MLBfarm.com is an interesting site with some great statistical batting data on minor league baseball players. Here are some interesting asides involving Binghamton Mets players.
Everyone who follows the Mets minor league teams knows T.J. Rivera is going crazy in the batter’s box in Binghamton. Rivera, an infielder who was elevated to Binghamton in midseason, has had multiple hit games in seven of his last eight games, going 18-for-30 for the B-Mets. Rivera has scored six times and knocked in 6 runs over that 8 game span.
In his last 10 games Rivera is hitting .600. Those numbers drop to .398 over a 30-game span and are still a hefty .370 during his time with the B-Mets.
What really caught my attention, was Rivera’s ability to hit to all fields. The report of the B-Met infielders hit location is particularly telling. Rivera, a right-handed batter, has hit 69 balls to right field, 68 balls to center field and 66 balls to left field. In addition, Rivera has hit 68 balls to shortstop.
Detractors gnashed their teeth when Brandon Nimmo started his time at Double-A Binghamton painfully slow. Watching Nimmo many times this summer it’s hard for me to understand the concerns. The kid is an exciting talent with great baseball instincts and a huge upside.
Nimmo has settled in quite nicely for Binghamton. Over his last 30 days, Nimmo is batting .296 with six doubles, four triples, and a home run. Add in Nimmo’s 13 base-on-balls over that time span and that gives him a .378 on-base-percentage.
Nimmo’s batting charts validate my personal appreciation for his ability to go with a pitch where it’s thrown. Nimmo, a left-handed hitter has directed the largest number of pitches to leftflield, 79, with 68 going to center and 38 to right. Yet he pulls more infield balls to second and first than to third and short.
Unaccustomed to playing baseball in cold weather, Jayce Boyd had a dreadful start at the plate in Binghamton. As the spring air turned from cold to moderate and then summer rolled into upstate New York, Boyd turned his season around. Over the last 30 days the B-Met first baseman/DH has hit a sparkling .382 with eight doubles, a triple and three HR’s. Boyd has put together an impressive .482 on-base-percentage over that time.
Even more impressive is Boyd’s ability to hit against Top 20 MLB pitching prospects. Boyd has a .349 season’s average against the best pitchers he faces.
Hey John– Interesting stuff. Do you think that the Mets will protect Rivera from the Rule 5 draft this winter? And do you think he has a realistic shot to be a MLB utility player?
If Rivera doesn’t get protected I think another team will go for him. He leads the Mets Organization in avg. and is batting .370 in AA. He has nothing left to prove at that level and shouldn’t be held back like past years in St.Lucie. I would hope the Mets would protect a kid from NY who is killing the ball. Who knows though
The Mets better protect him because the team across the city will be looking for a player with his quality to play a position that will be vacated his Rivera’s idol
Dave, it’s hard to figure what the Mets will do. One of the dilemma’s in a much improved minor league system is a glut of young talented players and limited roster space. I would protect Rivera. He has a great inside/outside swing when he wants to take a pitch the opposite way and is a classic contact guy. Defensively, he has been steady, playing second , short and third during his time in Bingo as the team needed. I would like to see him get a chance to settle in at one position for awhile. One drawback is his speed on the base paths. The kid has little speed and is no real threat there at all.
Kudos to Sandy Alderson for his work with the minor league system. We really do have some interesting options below the Citi Field surface. I just love Nimmo. The kid is getting better and better. He’s a smart baseball guy who does all kinds of little things defensively, on the base paths and at bat that count in the outcome of baseball games.
The B-Mets have been a pleasure to watch this summer.