Photo by Ed Delany, MMN
The Columbia Fireflies, the Mets’ Low-A affiliate, which is already gaining some nice headlines for the right reasons, especially with some great names coming to the club, such as shortstop Ronny Mauricio, pitcher Simeon Woods-Richardson, shortstop Shervyen Newton, and third baseman Mark Vientos. These guys have some of the highest upsides in the system, and they represent the next wave in Mets top prospects moving forward.
As it currently stands, we’re projecting what the team may look like come April 4th.
Infielders
Chase Chambers is a 2018 18th round senior-sign from Tennessee Tech, who can hit for contact and power as well as a fine glove but will always be very old for his level. He batted .281/.350/.392 at Brooklyn.
Shervyen Newton 19, has been playing a lot of 2nd base during Spring, and will likely continue there moving forward, with some hope to play in the outfield corners and center, due to his athleticism. Newton is a patient switch-hitter with plus raw power. His patience from time to time does get him in trouble, and he has posted high strikeout numbers, as he employs an approach that is sometimes too passive.
Mark Vientos is the 2016 2nd rounder, who has shown how warranted that was. Last year with Kingsport, he tied for 3rd in the Appalachian League with 11 homers in 60 games. Vientos started slow out of the gate but then picked it up to finish with a .287/.389/.489 hitter. He’s a plus-power guy and patience guy who can make nice contact and posted excellent exit-velocity readings. Vientos needs to work on staying at third, and if not, he will be a 1B moving forward.
Ronny Mauricio, a shortstop for now, probably has the highest upside in the system. A switch hitter with a projectable body for huge power and contact, Mauricio did not look out of place in big league camp against pitchers from higher levels and showed that he could handle more advanced pitching with a patient approach. Mauricio in the future will grow into more power, and potentially move off shortstop and over to third base or a corner outfield spot.
Walter Rasquin is a scrappy little hitter with hard-nosed play who was suspended last year, testing positive for Methamphetamine and returned to Brooklyn yet again to hit .299/.372/.382 after suspension. He can run and get on base and could be a nice utility guy who has nothing flashy but just does the little things.
Outfielders
Ranfy Adon is the 41st ranked prospect on Mets Minors’ top 50, who hit .295/.338/.521 in 40 games last year, showing power and speed, but a tough strikeout rate. Scouts I have talked to haven’t been too high on him due to body type, swing, and approach but he will continue to try to buck their projections.
Anthony Dirocie is an athletic center fielder who has been prone to the strikeout but hits the ball very hard.
Jose Medina The Mets have been high on Medina forever, thinking he’s a great possible athletic right fielder, but he’s had a tough go-around and will be in A-ball for a third year, despite having great potential as a power-speed threat. He hit .271/.342/.429 in 54 games with Brooklyn.
Wagner Lagrange An older guy with a knack to hit, Lagrange has been Mr. Consistent in the minor leagues who can just hit to the gaps and stay on the field.
Zach Rheams reportedly hits the ball as hard as anyone in the organization, which he showed off in 45 games with the Firelies last season, hitting eight home runs in 45 games.
Catchers
Juan Uriarte is a young Mexican catcher signed in 2014 with some upside on both offense and defense. He got injured early in his Brooklyn stint, but batted .305/.372/.455 and threw out 33 percent of potential base stealers (14 of 42) when he was with Kingsport in 2017.
Hayden Senger was selected in the 24th round last year and batted .301/.411/.417 between Kingsport and Brooklyn, throwing out 11 out of 35 (31%) would be base stealers.
Starting Pitchers
RHP Simeon Woods-Richardson has been on fire in the backfields this spring, but looked shaky in his big league Spring Training debut, likely due to nerves. The 18-year-old pitcher from Sugar Land, Texas has a big arm, and touched 99 in the Gulf Coast League, but is more in the mid-90’s as a starter and has to work on his mechanics to keep his velocity up. He has a good looking curve that showed 12-6 action during his debut but still needs development. Nevertheless, the youngster definitely has upside.
LHP Kevin Smith is a 2018 7th round lefty who can get up to 94, but possibly higher with some fine-tuning of his mechanics.
RHP Kyle Wilson led the 2018 Brooklyn Cyclones in strikeouts and K-BB ratio. After starting out slow, he pitched much better as the short season carried on and posting a 3.89 ERA with 59 Strikeouts in 53 Innings. He pitches in the low-90’s.
RHP Jaison Vilera, an international free agent who pumps the strike zone with a fastball that is anywhere from 88-92. He pitched excellently as a 21-year-old in Brooklyn, as he stymied the league with a 1.83 ERA in 13 starts with a 9.5 K/9. He gets MMN’s nod as the next possible Nabil Crismatt incarnate.
RHP Christian James earned spot starts with Binghamton and St. Lucie shortly after turning 20 but ultimately settled with Brooklyn, where he posted a stellar 2.01 ERA in 13 starts. While he didn’t miss as many bats as you would like, his excellent control and two strong secondaries should help him succeed in the SAL.
Relief Pitchers
RHP Dedniel Nunez was an effective swing-man in Kingsport for 2018. It was also reported that he was posting mid-90’s velocity in spring training.
RHP Jose Butto was very effective as a starter with Kingsport (1.93 ERA) but got beaten up in Brooklyn (6.11 ERA), so he may get more acclimated to a reliever role.
RHP Willy Taveras pitched well as a starter in the Gulf Coast League, pitching to a 2.35 ERA in 11 starts, with 57 strikeouts in 65 innings.
LHP Andrew Mitchell, a 14th rounder from last year’s draft stymied his competition in both Kingsport and Brooklyn, striking out 32 in 23 innings. The lefty’s repertoire includes a low 90’s fastball and a nasty curve.
RHP Billy Oxford, who was drafted in the 27thround in 2017, was dominant in Brooklyn to a 1.24 ERA but didn’t miss many bats.
RHP Ezequiel Zabaleta struggled as a starter with Kingsport in 2017 but was nearly untouchable out of the Brooklyn bullpen a summer ago.
RHP Tommy Wilson was the Mets’ 19th-round pick in 2018 from Cal State Fullerton and could be used in a piggyback role with someone like Woods-Richardson whose innings will be monitored.
RHP Christian Tripp debuted last year in Kingsport after the Mets took him from New Mexico in the 13th round.
This team is going to be intriguing and exciting and will be watchable on MILB.tv for 90+ games. There’s a lot to see going forward with the team, especially with the high upside from Woods-Richardson, Mauricio, Vientos, and Newton.
