After a 1-10 start, the bats came to life in Triple-A Syracuse as they took five of six from the Worcester Red Sox, scoring 34 in the series. Daniel Palka led the way, going 5-for-19 with three home runs, a double, and 10 RBIs. The 30-year-old now has a 1.126 OPS with five home runs through his first 13 games in Syracuse. The Mets also got solid pitching performances from Mike Montgomery (two runs, one earned, in five innings) and Thomas Szapucki (allowing just a walk and a hit while striking out five in two innings).

It was an eventful week for Double-A Binghamton, despite dropping four of five to the Portland Sea Dogs.  Marcel Renteria hit Portland’s Tyreque Reed in Thursday’s contest, prompting a bench-clearing brawl. During the brawl, Renteria was punched and thrown to the ground. During the melee, he would suffer a torn ACL, and he is done for the year.

Oh no. Benches cleared in the Binghamton-Portland game. Pitcher Marcel Renteria took a punch to the head. pic.twitter.com/tu7wSjjO3C

— Jacob Resnick (@Jacob_Resnick) April 21, 2022

After the dust settled, Portland would go on to win 12-5. Despite the rough series, a couple of the Mets’ top prospects had strong weeks. Ronny Mauricio went 8-for-21 with a home run, four doubles, and two stolen bases while Brett Baty went 5-for-18 with a double. Jose Butto also put together another strong start, pitching 5.1 scoreless innings en route to the lone Binghamton win of the series. He allowed five hits, two walks, and struck out three.

High-A Brooklyn struggled this week as well, going 2-4 against the Hudson Valley Renegades. Rowdey Jordan, an 11th-round pick in 2021 out of Mississippi State, provided most of the offense for the Cyclones, going 6-for-18 with three doubles and a pair of stolen bases. Jordan’s slash line improves to .300/.397/.480. Brooklyn also got some solid pitching from Oscar Rojas in a pair of appearances, allowing two earned runs while striking out eight over five innings.

Low-A St. Lucie went 2-4 this week as well against the Jupiter Hammerheads. Omar De Los Santos led the Mets, going 6-for-17 in the series with a triple and a stolen base. Signed as an international free agent from the Dominican Republic in 2019, De Los Santos is slashing .256/.319/.488 with five stolen bases and a pair of home runs in his first 12 games this season. Meanwhile, Alex Ramirez has hit safely in 12 straight to start the season, going 5-for-17 against Jupiter with a double. On the pitching front, Nick Zwack was impressive in his start Thursday. A 17th-round pick in 2021, Zwack threw five scoreless innings while only allowing two hits and a walk while striking out six. It was a nice rebound for the 23-year-old, after allowing seven earned in 3.2 innings in his first two starts.

 

Organizational Leaders

Average – Alex Ramirez (Low-A) – .420

OPS – Daniel Palka (AAA) – 1.126

HR – Daniel Palka – 5

Players of the Week

Offensive: Daniel Palka – Syracuse

Palka’s three home runs and 10 RBIs jumpstarted Syracuse’s offense this week. Signed to a minor league deal this offseason as 1B/corner-outfield depth, Palka has 29 career home runs at the major league level and a .710 OPS in 501 at-bats. He slashed. 256/.364/.472 last season with AAA Rochester, following a stint with the Samsung Lions in the KBO. Always known as a power-first bat, Palka will look to build on his hot start in an attempt to revitalize his career with Syracuse. As we’ve learned from years past, you can’t have enough major-league caliber depth and Palka certainly fits that mold.

Pitching: Jose Butto – Binghamton

Nick Zwack deserves an honorable mention for his performance in St. Lucie this week, but Butto deserves the nod after shutting down a Portland lineup that the rest of Binghamton’s staff had no answers for. Though he only struck out three in the outing (after punching out 17 in his first two starts), Butto was still able to keep hitters off-balance in 5.1 scoreless innings. He’s been the most impressive pitcher in the Mets’ system so far this year, featuring a changeup that could very well be the strongest secondary pitch in the system, playing off his 92-96 mph fastball. Butto has major league-rotation upside, particularly if he can develop his curveball as a serviceable third pitch. In three starts this season, Butto has a minuscule 0.66 ERA and 0.95 WHIP while striking out 13.17/9 and walking only 1.98/9.

Upcoming Schedule

Syracuse: @ Rochester April 26-May 1

Binghamton: vs. Erie April 26-May 1

Brooklyn: vs. Bowling Green April 26-May 1

St Lucie: vs. Daytona April 26-May 1