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Mets Minors Players of the Week: Jose Butto Impresses for Brooklyn

By Joseph Langan

June 16, 2021 No comments

Jose Butto, Photo by Ed Delany, MMN

The New York Mets minor league organizations had a rough week in the record department, to put it nicely. Overall the affiliates combined for six wins out of their twenty-four matchups, three coming from the St. Lucie Mets. While the teams may have struggled, there indeed were some standout individuals for the Mets Minors Players of the Week.

Triple-A Syracuse Mets

The New York Mets “walk-off” legend Patrick Mazeika put together a solid week in Triple-A Syracuse this week. He went 5-for-20 with four RBI’s and slashed .250/.286/.400 with an OPS of .686. Since being optioned to Syracuse, Mazeika has played in ten games accumulating thirty-nine at-bats. Over that time, he is hitting .282/.317/.436 with an OPS of .753 and four extra-base hits. Mazeika isn’t precisely the multi-talented spark plug the Syracuse Mets need to turn their season around. Nonetheless, he provides solid at-bats and limits his strikeouts, always giving his team a chance to get back in the ballgame.

After a great stint in Syracuse, Sean Reid Foley rejoined the New York Mets during their homestand against the Cubs. This week, Foley tossed two 2/3 scoreless innings of work, allowing no hits and striking out three batters. The 6’3″ righty put up solid numbers during his time in Queens as well, posting a 1.98 ERA with twenty strikeouts over 13 ⅔ innings pitched. Mets fans seemed to be calling for this move after Sunday’s 7-3 loss to the San Diego Padres. A young fresh arm coming out of the Mets bullpen will undoubtedly serve them well going into this tough series against the Cubs.

Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies

It wasn’t easy picking the hitter of the week for the Rumble Ponies, as many of them performed well, but Wagner Lagrange stood out from all the rest. The 25-year-old from the Dominican Republic slashed .412/.444/.706 with an OPS of 1.105. Throughout five games, he’s driven in five and blasted three extra-base hits, one going for a game-tying pinch-hit three-run home run.

Josh Walker is continuing to impress as he moves up the ranks in this Mets organization. The 6’6″ lefty tossed seven innings of one-run ball in his start last week on Wednesday, earning one of the two wins on the week for the Rumble Ponies.

The former 37th round pick has a 3.43 ERA between High-A and Double-A this season. He also has 51 strikeouts in 44 2/3 innings.

High-A Brooklyn Cyclones

The hitting by this Brooklyn Cyclones team this week was abysmal. Francisco Alvarez, Ronny Mauricio, and Brett Baty combined their top three hitting prospects for a .098 batting average throughout fifty-one at-bats. This week’s only bright spot for Brooklyn was outfielder Zach Ashford who slashed .267/.313/.400 with an OPS of .712. Ashford flies under the radar in this Cyclones line-up; over the course of 100 at-bats this season, Ashford is hitting .277/.381/.366 with 11 RBIs and an OPS of .748. It’s easy to get caught up covering the top three guys, but there’s some good talent on this Cyclones squad that should get more recognition.

Jose Butto had his best performance of the year so far, tossing five scoreless innings against the potent Hudson Valley Renegades offense. In the outing, he only allowed three hits, struck out seven, and walked two batters. Butto earned the no-decision after the Cyclones went on to lose 5-0. His season record remains at 1-and-2, as his ERA improves to 4.41 with thirty-five strikeouts. In four of his seven starts this season, Butto has given up two or fewer runs. He clearly is pitching better than what his stats show. Support has been an issue when he takes the bump, and this Brooklyn team needs to step up around him.

Low-A St. Lucie Mets

Warren Saunders had a career week with the St. Lucie Mets after going 11-for-20. Throughout five games, he slashed an eye-popping .550/.571/.700 with a sky-high OPS of 1.271. Saunders had two RBI’s and four runs scored while driving one out of Clover Park on Tuesday against Palm Beach. On the season, Saunders is now hitting .277/.352/.348 with an OPS of .745 and 14 RBIs. Saunders is 22-years old and was signed out of the Bahamas as a free agent.

Brendan Hardy had a good outing out of the bullpen for the St. Lucie Mets this week, tossing four innings of shutout ball. The 6’4″ 21-year-old from Mississippi hurled seven strikeouts and only walked two in his appearance against the Cardinals. Hopefully, this was a step in the right direction for Hardy as he’s struggled so far this season, totaling an ERA of 8.74 in only 11 1/3 innings pitched. Hardy seems to have a great frame and good strikeout capabilities, but his 1.85 WHIP hurts him in the long run.

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