Dustin Lawley is this week’s focus of Adam Rubin’s weekly Farm Report on ESPN New York. The Florida State League All-Star game will take place in Dunedin, Florida this Saturday. Lawley will be in attendance, along with teammates Noah Syndergaard, T.J. Rivera, and Aderlin Rodriguez.
Lawley was a 19th-round pick by the Mets in the 2011 draft out of the University of West Florida. He reported to rookie ball in Kingsport, and earned a late-season call-up to Low-A Savannah before spending the entire 2012 season there. In his first full season with St. Lucie in Advanced-A, Lawley is hitting .226/.288/.485 with 12 homers, 44 RBIs, and 17 doubles.
Despite his low batting average, he’s 14th in the FSL in slugging percentage, and tied for fourth in home runs and RBIs. The right-hander grew up as a natural infielder, but first got experience in the outfield during his senior year at West Florida. The coach brought in a freshman recruit to play third base, which led Lawley to move to center field.
Since he became a member of the Mets organization, he’s been splitting his time between third base in the outfield, but has spent virtually all his time in left field with St. Lucie this season. Here’s what Lawley has to say about his time in the outfield:
I guess as of right now the outfield is where they want me. I love the outfield. I’m very comfortable out there. I guess you can always learn, but I’m very comfortable in left field — any position in the outfield, really.
While I’m not totally sure of the reason why he hasn’t spent any time playing the infield this season, I could certainly take some wild guesses. I mean, have you seen the big league outfield right now? Before grabbing a few in last week’s draft, having any outfielders with power potential was a weakness of the farm system. Also, if Lawley ends up getting to the majors, his road on the infield will be blocked by David Wright.
The power he’s shown since being drafted in 2011 must have the Mets confident he will have the bat to handle a corner outfield position. In his three years of professional baseball, he’s enjoyed three double-digit home run seasons, and hasn’t hit less than 17 doubles in any given year.
He experienced a slow April and tough start to June, but put together a .276/.330/.610 line in May, including six home runs, nine doubles, and 23 RBIs. When he’s going well, he hits the ball for extra bases, as 47% of his 248 professional hits have been either a double, triple, or a home run. That’s impressive.
After the All-Star game this weekend, we’ll see which Lawley comes back for the second half. If he can hit consistently around .250 or .260, I think he could get a look to move on to Binghamton, depending on what happens with Cesar Puello.