All April long, it seems as if we keep talking about the same Binghamton Rumble Ponies player over and over again.  No, not Tim Tebow, the first baseman. Well, he is one of many Mets prospects who have had a terrific start to the season, who have also made MMN’s All April Team:

POSITION PLAYERS

C Scott Manea (.298/.450/.489, 3 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI) – The 2016 undrafted free agent signee had shown the ability to draw walks and get on base, but early on this season, Manea has shown the ability to start hitting for some power.  He’s also thrown out 57% of base stealers.

1B Peter Alonso (.408/.505/.776, 7 2B, 7 HR, 19 RBI, 2 CS) – So far this season, lonso has made significant improvements in his ability to hit right-handed pitching and draw walks.  The end result has been him leading all of professional baseball with a 1.282 OPS.

2B Gavin Cecchini (.347/.402/.547, 10 2B, 3B, HR, 6 RBI, SB, CS) – After a lost 2017 season, Cecchini worked to improve every part of his game, and he’s once again producing like a player who could be the Mets second baseman of the future.

3B Jeff McNeil (.279/.371/.623, 5 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 6 RBI, SB) – The question with McNeil was what would be do if he was able to stay healthy.  Well, he was healthy this April, and if not for Alonso, McNeil and his having the sixth best OPS in the Eastern League would be the story of the Mets minor leagues.

SS Andres Gimenez (.272/.341/.432, 5 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 5 SB, CS) – Entering this season, Gimenez carried the weight of not just being the top Mets prospect, but he also had to deal with being named to Top 100 lists and once again being young for his level.  He has responded by hitting for more power and being a better base runner,

OF Zach Borenstein (.293/.398/.543, 5 2B, 6 HR, 20 RBI, SB, 2 CS) – The Mets signed Borenstein to provide organizational outfield depth and a power bat.  He’s done just that having the second most homers among outfielders in the Pacific Coast League.

OF Quinn Brodey (.233/.333/.407, 3 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 15 RBI, 2 SB, CS) – Last year’s third round draft pick has taken a step forward in his development posting a .338 wOBA and 114 wRC+.

OF Ian Strom (.281/.365/.422, 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 7 SB, 2 CS) – Strom has made significant strides this season drawing almost half the walks he did all of last year and nearly a third of the extra base hits.

UTIL Ty Kelly (.317/.378/.659, 2 2B, 4 3B, 6 HR, 18 RBI, SB)- It seems as if Kelly was born to play in Vegas.  In 2016, he was hitting .391/.478/.548 all but forcing his call-up to an injury ravaged Mets team.  This year, his name is all over the Top 10 offensive categories including him leading the league in triples, fourth in SLG, and fifth in OPS.

PITCHERS

Starters

RHP Nabil Crismatt (2-1, 1.21 ERA, 1.030 WHIP, 1.6 BB/9, 10.9 K/9) – In his second full season as a starter, Crismatt has everything working including his great change-up.  In all four of his starts, he’s allowed two runs or less while striking out six plus.

RHP Chris Viall (1-2, 2.33 ERA, 1.397 WHIP, 6.1 BB/9, 15.8 K/9) – Viall has two double digit strikeout games already this season, has been going deeper into games than in his first two seasons, and he has yet to allow a homer.

RHP Joe Cavallaro (2-1 , 2.25 ERA, 0.958 WHIP, 2.6 BB/9, 9.0 K/9) – Last year’s 24th round draft pick has pitched six plus in three of his four starts, has limited batters to a .195/.272/.366 batting line, and has struck out six plus in three of his four starts.

Relievers

RHP Tim Peterson (0-0, 1.46 ERA, 0.892 WHIP, 3.6 BB/9, 15.3 K/9) – After a year where we saw his strikeouts dip a bit, he’s back to striking out double digit batters per nine.  He’s also limiting batters to a .140/.229/.279 batting line, which is all the more impressive when you consider his pitching in the Arizona Fall League.

RHP Eric Hanhold (2-0, 2.19 ERA, 2 SV, 0.973 WHIP, 2.2 BB/9, 11.7 K/9) – Perhaps the least heralded of the right-handed relievers the Mets acquired last year, Hanhold might have the most impressive start to the season of the group with his striking out 16 while walking just three.

RHP Ryder Ryan (0-0, 2.08 ERA, 2 SV, 0.923 WHIP, 2.8 BB/9, 11.1 K/9) – Ryan started his season with an impressive eight appearance and 12.0 inning scoreless streak.   One of the driving factors has been cutting down on his walks with him not walking a batter in six of his nine appearances.

RHP Carlos Hernandez (0-1, 0.79 ERA, 0.794 WHIP, 2.4 BB/9, 13.5 K/9) – You’d be hard-pressed to find any reliever having a more dominant start to the season than Hernandez who has allowed just one run in 11.1 innings while holding runners to a .154/.214/.231 batting line.

RHP Joshua Torres (2-0, 1.29 ERA, 1.286 WHIP, 3.9 BB/9, 16.7 K/9) – Torres currently has a four appearance streak where he has registered multiple strikeouts.  Overall, batters are having difficulty making contact with them striking out in 43 percent of their plate appearances against Torres, and they have just one extra base hit (a double).

Breakdown by Affiliate

Columbia – 5 (Manea, Brody, Viall, Cavallaro, Hernandez)
St. Lucie – 3 (Gimenez, Strom, Ryan)
Binghamton – 5 (Alonso, McNeil, Crismatt, Hanhold, Torres)
Las Vegas – 4 (Cecchini, Borenstein, Kelly, Peterson)