Shervyen Newton, Photo by Ed Delany of MMN

Mike Mayer of MMN reports the New York Mets have promoted Shervyen Newton from Low-A St. Lucie to High-A Brooklyn. Through 24 games, he is hitting .298/.375/.548 with nine doubles, four homers, and 16 RBI.

There was a time Shervyen Newton was considered one of the top prospects in the New York Mets farm system. There was so much promise and talent there were very real concerns Newton would be selected by another organization in the Rule 5 Draft.

Unfortunately for Newton, he would lose a year of development time with the 2020 COVID pandemic. He would lose another season as he injured his shoulder in 2021 limiting him to just 30 games. Really, it has been the injuries which have held Newton back.

At 23, Newton was old for the Florida State League. Notably, he is repeating this level again. On that point, his 164 wRC+ so far this season should be taken with a grain of salt. However, what is more important than the numbers themselves is Newton showing he is healthy.

Dating back to 2019, Newton was seen as a player with promising power, athleticism, good instincts, and being a born leader. In fact, Newton speaks many languages and has served as a translator for his teammates during his career.

At the moment, Newton is playing shortstop. So far, he has struggled with five errors and a reduced range factor than he had prior to the pandemic. Of course, there is an element of Newton getting back up to speed after the injuries and the pandemic. Also, we shouldn’t overreact to small sample sizes.

All told, the most important thing we have seen from Newton is he is healthy. With the shoulder looking good, Newton is once again showing the tools which made him a very well regarded prospect. Now, he is going to High-A to face his next test. If he succeeds there, we may see him in Double-A at some point and getting his name back into consideration as a Mets prospect to watch.