Syracuse Mets – Chris Mazza

Season Stats: 2-5, 3.24 ERA, 1.125 WHIP, 2.4 BB/9, 7.7 K/9
Week Stats: W, GS, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, 8 K

With Noah Syndergaard heading to the IL and Jason Vargas having to be removed from the last game with a cramp, now is the time for a minor league starter to step up. This is exactly what Mazza did last week, and if you look deeper, he has pitched well for Syracuse.

On Saturday, Mazza faced off against the Gwinnett Stripers, a team who is second in the International League in homers and third in hits and runs, and he shut them down over eight innings. Gwinnett’s two hits were a soft liner and an infield single. Only one runner touched second, and that was due to a sacrifice bunt.

Three of the last four outs came via strikeout. After a base hit with an out in the third, there would not be another base runner until there was two outs in the eighth. Overall, Mazza just completely shut down what is a a potent Gwinnett offense.

This start comes not too long after Mazza was named the International League Pitcher of the Week (5/26/19). Overall, Mazza has taken full advantage of the opportunity given to him, and looking at the current situation, it may not be coming at a better time.

Binghamton Mets – Braxton Lee

Binghamton Stats: .304/.379/.387, 7 2B, 2 3B, HR, 24 RBI, 4 SB, 4 CS
Week Stats: .333/.500/.333, 4 RBI, SB

You know you’ve had a good week when you’ve reached safely in half of your plate appearances. Using that measure, Lee had a good week. That week also included a three hit and two hit game. During this stretch, Lee has now reached safely in each of his last nine games and in 13 of the 14 games since he was assigned to Binghamton.

St. Lucie Mets – Jacob Zanon

Season Stats: .258/.328/.409, 7 2B, 3B, 5 HR, 24 RBI, 8 SB, 3 CS
Week Stats: .400/.500/1.000, 2 HR, 4 RBI, SB, CS

Zanon has always been an interesting prospect because he has good speed, and he has always had good exit velocity. Unfortunately, he had never been quite able to put those tools together in order to realize what his full potential might be. This past week, we got a glimpse as to what that could be.

Two times this past week, Zanon was 2-for-4 at the plate with a homer. Believe it or not, that has been his batting line three times over his past six games. This is part of a big June Zanon has put together.

Zanon has reached safely in 12 of the 13 games he has played this month while hitting .333/.415/.578. Over the course of this month, he has six separate multi-hit games. He is doing this while showing good range and defense in center field. Overall, this has been a very good week and month for Zanon, and to some degreee, it makes you ponder if he is going to be able to maintain a higher level of production.

Columbia Fireflies – Simeon Woods Richardson

Season Stats: 1-7, 5.26 ERA, 1.289 WHIP, 2.2 BB/9, 11.8 K/9
Week Stats: 2 GS, L, 9.1 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 13 K

The Mets are starting to ease up on the kid gloves with Woods Richardson, and he has been responding well. For the first time in his career he has thrown at least four innings in three consecutive games, and we are seeing him be able to maintain his stuff and results deeper into a game.

Last week, he threw five shutout innings, and he followed it up this week with a similar start. Against the Asheville Tourists, Woods Richardson was every bit as dominant as he was in his previous start. Over five innings, he allowed no runs over five innings while allowing just three hits, walking one, and striking out eight. That performance is all the more impressive when you consider that lineup was stacked with some of the best prospects in the Rockies farm system as rated by MLB Pipeline – Terrin Vavra (4), Grant Lavigne (5), Daniel Montano (18), and Niko Decolati (22).

So far this year, we are seeing Woods Richardson get stronger as the season progresses, and we are seeing him be able to get some of the best prospects of the game out. Overall, this has been exactly what the Mets were hoping to see when they assigned him to a full season affiliate.

Brooklyn Cyclones – Jaison Vilera

Season/Week Stats: 1-0, 1.35 ERA, 6.2 IP, 0.450 WHIP, 2.7 BB/9, 6.8 K/9

Vilera took the ball for the Cyclones in the second game of the season, and he pitched like the ace he was for the team last year. He did not allow a hit until the fourth, and he would not allow a run until the seventh with that run being an inherited runner allowed to score by the Brooklyn bullpen. Overall, he allow just the one hit while walking two in what was a nearly flawless performance which helped propel Brooklyn to a 2-0 start to the season.

DSL Mets – Endy Rodriguez

Season Stats: .296/.457/.667, 4 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI

Rodriguez currently has a four game hitting streak where he is 8-for-19 with four doubles, two homers, and eight RBI. His big game was a 4-for-5 day where he hit two homers with five RBI.