(Jacob Resnick/Mets Minors)
Once again, there have been a number of outstanding performances in the Mets minor leagues during the Month of May with some players starting to raise their profiles. While we cannot mention everyone who has had a good month, here are the staff selections for the Player of the Month in each category.
Position Player of the Month – Kevin Kaczmarski
The Rumble Ponies centerfielder is coming off one of the best months of his professional career. In 26 games, it was next to impossible to keep the Rumble Ponies speedster off the basepaths. Overall, Kaczmarski hit .348/.433/.438 with 17 runs, three doubles, a triple, homer, 13 RBI, and five stolen bases. In the month, he more than doubled his extra base hits and RBI for the season. What was especially impressive, and a good harbinger for a guy who could potentially be a leadoff hitter was his 12.7% walk rate.
Honorable Mention – In his time split between Binghamton and Las Vegas, L.J. Mazzilli hit .300/.398/.529 with five doubles, a triple, three homers, 10 RBI, and three stolen bases in 23 games.
Starting Pitcher of the Month – Nabil Crismatt
The undrafted Columbian born pitcher has taken his experience from the World Baseball Classic, and he is taking the next step in his development. In his six May starts for St. Lucie, Crismatt was 2-2 with a 1.18 ERA, 0.974 WHIP, and a 9.7 K/9. Crismatt is doing this while averaging over six innings per start. In fact, Crismatt is becoming more economical, and he is starting to go even deeper into games. In his last three starts, Crismatt pitched seven plus innings. In those starts, he walked just one batter while striking out 27. That goes a long way in explaining why he allowed just two earned runs over that time frame. These numbers are all the more impressive when you consider this is Crismatt’s first full season as a starter.
Honorable Mention – Columbia Fireflies starter Jordan Humphreys continues to be the most dominating starter in the Sally League. In his four May starts, he was 3-1 with a 1.04 ERA, 0.538 WHIP, and an 11.4 K/9
Reliver Of The Month – Max Kuhns
Last year’s 21st round draft pick is starting to show the Mets why Santa Clara converted the part-time position player, part-time pitcher to a full time dominating closer. Kuhns dominated in May for Columbia like he did for Santa Clara. In six relief appearances, Kuhns would pitch 9.2 innings, and he would only allow four players to reach base. A big part of that was Kuhn’s almost unfathomably good strikeout to walk ratio. In the 9.2 innings he pitched, Kuhns walked just one batter while striking out 15. As you can imagine, he put up video game type numbers with a 0.00 ERA, 0.414 WHIP, and a 14.0 K/9. With his outstanding month, Kuhns has recently been used as the primary closer for the Fireflies.
Honorable Mention – In eight appearances for Binghamton, Kyle Regnault was 2-0 with one save, a 1.59 ERA, 1.147 WHIP, and an 11.1 K/9.
Defensive Player of the Month – Ali Sanchez
Behind the plate, the Columbia Fireflies catcher is the complete package. He’s a good pitch framer, and he does an excellent job blocking balls in the dirt. More than that, there is no running on Sanchez. During the Month of May, opponents attempted 14 stolen bases against Sanchez, and he threw out 64% of them. Overall, on the season, Sanchez has actually thrown out more basestealers than have stolen bases against him. While we tend to overrate a catcher’s arm in terms of labeling him a good defensive catcher, Sanchez’s arm compliments his entire game behind the plate.
Honorable Mention – One thing that has stood out in Desmond Lindsay‘s game this year is his center field defense. The speedy center fielder has shown terrific range in a large center field as evidenced by his 2.29 range factor. To put that in perspective, in his Gold Glove season, Juan Lagares has a career 2.19 range factor.
