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Mets Minors Players of the Week: Vientos Heating Up In Binghamton

By Joseph Langan

May 25, 2021 No comments

Photo by Ed Delany, MMN

After an eventful week in the minors for the Mets organization, it’s time for the third installment of the Mets Minors Players of the Week!

Triple-A Syracuse Mets 

Former fourth-round pick David Thompson had a very productive week for the Syracuse Mets. The 27-year-old hit .273 in six games, blasting two doubles, two homers, driving in four RBIs, and scoring six runs. Thompson’s season batting average is low, hitting in the .220’s, but his .333 OBP, .492 SLG, and .825 OPS are amongst the team leaders.

Throughout his career, David has been a low average hitter who possesses a lot of pop. It’s unlikely that Thompson will find himself in the bigs this year due to his inability to hit for average, but you never know due to the injury situation in Queens. 

Thomas Szapucki, the Mets No. 16 prospect, had a good outing this week tossing four innings of one-run ball. Szapucki limited the walks and totaled five strikeouts in his no-decision start against Lehigh Valley.

On the season, he’s 0-and-1 with an ERA of 2.77 and opponents hitting .260 against him. The left-hander has a great two-pitch mix to keep hitters off-balanced. If he can develop a more consistent third pitch, Szapucki can be an excellent option for the Mets in the future.

Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies 

Mets number six prospect, Mark Vientos, is starting to put together good at-bats at the Double-A level. Throughout six games, the twenty-one-year-old went 7-for-22, cranking four doubles and driving home five RBI’s. Vientos’ season stats aren’t pretty as he’s hitting .200/.254/.367 with twenty-four strikeouts.

This week was a significant step in the right direction for him, though, raising his average of .070 points and getting that slugging percentage over .350. Going to Double-A was a considerable jump for Vientos after finishing his 2019 season in Low-A ball. The adjustment to better pitching seems tough for him in the early going, but as he gets more reps, his confidence and numbers will trend in the right direction. 

https://twitter.com/metsfarmreport/status/1395793846336897028?s=21

Luc Rennie had a fantastic start for the Rumble Ponies in Friday night’s loss to the Erie SeaWolves. Rennie threw five ⅔ innings of work, only allowing one and striking out eight, earning the no-decision in the process. This was a solid bounce-back performance for the twenty-seven-year-old from Indiana, who got a hit around a bit in his first outing of the season. Rennie cut down his ERA from 9.00 to 4.66, and opponents are now hitting under .300 against him. It would be huge for Binghamton if Rennie can become a solid pitcher in their lackluster pitching staff. 

High-A Brooklyn Cyclones

With the news that top prospect Francisco Alvarez got promoted to the Cyclones, it was also noted that catcher Hayden Senger was headed to Binghamton. It was certainly a deserved promotion for the 24-tear-old after a great week in his overall strong season.

Over the span of four games, Senger has crushed opposing pitchers, going 6-for-14 with a double, triple, and huge walk-off home run in Sunday’s contest. After a solid week, he’s boosted his season slash line to .302/.362/.605 with an OPS at the .966 mark. This week alone, Senger has seen his batting average increase over .060 points, with his slugging percentage shooting up over .120 points.

Josh Walker continues to dominate in the Brooklyn pitching staff, earning another win over Hudson Valley on Friday night. The big lefty from New Haven, Connecticut, hurled six innings, only allowing one run against a potent Renegades offense. He only allowed three hits, one walk, and struck out four bringing his season total to twenty-three. Walker improved his season record to a perfect 3-and-0 as opponents only hit .189 against him through twenty-one innings of work. 

Walker will join Senger in Binghamton this week.

Low-A St. Lucie Mets

Francisco Àlvarez will get the honors for the third straight week for the St. Lucie Mets in what seems to be a constant trend. The slugging catcher has seemed to fully recover from his injury scare as he’s torched the ball all over the field. Àlvarez went 7-for-19 with two doubles, a home run, and seven RBI’s in the past five games. After another great week, he’s boosted his season stats to .417/.567/.646 with an OPS that ranks third in the league at 1.213. Àlvarez has captured the attention of the executives in Queens as he’s been promoted after only playing in 15 games this season.

Àlvarez will report to the High-A affiliate, Brooklyn Cyclones, for their homestand against the Aberdeen IronBirds. The Cyclones will now have the number one, two, and four prospects in their system all in the same line-up.

It was a crazy week of starting pitching down in St. Lucie as Seth Lugo, Noah Syndergaard, and Jacob deGrom all started for the Mets. While they were all the talk, Justin Lasko quietly had himself a good week coming out of the bullpen.

The 6’4″ righty pitched five innings of no-run ball, only allowing two hits and earning a win in the process. On the season so far, Lasko is 2-and-0 with an ERA of 2.40 over fifteen innings. Lasko also sports a .93 WHIP while holding opponent’s batting averages to .189.

All of the New York Mets Minor League affiliates had the day off on Monday. They are all slated to be back in action on Tuesday with Francisco Àlvarez in Brooklyn and Jake Mangum in Binghamton. 

 

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