It was a big week for two members of the New York Mets’ minor league system, and their accomplishments did not go unnoticed. On Monday, Syracuse Mets utilityman Travis Blankenhorn was named the International League Player of the Week, while St. Lucie Mets outfielder Omar De Los Santos was named the Florida State League Player of the Week.
In Triple-A, Travis Blankenhorn hit .600 (12-for-20) across six games for Syracuse this past week. Of those 12 hits, five went for extra bases, including three doubles and two home runs. At one point, he reached base safely in 13 straight plate appearances, and he raised his season OPS from .696 to .798 over the course of just one week.
Blankenhorn saw some time with the big-league club after being claimed off waivers from the Mariners on June 1, 2021, appearing in 23 games for the Mets last season and hitting .174 with one home run. He has played 58 games for Syracuse this season, serving the same super utility role that he has through most of his career. Blankenhorn has played predominantly at second base and left field this season, but he has also seen time in right field.
This is Blankenhorn’s second career Player of the Week award win, the first coming back in June 2017 as a member of the Twins organization for the Cedar Rapids Kernels in the Midwest League. It’s unlikely that Blankenhorn sees much time if any with the Mets this year, and his contract is set to expire at the end of the season, but the Mets have seen this season that it will never hurt to have additional depth options in the minor leagues ready for their chance to contribute.
Down in Low-A, Omar De Los Santos hit .450 (9-for-20) across five games for the St. Lucie Mets this past week. Of those nine hits, three went for extra bases, and he even finished a double shy of the cycle during a June 24th game against the Palm Beach Cardinals. In addition to his stellar hitting, De Los Santos also collected seven stolen bases in those five games, bringing his season tally to an outstanding 43 steals.
De Los Santos signed with the Mets back in 2019 and has shown outstanding speed on the basepaths at every level, recording 70 steals across his first 158 career games in the minor leagues. However, he has reached another gear this season, stealing 16 bases in the month of May and another 20 bases in the month of June with three more games still to play. He’s also provided surprising pop with his bat, blasting nine home runs and accounting for 27 extra-base hits on the year.
This is De Los Santos’ first career Player of the Week award win, but he has certainly shown that he has the ability to rack up more awards as his skills progress. De Los Santos was not on many people’s radars going into this season, and his poor plate discipline (81 strikeouts in 58 games this season) has kept him from rising up the prospect rankings. Still, this impressive display of both speed and power has turned more eyes toward the talent that De Los Santos possesses.
