Today marks the beginning of the 2017 minor league season with all four of the New York Mets full season affiliates playing tonight.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

The Triple-A Las Vegas 51s begin the 2017 season against the El Paso Chihuahuas at 9:05 PM ET on the road. Lefty Adam Wilk gets the Opening Day start for the 51s in his Mets system debut.

Right-hander Tyler Pill will start for the newly named Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies at the New Hampshire Fisher Cats with a 6:35 PM ET first pitch.

The St. Lucie Mets open their season at First Data Field vs the Palm Beach Cardinals. Right-hander Andrew Church will start for the Mets at 6:30 PM ET.

The Columbia Fireflies begin their second season as the Mets Low-A affiliate at home against the Augusta GreenJackets. First pitch is 7:05 PM ET with right-handed prospect Harol Gonzalez making the start.

METS MINORS NEWS & BUZZ

Top left-handed pitching prospect Thomas Szapucki will begin the season the shelf with a shoulder impingement. The 20-year old will stay back in St. Lucie to rehab his shoulder and is expected to join the Columbia Fireflies rotation when healthy.

The St. Lucie Mets Opening Day roster will include two of the Mets three top draft picks from 2016 in first round right-hander Justin Dunn and second round first baseman Peter Alonso.

In Triple-A, the Las Vegas 51s infield will be among the best in the minors with Dominic Smith at first base, Gavin Cecchini at second base, Phillip Evans at third base and top prospect Amed Rosario manning shortstop.

Tim Tebow will be part of the Columbia Fireflies outfield that will include Mets’ consensus Top 10 prospect in Desmond Lindsay.

The Mets signed veteran outfielder Desmond Jennings to a minor league deal on Wednesday to improve the depth that has been battered by injuries to Juan Lagares and Brandon Nimmo.

Special thanks to Ethan Wilson and Melissa Rodriguez of Mets Media Relations for allowing us access to the team and complex at Port St. Lucie this Spring.

ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERS (2016)

AVG – T.J. Rivera .353 (Las Vegas), Brandon Nimmo .352 (Las Vegas), Ty Kelly .328 (Las Vegas), Gavin Cecchini .325 (Las Vegas), Amed Rosario .324 (St. Lucie, Binghamton).

OBP – Brandon Nimmo .423 (Las Vegas), Ty Kelly .409 (Las Vegas), T.J. Rivera .393 (Las Vegas), Vinny Siena .391 (Columbia, St. Lucie), Gavin Cecchini .390 (Last Vegas).

SLG – Brandon Nimmo .541 (Las Vegas), T.J. Rivera .516 (Las Vegas), Travis Taijeron .512 (Las Vegas), Johnny Monell .470 (Las Vegas), Roger Bernadina .465 (Las Vegas).

SB – Champ Stuart 40 (St. Lucie, Binghamton), Patrick Biondi 26 (St. Lucie), Roger Bernadina 20 (Las Vegas), Amed Rosario 19 (St. Lucie, Binghamton), J.C. Rodriguez 18 (St. Lucie).

HR –  Travis Taijeron 19 (Las Vegas), Johnny Monell 19 (Las Vegas), Dominic Smith 14 (Binghamton), Marc Krauss 14 (Las Vegas), Dilson Herrera 13 (Las Vegas).

RBI – David Thompson 95 (Columbia, St. Lucie), Dominic Smith 91 (Binghamton), Travis Taijeron 88 (Las Vegas), T.J. Rivera 85 (Las Vegas), Johnny Monell 75 (Las Vegas).

STARTER ERA – P.J. Conlon 1.65 (Columbia, St. Lucie), Ricky Knapp 2.69 (St. Lucie, Binghamton, Las Vegas), Andrew Church 2.92 (St. Lucie, Columbia), Chris Flexen 3.56 (St. Lucie), Kevin Canelon 3.64 (Columbia).

RELIEVER ERA – Ben Griset 1.80 (St. Lucie), David Roseboom 1.87 (Binghamton), Corey Taylor 1.87 (St. Lucie), Seth Davis 2.31 (Columbia), Kevin McGowan 2.35 (St. Lucie, Binghamton, Las Vegas).

SAVES – Corey Taylor 20 (St. Lucie), Paul Sewald 19 (Las Vegas), Alex Palsha 18 (Columbia, St. Lucie), David Roseboom 14 (Binghamton), Jimmy Duff 8 (Columbia, St. Lucie).

K/9 – Josh Smoker 12.8 (Las Vegas), Tim Peterson 12.3 (St. Lucie, Binghamton), Beck Wheeler 12.1 (Binghamton, Las Vegas), Tyler Bashlor 11.8 (Columbia, St. Lucie), Paul Sewald 11.0 (Las Vegas).

PROSPECT PULSE

I had to the opportunity to talk to Mets pitching prospect Thomas McIlraith, whom was part of the Columbia Fireflies first ever win and no-hitter last season, here are some of the best quotes from our conversation:

MMO – In your first start of the season you pitched the first six innings of a no-hitter, what was that experience like for you and your teammates?

Thomas – It was an unbelievable experience for us. Any time you’re part of a no-hitter it’s special and it’s even better that it was the first win for Columbia as a franchise.

MMO – When did the guys in the dugout start staying away from you or realize that you guys had a chance to make history?

Thomas – I think around the 5th inning is where everybody started to realize what was going on. I think I realized around then too, but I was just trying to act normal in the dugout and not think about it too much.

MMO – Who were a couple of teammates that impressed you this past season?

Thomas – Everybody really impressed me but obviously P.J. Conlon. He was so dominant every single start and just always gave us the confidence that we were going to win the game. And David Thompson and Vinny Siena, because they always played the game hard and got big hits when we needed them.

MMO – What current Major League pitcher would you compare yourself to?

Thomas – I’ve never really known who to compare myself to, but I would say Jeremy Hellickson. It’s fun watching him throw, it looks so effortless.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

When I talked to Mets Director of Player Development Ian Levin last week he said third baseman David Thompson was one of the standout players in minor league camp this spring.

Thompson also got the chance to play in four major league spring games and took advantage of his opportunity going 3 for 4 with a double and run scored. He also made a few nice plays defensively at third.

Levin also mentioned third baseman Blake Tiberi, the 2016 draft pick will start the season at the hot corner for the Columbia Fireflies.

We will have a live game thread to help follow the action tonight.