Position Player – Francisco Alvarez

Level: Gulf Coast, Kingsport
Season Stats: .385/.464/.583, 7 2B, 4 HR, 18 RBI
July Stats: .359/.438/.547, 3 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI

This year, we are seeing Amed Rosario fulfill his potential, and Ronny Mauricio crack Top 100 prospect lists. What is interesting about that is Alvarez received a higher signing bonus that both of these players. So far this year, Alvarez has been showing everyone why.

In his first professional season, the 17 year old catcher was quickly promoted to Kingsport after dominating the Gulf Coast League. After a brief adjustment period, Alvarez has taken off at the plate. Currently, Alvarez has a 16 game hitting streak where he has hit .417/.470/.567. He has two separate stretches of at least three straight multi-hit games.

https://twitter.com/MetsFarmReport/status/1146161506612056065?s=20

With Alvarez, we are seeing a player Baseball America describes as having “a short, explosive stroke, and he can drive the ball straightaway and to right field with above-average power” and is “an intense competitor.” You need to be an intense competitor to be a 17 year old dominating a league which is on average 3.5 years old than he is.

Honorable Mention: Wagner Lagrange was promoted to St. Lucie where he hit .409/.447/.636 over 11 games. Like Lagrange, Hansel Moreno was promoted to St.Lucie, and he had a .919 OPS over the month.

Pitcher of the Month – Kevin Smith

Level: St. Lucie, Binghamton
Season Stats: 7-5, 2.80 ERA, 1.204 WHIP, 2.7 BB/9, 10.2 K/9
July Stats: 3-0, 1.30 ERA, 0.952 WHIP, 3.1 BB/9, 10.1 K/9

When Smith was selected by the Mets in the seventh round of the 2018 draft, the expectation was he was going to wind up being a LOOGY. So far in his career, he has confounded those expectations by performing quite well as a starter with July being his best month.

To put in perspective how good his month was his worst start was when he allowed two earned on three hits in 5.2 innings against the Akron RubberDucks. That was also his first start after being promoted to Double-A. Being promoted to Double -A roughly a year after being draft is an impressive feat in and of itself. More impressive than that is his having pitched better in Double-A than he has in the Florida State League.

Overall, in Smith’s five starts in the month, he pitched at least 5.1 innings while allowing no more than two earned in any start. In fact, in four of his five starts, he has allowed one earned or fewer. He struck out six plus in four of his five starts, and he allowed no more than five hits in any start. His three quality starts in July were more than he had accumulated up to that point in his professional career.

Honorable Mention: Tommy Wilson had a 0.47 ERA in three July starts for Binghamton with a 14.00 K/BB. Garrison Bryant was 1-0 with a 1.55 ERA in five starts for Brooklyn.

Reliever of the Month – Marcel Renteria

Level: St. Lucie
Season Stats: 1-2, 4.02 ERA, 3 SV, 1.286 WHIP, 3.7 BB/9, 9.1 K/9
July Stats: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 SV, 0.540 WHIP, 2.7 BB/9, 8.1 K/9

After being a starter through the first two years of his professional career, the Mets moved Renteria in the bullpen for the 2019 season. After a period of adjustment, he seems to have found a home in the bullpen not allowing an earned run since June 22. In fact, he has not allowed more than one earned in any appearance since May 11.

Renteria has recorded a strikeout in 15 of his last 16 appearances with his not having walked more than one batter in his last 11 appearances. In July, he had an impressive 3.6 K/BB which is the result of his trusting his stuff and throwing strikes (65 percent). Over that stretch, opposing batters are hitting .097/.188/.145. This is as dominating as it gets out of the bullpen.

Honorable Mention: Allan Winans led all Mets minor leaguers with six saves in July. Adonis Uceta has allowed just one earned run over his last 14.1 innings pitched.