Right-handed starter Merandy Gonzalez, right-handed starter Jordan Humphreys and infielder Michael Paez have all been officially added to the roster of the St. Lucie Mets. All three were South Atlantic League All-Stars.
Gonzalez, 21, was 8-1 with a 1.55 ERA, 0.90 and a 65 strikeout to 13 walk ratio in 69.2 innings for the Columbia Fireflies to begin the season.
Paez, 22, is slashing .290/.376/.509 with 21 doubles, eight home runs and 43 RBI this year in 64 games.
Humpreys, 21, was 10-1 with a 1.42 ERA, 0.72 WHIP and 80 strikeouts compared to only nine walks for the Fireflies this year.
Humphreys will get his first St. Lucie start on Friday night and Gonzalez on Saturday.
Original Post – June 21
Columbia Fireflies right-hander Jordan Humphreys and infielder Michael Paez have both been promoted to St. Lucie, according to a source with knowledge on the matter.
Humphreys, 21, has been dominating the South Atlantic League this season, posting a 10-1 record with a league leading 1.42 ERA over 69.2 innings pitched. His 0.72 WHIP and 10 victories also lead the league. Of the 11 starts he’s made this season, Humphreys has pitched at least six innings in ten of them, and has collected eight or more strikeouts in six starts.
Humphreys was selected in the 18th round of the 2015 MLB Draft, 539th overall out of Crystal River High School.
Paez, 22, has put together an impressive sophomore season for Columbia, after being drafted in the fourth round of the 2016 MLB Draft out of Coastal Carolina University. Paez has slashed .290/.376/.509, with eight home runs, and 43 RBIs. His 21 doubles are good for a 3-way tie for first in the South Atlantic League, and his .885 OPS is 7th best. Paez spent the ’16 season with Short-A Brooklyn, where he slashed .190/.270/.285 in 46 games.
It was only a matter of time before fans started to see promotions in the lower levels of the system, and these two clearly have deserved to face higher competition in the Florida State League. Stay tuned for further updates.
These 2 were the ones I figured would get the promotion. Paez probably replaces Urena who has more than earned his promotion AA. Paez will be a fun guy to root fore because he’s likely blocked at 2B & 3B by others but his bat can help him rise.
St. Lucie’s roster was down to 23. So these two don’t necessarily replace anyone. Urena seems to have broken out of his semi-slump in the last two games, but they may want to see if he sustains it before promoting him.
Humphreys was banging the door down and had to get moved up. Merandy may not be far behind him.
Nah it’s time for Uhrena to go to AA 3 yrs at St. Lucie is enough!
I agree about Paez. Didn’t think much of him last year but he definitely earned this promotion. Just wondering who he replaces if they don’t promote Urena? I know Sienna is struggling badly his first year in high A but I don’t want to see him get buried either. Something about him tells me he’s going to be a player.
Siena definitely gets the short end of the stick and rightfully so given the way he’s played this year.
Arnaldo Berrios was just assigned to Columbia…. which creates a potential logjam when Jacob Zanon and Ricardo Cespedes come off of the DL.
Agreed. I hate to see him get buried though. I can’t se Urena on the team for more than 2 months though.
Definitely heard the name but can’t seem to remember him. I’m assuming he’s an OFer based on the players you mentioned in the logjam and sounds like he came from the DSL?