Today I had the pleasure of being at Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie throughout the morning to watch the Mets in camp. There was a great mix of youth and veterans all in attendance on the day with all pitchers and position players now participating.

I wanted to share a few of my thoughts and lots of pictures for you at MetsMinors. I hope you guys enjoy.

As what has been told throughout camp and in the media, I noticed right during warmups that star prospect Amed Rosario was tossing with his mentor Jose Reyes. Rosario looks in fantastic shape and is much more filled out with added muscle then when I last saw him in early 2016 and especially since his time all year with the St. Lucie in 2015.  He look strong, his compact swing in the batting cage led to numerous line drives and couple of homers, including a shot to right center over the wall.

As always, Luis Guillorme is an absolute vacuum with a glove. Even in practice you can see how effortless it is for him to charge on the ball, scoop it up and throw the first. And, not for nothing, I believe it’s worth pointing out that Luis did hit a ball over the wall during batting practice.

2016 Florida State League batting champ Tomas Nido was here in camp. Interesting side note on Nido. I never really noticed it watching him play a couple of games last year but he has a slight double tap at the plate as the pitch is coming to him. Interesting timing mechanism he has at the plate.

What continues to intrigue me about outfield prospect Wuilmer Becerra is his size. He is tall and powerful. It was a good sign to see him in the batting cage and taking batting practice with no limitations. The sound of the ball off his bat stands out.

Speaking of size, I was not aware of just how strong and compact infield prospect Phillip Evans is. Evans took grounders from the third base position today in camp.

Speaking of large and imposing, this was my first look at pitching prospect Logan Taylor. He has such a tall and large frame. I would like to keep an eye on him in the year ahead.

To continue with the theme, above is a picture of big and strong pitching prospect Corey Taylor. Taylor will be a pitcher to keep an eye on in 2017 after a strong showing in the Arizona Fall League.

Today was also my first look in person of Mets pitching prospect Marcos Molina. I also didn’t realize how big Marcos is. As advertised, his new delivery is cleaner and smoother.

This morning I was able to see the new and improved Dominic Smith. Looking more slimmed down from last year and more tone than back in 2015 with the St. Lucie Mets. I was happy to see Dom in batting practice driving the ball to all sides of the field still, and not trying to pull it.

I must say I really enjoyed watching Gavin Cecchini swing a bat this morning in BP. He has such a strong compact swing. He gets barrel on ball consistently, and with his bat speed most balls were pulled or hit to center in line drives. Defensively, Cecchini fielded grounders exclusively at second base.

Okay, not for nothing but my opinion of Michael Conforto has not changed a bit in two years. He is an absolute stud. It was a pleasure watching him go back to what he knows, hitting absolute lasers opposite field in batting practice, hitting more than a few of them over the wall, and only pulling the ball when he was going with the pitch inside.

Obviously, if you’ve read any of previous posts or follow me on twitter you will know that I would never write this post without including Champ Stuart. I’m telling you, I continue to like what I see in Champ, and the improvements in his bat speed and contact on the ball these days. Perhaps more of an effort is being made by Champ even just in batting practice to drive the ball low to the ground.

As always its a pleasure seeing our Mets live and up close. Can’t wait for another season of Mets baseball. Can’t wait for another season of St. Lucie Mets baseball.