No collaborative effort will be unanimous, and so some of my personal favorite Mets prospects did not make the cut for MMN’s soon-to-be released top 30 list. Here are five names that I still think command some attention going forward.
Brian Metoyer, RHP
This 25-year-old lanky right-hander with an athletic delivery and jarring ability to spin the baseball would rank higher on prospect lists if he came with a less worrisome track record of strike-throwing. Elite raw stuff like Metoyer has does not grow on trees; however, Metoyer’s walk rate in 2021 crept towards a more palatable 4.75 batters per nine innings.
Here’s the high-spin curve from Mets prospect Brian Metoyer that I keep telling you about.
Average spin in last outing was 3,300 and had 100% whiff rate on the pitch (3/3).
His 36.1 K% led all Mets full season minor leaguers in 2021.
— Michael Mayer (@mikemayer22) November 3, 2021
Armed with a low to mid-90s fastball that features good ride and cut and a hellacious curveball that moves to the tune of its plus-plus spin, Metoyer will simply look to throw more strikes in 2022. If that happens, look out.
Connor Grey, RHP
If not quite like Metoyer does, the 27-year-old Grey can also spin a baseball. Grey executes particularly heavy spin rates upwards of 2800+ rpm on his curveball featuring desirable depth and shape.
He is also able to pair his curveball with a low 90’s four-seam fastball that can play up in the strike zone due to it’s flat approach angle and strong induced vertical break.
Grey limits free passes and will look to execute with his vertically-oriented arsenal again in 2022. I think he could insert himself into the very top of the minor league starting pitching depth almost immediately. I detailed Grey’s work in a piece I did last earlier this offseason.
Joander Suarez, RHP
Suarez will be 22 next season and may not get into game action all summer as he recovers from season-ending Tommy John surgery last June. While Suarez endured wildness and did not repeat the success of his stellar 2019 stateside debut, there remains an intriguing two-pitch mix here. Suarez did show ability last season to hit 95 mph with his fastball and feel for a slider that flashes plus potential.
https://twitter.com/JDrake349/status/1484923327730835463?t=GN-f5-RveC0VvJKCBW3TNQ&s=19
One of a few lower bonus arms that the Mets signed in their 2017-2018 international class that impressed in their first taste of professional stateside baseball, Suarez remains a noteworthy follow going forward.
Keyshawn Askew, LHP
If there is one of the Mets 2021 draftees that has improved his outlook since the draft last summer in short order, it is probably the tall, lanky left-hander they drafted out of Clemson in the 10th round. Askew got the velocity pop the Mets were hoping for when he sat 92-94 mph in rookie ball debut, reportedly touching as high as 96 mph on the radar gun.
Working with a quirky delivery and low slot that offers plenty of deception, the 22-year-old Askew can now pair his solid-average tailing fastball with a slurve that gets plenty of swings and misses. Askew struck out 14 batters in his first 9 professional innings, and could move quickly through the Mets system as reliever that should be especially tough on left-handed batters. He is a potential major league relief weapon to keep an eye on.
The Mets signed the just-turned 18-year-old Villavicencio out of Mexico one year ago. Amidst a bevy of teenagers from the recent international class that played in the Dominican Summer League, the 5’10” middle infielder immediately stood out among analysts for his meager 10% strikeout rate across his first 169 professional at bats.
While also stealing 14 bases in 17 tries at the level, showing off a hallmark skill like the ability to put the bat on the baseball will undoubtedly make the young Villavicencio a name to watch moving forward.
The Mets have seen young international signees with plus bat-to-ball skills, such as Luis Santana, Felix Valerio and Federico Polanco, move on to other MLB clubs as desirable players in trades. It would not be a surprise to see Villavicencio show similar aptitude in these players’ molds.
