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Brooklyn Cyclones Season Recap: Top Prospects Impress in Losing Season

By Joseph Langan

October 12, 2021 No comments

Francisco Alvarez, Photo by Dan Fritz

At the end of the 2019 season, the Brooklyn Cyclones were at the top of the baseball world. The team won their first New York-Penn League title, bringing home the first baseball pennant since the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955. While the Cyclones planned to repeat their historic run to the top, COVID-19 had other plans for the world in 2020, forcing the cancelation of the minor league season.

With baseball returning in 2021, the Cyclones were no longer the short-season affiliates of the New York Mets, but instead the High-A club of the same organization. This was a considerable jump that certainly showed in the standings this season. While the record may not have been pretty, Mets fans got to see a slew of the club’s top prospects come through Brooklyn this season.

With the Cyclones season officially in the books, Mets Minors will break down some of the incredible talents that Brooklyn saw in 2021. The team went 48-70 despite getting impressive performances from multiple top prospects.

The Opening Day Stars

Ronny Mauricio, Matthew Allan, and Brett Baty were the top prospects slated for the Opening Day roster. As the season lurked closer, unfortunate news came out from the Mets organization announcing that Allan would need season-ending Tommy John surgery. This was a big blow that significantly impacted the Brooklyn pitching staff.

While the staff needed some work, Baty and Mauricio immediately got to work, showing why they’re touted as some of the best prospects that the Mets have to offer. In May, Brett slashed an incredible .317/.429/.397 with an OPS of .850, earning him a spot on Baseball America’s “Hot Starts” list and cracking their top 100 prospects list.

Baty would undoubtedly continue that hot start as he continued to torch opposing pitchers, finishing with a stat line of .309/.397/.514 with an OPS of .911 over 51 games with the Cyclones. Brett earned the honor of playing in the Sirius XM Futures Game due to his stellar play and ended the season as baseball’s number 52 prospect, according to Baseball America.

Mauricio made some power strides in the off-season and immediately showed it in the first month of play. Through 18 games, Ronny roped four homers and five doubles, posting a slugging percentage of .487. The 26 strikeouts were a big red flag but he inevitably cut down the 34% strikeout rate.

Ronny would have some ups and downs as the season went on but ultimately ended on a good note. His final slash line for Brooklyn was .242/.290/.449 with an OPS of .739 and 19 round-trippers. Mauricio would finish the season as baseball’s number 54 prospect, according to MLB.com.

Both Baty and Mauricio were impressive during their 2021 campaigns, earning promotions and reuniting together with the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies.

The Addition of Number One

With the number two and three hitting prospects already on the roster, the Mets wasted no time promoting 19-year-old superstar Francisco Alvarez. The Venezuelan catcher was a man amongst boys in rookie ball, slashing .417/.567/.646 with an OPS of 1.213 with two homers and 12 RBIs in only 15 games.

The Mets’ number one prospect would eventually cool down but significantly impacted the Cyclones lineup. Throughout 84 games with the High-A club, Alvarez crushed 22 home runs and drove in 58 RBI’s, generational power stats from a teenager catcher. Francisco went on to slash .247/.351/.538 with an OPS of .889 with Brooklyn, earning his spot as the number 14 prospect, according to Baseball America.

J.T.’s Comeback

There weren’t many pitchers fans could count on during the season; that was until J.T. Ginn joined the Cyclones in July. The 22-year-old coming off of Tommy John surgery certainly gave the Brooklyn rotation some new life. The Mets’ number five prospect posted a record of 3-and-4 and totaled an ERA of 3.38 over 53 1/3 innings pitched. Ginn finally started to see his velocity come back toward the end of the season, topping out at 96 miles per hour with significant life on all of his pitches.

While J.T. was an electric boost, Justin Lasko was the only other pitcher the Cyclones could count on before his promotion. The 6’4″ righty tossed 64 innings with Brooklyn, totaling four wins over 11 starts. During that time, he posted an ERA of 2.81 with 64 strikeouts and only 13 walks. While the two only got to pitch together for less than a month, fans could have only imagined what an entire season with the two would have looked like.

Jaylen’s Homecoming

It’s not often that a prospect gets drafted to play for his hometown team, but Jaylen Palmer is one of the lucky ones. The 21-year-old from Brooklyn, New York, reunited with his hometown after being promoted from Low-A St. Lucie. After joining the Cyclones squad, Palmer struggled, seeing his average dip below .200. While the bat-to-ball skills were lacking, Jaylen showed some power that fans didn’t expect—crushing 11 extra-base hits and driving in 15 over 39 games played. The strikeouts are a big concern for Palmer’s future, but with a refined approach and more time at the High-A level, he could potentially live up to his prospect ranking.

Brooklyn inevitably finished the season with a record of 48-and-70, the worst record in the High-A East-North. With that being said, Ed Blankmeyer and his coaching staff accomplished the job they set out to do on day one: “Get these players to the next level.” The Cyclones saw Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio, Justin Lasko, Jake Mangum, Antoine Duplantis, and many more get the bump to Double-A this season after playing with Brooklyn.

Blankmeyer put it best: “Minor League Baseball isn’t always about winning, it’s about development,” and that’s just what this team did.

This season was certainly historic for the franchise with the amount of talent that came through their doors. It was a key stop for a numbers of high-end prospects that the Mets hope will ultimately play important roles in the big leagues for years to come.

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