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MMN Players Of the Week: Baty Breaks Out As Carrasco Dazzles In Final Rehab Start

By Joseph Langan

July 28, 2021 No comments

Photo by Allen Greene Photography

Carlos Carrasco had a fantastic rehab start for the Triple-A Syracuse Mets this week, hopefully eyeing a comeback to the big league squad sometime in the weekend series vs. Cincinnati. Elsewhere within the Mets minor league system, the team’s newly named #56 prospect in baseball, Brett Baty, finally had a breakout performance for the Double-A squad. Both players, and many more, find themselves in this week’s Mets Minors Players Of the Week.

The Syracuse Mets are in dire straits for a couple of wins this upcoming week against the RailRiders. This comes after Syracuse recently dropped seven straight games. One bright spot in the series against Buffalo was shortstop Wilfredo Tovar, the 29-year-old Venezuelan native. This week, Tovar played in five games and went 7-for-18, good for a .389 batting average in that span. He also showed a good amount of power and discipline at the plate, slamming three doubles and walking three times. He also only struck out once in the series. Tovar isn’t the most electric player in the Mets organization, but with Lindor sidelined for a reasonable period, Wilfredo may end up seeing some time with the major league club later this season.

In his last outing for the Double-A squad, Carlos Carrasco couldn’t find his way out of the second inning. He allowed five earned runs, including three home runs. In his second start for Binghamton, Carrasco was lights out, tossing three complete innings and striking out six batters. This marked a considerable disparity from his last start. He only allowed two hits in the outing and threw 38 pitches (32 strikes), while his fastball velocity ticked up to 96 MPH. Carrasco will be a massive addition to the Mets rotation, having a similar impact to a trade deadline acquisition upon his arrival. He is set to make his first start of the season for the Mets on Friday, July 30.

Brett Baty has been one of the Mets most significant breakout prospects this season. He finds himself on this list for the first time as a member of the Binghamton Rumble Ponies. Since getting bumped to the Double-A level, Baty has struggled just a bit, which is understandable since the competition is considerably better. With that being said, Baty seemed to find his swing this week, breaking out in a big way during Saturday’s game against the Erie SeaWolves. The 21-year-old went 4-for-4, slamming two doubles, a home run, and six RBIs in the 14-to-13 victory. In his last seven days, Brett is hitting .295/.368/.588 with an OPS of .957. He has played games at both third base and left field. As he gets more at-bats and time at the Double-A level, he’ll certainly see his production go up and get more comfortable switching positions daily.

Another new addition to the Double-A squad this week was Jose Butto, who made his first start at the level on Wednesday. Butto is ranked as the Mets’ 15th overall prospect in their system and certainly pitched like it, going six full innings while giving up just two runs on five hits. In a line-up featuring star prospects like Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene, Butto was able to strike out eight Erie hitters in a no-decision effort. He will undoubtedly be challenged more at the Double-A level, but Butto passed his first test with flying colors against one of the better hitting teams in the minor leagues.

One of the more underrated players on the Brooklyn Cyclones is lead-off hitter Antoine Duplantis. The New York Mets’ 12th round pick in 2019 has finally found success in his second season with the team. This week, Duplantis hit an incredible .407, going 11-for-27 with four extra-base hits and five RBIs in a series sweep against the Wilmington Blue Rocks. The Cyclones center fielder has boosted his numbers by a good margin in July, ticking his season slash line up to .272/.333/.406 and sporting an OPS of .739. It’s also worth noting that Duplantis hadn’t hit a home run at the professional level; he now has five round-trippers with 13 doubles this season. If Duplantis can keep developing in the right direction, he could find himself joining former Cyclones teammate Jake Mangum in Binghamton.

While J.T. Ginn had a fantastic performance for the Brooklyn Cyclones during his High-A debut, Justin Lasko’s outing takes the honor this week. Lasko tossed seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball during his dominant win over the Blue Rocks. After a total of eight strikeouts during his win on Thursday night, he now has 52 strikeouts on the season over 53 innings of work. Incredibly, his season record with Brooklyn is 3-4 despite sporting an ERA below of 2.89. With an influx of pitchers joining the Mets system after the 2021 draft and his fantastic work with the Cyclones, his days at the High-A level may be numbered.

Infielder Jose Peroza has found himself on the Players Of the Week list several times throughout the season. He now adds another honor this week. Peroza hit an eye-popping .423/.464/.615 with an OPS of 1.080 and three extra-base hits. After another incredible week, his season totals rose to .275/.412/.420 with an OPS of .833 and 45 RBI. According to MLB.com, Peroza is not included on the Mets’ top 30 prospect list, but fans can expect that to change soon, as he’s put up legitimate numbers at two different levels of the minor leagues.

On June 1, the New York Mets signed free agent Jose Chacin after he was released from the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. After signing Chacin, the Mets sent him to the FCL, where he seemed to get his arsenal back in check. There, he threw ten innings and only allowed one run and two hits. His solid outings in the FCL led to his promotion to the Low-A St. Lucie squad on July 22, where he made his first start against Bradenton on Sunday. Chacin threw six scoreless innings of three-hit ball, striking out five batters to earn his first win of the season. The only red flag regarding Chacin is his age; being 24-years-old, he will need to move quicker than most to ever make an impact at the major league level. Nevertheless, it seems as if the Mets got a solid arm for a minimal price on the free-agent market.

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Written by josephlangan

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