Photo by Ed Delany
This week was a big week for the New York Mets farm system. A very large handful of Mets’ minor leaguers were productive.
Right off of the bat we have to mention Gavin Cecchini, who racked up two two-run home runs this week, as well as a couple more hits and RBI. He;s now slashing .455/.571/1.091 this spring with five RBI.
Luis Guillorme also had himself a big week at the plate with a three-RBI night on Friday night against the Astros in a split-squad contest. He has gone 4 for 11 with five RBI, four runs scored, home run, double and two walks this spring.
Phillip Evans hit a long home run to deep left-center during Thursday’s matchup against the Marlins in Port St. Lucie.
Arnaldo Berrios also chipped in a home run this week, two-run game winner in the ninth inning on Wednesday. David Thompson is also having a nice spring, hitting .313 with two walks.
Even Tim Tebow got in on the action with a hard-hit double in Friday’s loss to the Nationals. Ty Kelly, who is fighting for an Opening Day roster spot, had himself a couple of big hits, including an RBI double on Sunday.
On the mound this week, Mets’ minor leaguers had a number of standout performances. Jacob Rhame had two terrific outings, hitting 97 mph on the radar gun on a few occasions. Except for the two earned runs he gave up on Wednesday, the 24-year-old has been outstanding.
Corey Taylor had two solid performances this week, both coming against the Nats, he has yet to allow a run in 4.2 innings this spring.
Left-handed reliever P.J. Conlon has really wowed this week, including pitching three scoreless innings in the loss to Washington on Sunday. He has a 2.70 ERA and seven strikeouts in 6.2 innings thus far.
Chris Flexen had a nice outing on Saturday versus Miami, throwing two scoreless innings, and Drew Smith threw a perfect ninth in Friday afternoon’s loss to the Nats.
Gerson Bautista has allowed one run in 4.2 spring innings while striking out six and showed off a sharp combo of fastball/slider in his outing on Friday night.
Lefty Matt Purke finally made his Mets debut this week, he would throw two scoreless innings overall with only one baserunner allowed.
The only really tough week suffered by a Mets minor leaguer on the mound was Kevin McGowan, who got beat up in both of his appearances.
Too bad we resigned Cabrera…..Luis Guillorme would make a nice complement to Amed Rosario. Defensive-wise he is major league caliber….hitting seems to be catching up….David Thompson looks like he will be a major league player in the not too distant future.
Aside from McGowen, the kids are doing really well. Conlon could be 2nd lefty in BP. Cecchini has shown some power and a better swing, Evans looks good, Guillorme looks great as well.
Umm.. Come again? Its only spring training. Make that EARLY spring training. Results they get now are absolutely NO indication of what they will do once the season gets under way. Many of Guillorme’s at-bats have been against minor leaguers. And even the major leaguers he does face are not up to full speed yet. Its one thing to appreciate a good start. Its another thing altogether to suggest that he can replace an established major starter like Cabrera right now. Keep watching: you’ll soon start to see some players steadily have less and less success as the pre-season goes on. And you’ll see others who have a sudden, precipitous drop-off right around the mid-point of spring games.
Still conspicuous to me is a guy who is missing from camp this spring: Kyle Regnault. The Mets made the highly unusual move of spending one of their eight Arizona Fall League roster spots on Regnault. He responded by striking out 17 and walking just 3 in 12.2 innings and posting a 0.95 WHIP. And yet, despite the fact that the Mets have only 3 LH relievers in camp, Regnault doesn’t get invited to spring training, and hasn’t even been borrowed for an appearance ten games in.
It makes absolutely no sense. There’s a story or reason behind this, and its one I’d like to hear.
I love Regnault and I totally agree. What do you think that story or reason could be? Do you think it’s more personal or pitching related?
Sort of like Cecchini last year, if I recall correctly. Had a great first week or so before not doing much the rest of spring. It will be interesting to see if that happens again this year, or if his improvements are legitimate and he can sustain his performance to some degree.
I really have no clue. I’m not suggesting that he IS the guy who should get the big league lefty spot. Just that he should at least be invited to camp. I’m just completely blown away by this one. Maybe Mickey Callaway and/or Dave Eiland saw something in his pitches that had them decide that he would get hit by major leaguers and he simply has to or can only work on in the minors. Thats the only thing that wuld explain why the Mets invested that AFL roster spot in a 28-year old who’d already had some success in AAA only to ignore him once winter kicked in and spring plans were being made.
Despite the results so far, I really don’t think Conlon looks ready for the major leagues yet. I can easily see major leaguers figuring him out, laying off the outside stuff and making him throw it over the plate where they would easily hit his stuff. He needs more refinement, and to pitch inside more often.
To be clear, Cabby hit nearly as well as Moustakas last year. Guillorme’s a way better defender but he’s nowhere near as good with the bat.