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MMN Top 100 Prospects: #10 Nido With Breakout Season

By Ernest Dove

January 13, 2017 No comments

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#10 Tomas Nido

Ht: 6’0”  Wt: 200 2016 Level: High A advanced St. Lucie Mets

B/T: R/R  Age: 4/12/94 (22) Age Dif: -0.7

Acquired: Drafted 8th round in 2012 out of Orangewood Christian School, FL

Last year: #74

MiLB Statistics: 90 G, 344 AB, 38 R, 110 H, 23 2B, 7 HR, 46 RBI, 19 BB, 46 K, .320 AVG, .357 OBP, .459SLG, .816 OPS

Tomas Nido finds a good time to shine.

Nido began his career at Kingsport in the Appalachian League for the Mets in 2012, then spent consecutive seasons in Brooklyn in 2013 & 2014 before heading to full season A-ball in 2015 in Savannah where along the way Tomas appeared to struggle offensively. His best statistical season occurred during his second stint in Brooklyn reaching a high of a .277 AVG, .325 OBP and only a .660 OPS. Tomas followed that up in his first trip to full season ball by posting a .259 AVG and .284 OBP at the Low-A level in 2015. Then came 2016.

With the St. Lucie Mets Tomas had a career year in every statistical category which concluded with a Florida State League batting title hitting with his .320 AVG.  All while maintaining a strong defensive showing behind the plate throwing out 42% of would-be base stealers.

All of a sudden Nido jumped into consideration for top prospect status and ultimately leading to the Mets front office decision to place him on the 40-man roster at the end of 2016 or risk Tomas being taken in the Rule 5 draft. The question is where does Tomas Nido and his ongoing development take him?

Perhaps one thing to take into consideration that since turning pro in 2012, Tomas career high games played in a season stands at 90, with a career high of 344 AB which both occurred last season. It was reported throughout the 2016 season that he Mets were being cautious with his innings behind the plate. Nido was scheduled to play in the Arizona Fall League, but never ended up playing and was taken off the roster mid-season. However, looking deeper into the statistics, Tomas got stronger throughout the season as evidenced from his .347 AVG and .878 OPS in the second half.

Nido also hit an incredible .405 with three of his seven total home runs in the month of July, arguably the hottest time of the year next to August in South Florida, while playing in 19 total games during the month. Also of note; against opposing lefties, Nido hit .361 with a .420 OBP.

In watching Tomas play in St. Lucie what I saw was an extremely aggressive hitter who was willing to go out of the zone and still be able to make consistent solid contact on the ball. Tomas has quick bat speed and uses his aggression to attack at any time in the at-bat thus not allowing the opposing the pitcher to take control. He shows line drive power with an ability to strongly turn on balls in and out of the strike zone. His aggression also accounts for the 19 total walks in the entire 2016 campaign. It will be interesting to monitor the adjustments that he will make at the next level in his overall offensive approach to the game.

Mike M adds….

The jump from basically being prospect irrelevant to a top 10 guy in the organization may have some skeptical on Nido, but it’s not just the offense that has skyrocketed his potential. Nido improved in every way on defense as well. I talked to a handful of pitchers that he worked with this year and each one raved about his ability as a receiver and how he helped them slow down the run game.

While the walks did slightly improve for Nido in 2016 (5.1% compared to 3.6% in 2015) that still remains a concern going forward with his approach at the plate. The good news is that he cut down on his strikeouts immensely (11.4% in 2016, 25.7% in 2015), but will that carry over to Double-A if he stays as aggressive?

2017 Outlook:

Overall, Tomas has seemingly come out of nowhere offensively, earning his 40-man roster spot, and should look to presumably head to Double-A Binghamton to start the 2017 season in what many refer to as the Show Me level of competition. Tomas will play out the entire season as a 23-year old so I would not necessarily expect any further advancement in the coming year beyond Double-A.

2017 MMN TOP 100 PROSPECTS

1. Amed Rosario, SS

2. Dominic Smith, 1B

3. Robert Gsellman, RHP

4. Thomas Szapucki, LHP

5. Desmond Lindsay, OF

6. Justin Dunn, RHP

7. Gavin Cecchini, INF

8. Brandon Nimmo, OF

9. Andres Gimenez, SS

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