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MMN Players Of the Week: Mixture Of Vets and Prospects Impress

By Joseph Langan

July 8, 2021 No comments

J.T. Ginn, Photo by Ed Delany of MMN

As the fourth of July came and went, some of the New York Mets Minor League Baseball affiliates had some fireworks of their own. In this week’s Mets Minors Players Of the Week, fans get an infusion of the old and the new with some of the players on this week’s list.

Triple-A Syracuse Mets

The Syracuse Mets are seemingly trending in the right direction as the Major League squad continues to get healthy. This week three Syracuse infielders found themselves hitting over .500 in their series win against the Rochester Red Wings, but unfortunately, the honor can only go to one player. Shortstop Wilfredo Tovar went 7-for-12 on the week, putting together a slash line of .583/.667/.667 with an OPS of 1.333. Tovar hasn’t exactly had an immense amount of success this year; between Triple-A and his short stint in the big leagues; he finds himself hitting below .240 with below-average production numbers.

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The MLB veteran Vance Worley had an impressive start against the Red Wings on the 4th of July, bringing his season record to 2-and-1. The longtime journeyman drafted back in 2008 tossed eight innings of one-run ball while striking out four batters in the process. Worley was able to limit the walks and keep his WHIP at 0.88 as well as keeping his opponent’s batting average to .214 in the process. Worley indeed isn’t the answer the Mets need at the back of their rotation but could provide solid bullpen depth if need be down the stretch.

Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies

While Mark Vientos had another impressive week at the dish for the Rumble Ponies, teammate Wagner Lagrange took home the honors. The 25-year-old outfielder from the Dominican Republic has been playing better week-by-week and seems to have broken out finally. On the week, Lagrange hit .375/.412/.750 with an OPS of 1.162 and two home runs. He accounted for seven RBIs and three runs scored over the five games he played against Richmond.

On the season, Lagrange is now hitting .269/.328/.417 with 12 extra-base hits and 25 RBIs, respectable numbers for a player of his caliber. Lagrange is a little bit on the older side to enter into prospect status but could possibly make for a good depth player in the future.

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Mets’ number 23 prospect, Oscar De La Cruz, had a solid outing for Binghamton this week. The 26-year-old struggled out of the gate to begin the season, even getting demoted from the Triple-A squad. After throwing five and ⅓ innings, Cruz held Richmond to only five hits and one earned run while striking out six batters. While one game isn’t a big enough sample size to figure out if Cruz is on the mend, it is a step in the right direction for a player who has struggled.

High-A Brooklyn Cyclones

Brooklyn’s homerun leader Luke Ritter padded his total against the IronBirds this week while boosting his average by a good margin in the process. In the five games he played in, Ritter slashed .438/.471/.688 with an OPS of 1.158 and five RBIs. On the season, Ritter’s batting average sits at a measly .238 but finds his slugging percentage up in the .450’s, mainly because of his ten home runs. While that average may be an eyesore, Luke still manages to get the job done, tied with Brett Baty for the team lead in RBIs at 32.

Since coming to Brooklyn, Justin Lasko has been one of the most reliable starters in the Cyclones rotation. This week the 24-year-old threw six scoreless innings, only allowing four hits and striking out five. Throughout 31 games in his Minor League Baseball career, Lasko has accumulated over 91 innings of work and totaling a sub-three ERA at 2.46. As he’s being challenged more as a starter this year, Laskos started in eight games putting together a record of 3-and-3 with 55 strikeouts over 57 and ⅔ innings pitched.

Low-A St. Lucie Mets

The Mets 22nd round pick back in 2018, Jaylen Palmer, is starting to show signs of improvement at the Low-A level. This week Palmer went 5-for-14, posting a slash line of .357/.474/.500 with a triple and four walks. While Palmer’s lack of power and high strikeout rate has been concerning this season, there is still plenty of time to turn that around. The 6’4″ third baseman is only 20-years-old and still needs to fill his frame; while that occurs, he can eventually generate more power. This is Palmer’s first experience outside of Rookie ball, so the adjustment for him wasn’t going to be easy; as he gets more at-bats, the better his recognition and discipline will be. Palmer is undoubtedly a work in progress but has the frame and athleticism to be a potential prospect for the Mets. More weeks like this will certainly boost Palmer’s confidence and benefit him this season.

The 22-year-old J.T. Ginn went out this week and pitched one of the best games of his short Minor League Baseball career. In five and ⅔ innings of work, Ginn only allowed two runs on four hits, striking out four batters in the process. This was the longest outing so far for Ginn as he threw over five innings and totaled 82 pitches, 50 going for strikes.

Unfortunately for him, his St. Lucie teammates couldn’t muster up the runs, and he was slapped with his first loss of the season. The stuff for Ginn is undoubtedly there and seems to be getting better with each start he makes. He is currently slated as the Mets’ number seven prospect, according to Baseball America, so it’s no surprise that teams are targeting him at the deadline.

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Written by josephlangan

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