Photo By Ernest Dove

Baseball America puts out a weekly “Hot Sheet” ranking the best weeks various minor leaguers just had.  It was a strong week for the Mets as Merandy Gonzalez and Amed Rosario both made the “Hot Sheet.”

Gonzalez was ranked number four due to his strong start to the season for the Columbia Fireflies.  From April 21-27, Gonzalez went 2-0 while allowing no earned runs over 14.2 innings pitched.  In fact, Gonzalez only walked two and allowed just eights over the course of these two starts while striking out 12 batters.  When batters are striking out at a higher rate than they are reaching base, you know you are on a good run, and Gonzalez is on a good run.

This is all part of a strong start to the season for Gonzalez. In his four starts, he is 4-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.64 WHIP.  This shouldn’t be completely unexpected as he did go 6-3 with a 2.89 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP for the Brooklyn Cyclones last year.  Overall, he is hitting 97 on the gun, using an effective curveball, and he is limiting his walks this season. This is the start for what promises to be a breakout season for Gonzalez. He has yet to allow and earned run in 28.1 innings.

Rosario, on the other hand, has already had his breakout season.  He is now trying to force his way into the majors. He had yet another good week that saw him ranked as number five on the Hot Sheet.

Over the last week, Rosario was 11-24 with a double and a triple. The extra base hits were important because even though Rosario was getting on base frequently to begin the season, he wasn’t getting extra base hits. Now, he is. Overall, Rosario is hitting an impressive .397/.444/.462 with three doubles, a triple, eight RBI, and six stolen bases this season.

With their hot starts, and their performances over this past week, it is only a matter of time before both Gonzalez and Rosario get promoted.  That means Gonzalez will be one step closer to the majors, which is where Rosario will be sooner rather than later.