I was perusing through some of the MiLB league sites today during lunch, and stumbled upon the league leaders tab on the right-hand side of the Florida State League homepage. I saw Dustin Lawley‘s name on top of the leader boards for both home runs (19) and RBIs (67). I thought that was pretty cool, until I went to the St. Lucie Mets website and saw how far ahead he was in those categories in comparison to his teammates.
Lawley’s 19 bombs are tops in the Florida State League by two, but the next closest St. Lucie Met is Aderlin Rodriguez, who has hit nine home runs.
Wait, it gets more impressive.
His 67 RBIs are tied for first in the FSL, but he has a huge lead with regard to the rest of his teammates. Again, Rodriguez is looking up to Lawley in the RBI department, but the streaky hitter will have some work to do; he’s currently 26 rib-eye steaks off the pace, sitting at 41 RBIs.
Lawley even leads the team in runs scored. He’s crossed the plate 52 times, which is eight more times than T.J. Rivera, who is in second place in that department.
After a slow start in April (.204/.260/.419), Lawley has brought his batting average back to it’s career norm with a couple solid months of play. He now sports a .264/.314/.539 line to go with those 19 homers and 67 RBIs.
I’ve been most impressed with his ability to collect extra base hits. He currently has 24 doubles and five triples to go with his 19 home runs. Since he began his professional career in 2011 with the Kingsport Mets in the Appalachian League, he’s been incredibly consistent with his production at the plate. His triple slash numbers have stayed reasonably close to his career averages (.264/.325/.484) each season. Also, he’s never hit less than 17 doubles, three triples, and 10 homers in a season. His power numbers have already surpassed previous career highs, which were set last season with Savannah in 482 at-bats. In 2013, Lawley was already brought his game to new heights in 150 less at-bats (330 ABs this season).
Now in his age 24 season, it’s important for the Mets to figure out what he could provide to the organization moving forward. Outside of Binghamton, there aren’t a lot of outfield bats that have potential moving forward, but Lawley does have some. Unfortunately, due to Cesar Puello not getting promoted yet, there is no real room for Lawley to move up to Double-A so New York can see if his power could translate at the next level. For now, he’ll have to continue ripping up opposing pitchers in the FSL.
The Adger, Alabama native has done a fantastic job erasing what was a forgettable April, turning this season into another step forward in his development. That should be a sign right there that the organization should not count this kid out. Hopefully we’ll soon find out what the next step in his development is.