Who’s Hot

Rafael Montero, Las Vegas 51’s

You couldn’t ask for Montero to have a better start to the season. I named him the first recipient of the 2014 MMN Pitcher of the Week for a reason. He was on my ‘Who’s Hot’ list last week and he makes another appearance this week after another two solid outings. On April 8th, Montero started against Sacramento at home and gave up three earned runs on six hits and a walk in five innings. What really stood out to me, however, was the nine batters he punched out in those five innings. Montero made another start on April 13th in which he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning. He gave up two earned runs but on just two hits. He walked two and struck out four in 6.1 innings. Montero has a 2.60 ERA, 18 strikeouts and three walks in his first 17.1 innings pitched of the season.

Jacob deGrom, Las Vegas 51’s

For some odd reason people seem to forget about deGrom as a top Mets prospect. It must be because Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero are pitching in the same rotation as him and are higher on most prospect lists. However, deGrom has been absolutely dominant to start the season. He started against Sacramento at home on April 10th and went five innings, giving up just one earned run on four hits and two walks, while striking out five. Last night, the right hander had another phenomenal outing against the Reno Aces on the road. He lasted 7 innings, giving up one earned run on just three hits and a walk. He struck out four in the contest and lowered his ERA to 0.50 on the season.

Matt Clark, Binghamton Mets

Clark has been tearing the cover off the baseball as of late for the B-Mets. Since April 8th, he’s smashed four long balls, drove in seven runs and scored six. He’s also hitting .429 (9 for 21) in that span while drawing six walks; five of which were in one game. The last thing the Mets need is another first basemen but it’s encouraging to see the 6’5”, 230 lb. first basemen get off to such a hot start.

Who’s Not

Jayce Boyd, Binghamton Mets

Boyd is having his fair share of troubles against AA pitching, collecting just three hits in his last 26 at-bats dating back to April 8th. He’s also struck out in roughly 27% of those at-bats, which is completely uncharacteristic of him. Throughout his professional career, Boyd has been known to have a great approach at the plate with a level swing that produces gap to gap power so the strikeouts are a bit concerning at the moment. Hopefully, he can get his season on track as soon as possible.

Daniel Muno, Las Vegas 51’s

Dating back to April 8th, Muno has just two hits in his last 16 at-bats. In all fairness, those two hits were a homer and a double but that does not excuse the rest of the at-bats. It’s worth noting that he has five walks in this span up against three strikeouts, which tells me he may be running into a bit of bad luck or he is just not seeing the ball well at the moment. As long as Muno continues using a solid approach at the plate, some more batted balls should start falling.

Cory Vaughn, Binghamton Mets

To say Vaughn is off to a cold start is an understatement. He has just two hits in his last 21 at-bats and his batting average is down to an icy .094 on the season. He’s also struck out one third of the time in those 21 at-bats and has only drawn one walk. Hopefully, he turns it around before he starts to get discouraged, if he hasn’t already.

(Photo Credit: Jeff Roberson)