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St. Lucie Mets 2017 Roster Projection

By John Sheridan

April 2, 2017 17 Comments

wuilmer becerra

If you like pitching, St. Lucie should be your destination next year.  The rotation and the bullpen features a number of pitchers coming off a terrific year in Columbia who promise to improve in 2017. This is a group of projectible arms who may very well find their way to the majors.

On offense, this team features players who have some terrific tools, but also have some flaws, some significant.  It’s going to be incumbent on first time minor league manager Chad Kreuter to cultivate this talent

INFIELDERS

1B Peter Alonso – Slugging first baseman who hit .321/.382/.587 in his debut with Brooklyn before a broken pinkie prematurely ended his season in early August.

UTIL Dale Burdick – 2014 40th round draft pick can handle all four infield positions.

3B Eudor Garcia – Aggressive and promising hitter that has shown enough athleticism to stick at third base.

UTIL J.C. Rodriguez – Over the past two seasons he has become one of the most versatile players in the Mets system playing second, third, short, and left field.

2B Vinny Siena – Streaky singles hitter who spent time with Columbia and St. Lucie in 2016.

OUTFIELDERS

OF Tucker Tharp – Speedy outfielder who plays a good center field and is also capable of playing left and right.

1B/OF Jeffrey DiehlCatcher  First baseman  Outfielder Jeff Diehl is entering his seventh season in the organization, meaning he will be a minor league free agent after the 2017 season, even though he has yet to play above St. Lucie.

OF Wuilmer Becerra – Top prospect will need to show he is fully recovered from last year’s torn labrum before he moves up to Double-A Binghamton.

OF Enmanuel Zabala – Zabala has gone from organizational depth to a somewhat intriguing centerfielder. He hit .280/.330/.339 with Columbia last season and provides passable speed and defense.

CATCHERS

C/1B Patrick Mazeika – Pure hitter who has a .329/.432/.469 batting line in two years in the minors. In an exclusive interview with MMN, the tall catcher said he’s working on becoming a much improved backstop.

C Brandon Brosher – Has the power to hit baseballs out of any ballpark, but that won’t be possible if he continues to not make contact.

STARTING PITCHERS

RHP Marcos Molina – Molina will be making his return from Tommy John surgery, which claimed all of his 2016 season, save for seven strong appearances in the Arizona Fall League.

RHP Andrew Church – After hip surgery and mechanical adjustments, the 2013 second round pick had a breakout season that saw him post a 2.92 ERA and 1.056 WHIP for Columbia, St. Lucie, and Las Vegas last year.

RHP Nabil Crismatt – Former reliever that has caused the Mets to take notice and put him in the rotation. He has an outstanding change-up, and he is working on a slider and quick pitch to improve his repertoire.

RHP Chase Ingram – Solid four pitch pitcher with a good curveball who can locate well and is sound mechanically.

RHP Joe Shaw – Can throw in the mid-90s, but doesn’t stay there consistently. He also needs to be more consistent with his delivery and breaking pitches.

(Jacob Resnick/Mets Minors)

(Jacob Resnick/Mets Minors)

RELIEF PITCHERS

RHP Tyler Bashlor – Can ramp it up to 98 MPH and has a terrific curve. Bashlor used the combination to strike out 11.8 batters per nine last year.

RHP Johnny Magliozzi – While the 5’8″ pitcher is short in stature he has a big fastball which helped him post a 2.96 ERA last year.

RHP Craig Missigman – Uses a good change-up with a developing curve and low 90s fastball to keep batters off balance limiting them to a .215 batting average last year

RHP Alex Palsha – Very effective closer who used a fastball/curveball combination to strike out 10.2 batters per nine last year.

RHP Jimmy Duff – Struggled in 22 appearances in St. Lucie last season and was sent down to Columbia. Second time’s a charm?

LHP Seth Davis – Struck out 62 batters in 66.2 innings out of the bullpen for Columbia in 2016, including seven on June 3 and six on July 29.

RHP Witt Haggard – 25-year-old struggled to keep walks to a minimum in 2016.

RHP Joshua Torres – Former Brewers prospect was signed in December and has not pitched since 2015. Has experience starting and relieving in his four minor league seasons.

RHP Justin Brantley – Cousin of Indians All-Star Michael Brantley was signed in March and could return to the Eastern League at some point this season.

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