more astute hitter. Also, no one wants to see him start to deal with knee or back injuries because he can’t keep his weight down.”
No. 37 – Steven Matz
“Matz looks like a league-average starter who might show flashes above that but won’t have the durability to profile as more than a mid-rotation guy.”
“Matz will pitch at 92-96 mph and has a plus changeup with outstanding arm speed that makes his fastball more effective even when he works up with it; almost two-thirds of his swings and misses in the majors last year came on fastballs, about as positive a sign for his future as I could throw at you.”
No. 42 – Amed Rosario
“Rosario has outstanding tools, from plus-plus bat speed to plus raw power to a plus arm — yes, a lot of pluses — to above-average range at short. He makes a lot of difficult plays look easy and has the excellent hands at short to become an excellent defender there in time. At the plate, he has good plate coverage if not plate discipline, and stays inside the ball very well, wearing out the right fielder rather than trying to pull pitches on the outer half.”
“He’ll probably go to Double-A Binghamton, a more neutral hitting environment, but I expect a little more of the power to come through. He has the kind of raw tools and athleticism to be a top 10 prospect in the game in a year.”
No. 89 – Gavin Cecchini
“It was a bit of a mixed year for Cecchini in 2015. He finally had the offensive breakout the Mets had been waiting for, but ran into some throwing issues that put his defense in doubt for the first time.”
“At the plate, he had an outstanding season. He got a bit stronger in 2014 and last offseason, and started getting better results on contact. It’s a short swing with no load, coming directly at the ball, so the contact he makes is hard but isn’t going to have any lift.”
“He’s probably a 50 or 55 defender at short, assuming the throwing woes are behind him, and that kind of glove to go with a .280/.350/.380 line is at least a solid regular, probably an above-average one given the current state of offense at shortstop.”