Ronald Hernandez, Photo by Ed Delany of Mets Minors
The 2024 season for the St. Lucie Mets was one to forget, as they finished 38 games under .500, and last place in the Florida State League East. The team consistently struggled all year long as they put up a dreadful 22-44 record in the first half, and an almost identical 23-40 record in the second half. Notably, their run differential was the worst in the Florida State league, at -93. 2023 and 2024 have been quite disappointing for a team that won the league back in 2022.
Struggles for the team this year were based off various factors, with the largest simply being that their best players struggled to get started, and whoever didn’t struggle received rightful promotions. St. Lucie was near the bottom of the league in both hitting and pitching this year, as the team posted a team OPS of .647, and team ERA of 4.57 (both ranked 9th out of the ten teams in the FSL).
Some of the Mets top prospects such as Colin Houck and Marco Vargas struggled immensely. Houck posted a .610 OPS in 408 ABs, while Vargas put up a 607 OPS in 130 ABs while struggling with injuries for most of the year. On the other hand, Nick Morabito, Jesus Baez, Boston Baro, Jonah Tong were the stars of this years team in the for the first few months. However, Morabito, Baez, and, Tong were all promoted before the end of July. Baro played with St. Lucie till late August before being promoted to Brooklyn.
Some of the Mets 2024 draft picks also saw action with the St.Lucie Mets. Carson Benge, the Mets 2024 1st round draft pick played in 15 games and posted .857 OPS. Meanwhile Eli Serrano, the Mets 4th round choice, played in 17 games putting up a solid .777 OPS. Some other 2024 draft picks, such as Trey Synder (5th round pick), Corey Collins (6th round pick) also played limited time in St. Lucie.
Coaching Staff:
⁃ Manager: Yucarybert De La Cruz
⁃ Pitching coach: Jordan Kraus
⁃ Hitting coach: Alejandro Diaz
⁃ Bench coach: Jeremy Cologna
⁃ Development coach: Bree Nasti
⁃ Baseball analytics: Benji Seashore-Hobson
⁃ Player development associate: Jessica Edelman
⁃ Trainer: Adam Devery
MMO/MMN Top Prospects
16. Boston Baro, IF
18. Colin Houck, IF
22. Ronald Hernandez, C
32. AJ Ewing, OF
36. Joel Diaz, RHP
Team Batting Leaders (league ranking in parentheses)
G: Yohairo Cuevas 113 (5th)
AB: Colin Houck 408 (5th)
R: Boston Baro 46 (T-26th)
H: Ronald Hernandez 95 (5th)
2B: Yohairo Cuevas 27 (2nd)
3B: Colin Houck 5 (T-5th)
HR: Jesus Baez 10 (14th)
RBI: Colin Houck 51 (11th)
SB: Yohairo Cuevas 20 (T-20th)
TB: Boston Baro 129 (15th)
BB: Yohairo Cuevas 65 (4th)
BA: Boston Baro .288 (2nd)
OBP: Boston Baro .368(2nd)
SLG: Boston Baro .399 (6th)
OPS: Boston Baro .767 (4th)
Team Pitching Leaders (Min 80 IP)
W: Franklin Gomez 3 (T-14th)
ERA: Franklin Gomez 4.42 (15th)
SV: Juan Arnaud 4 (T-23rd)
G: Juan Arnaud 32 (T-17th)
GS: Franklin Gomez 16 (T-19th)
IP: Franklin Gomez 82.0 (T-16th)
K: Franklin Gomez 83 (23rd)
WHIP: Franklin Gomez 1.50 (19th)
Lookin’ Towards 2025 and Beyond
Boston Baro was undoubtedly the St. Lucie Mets best hitter this year, posting a .767 OPS with solid infield defense – which, led to him being promoted to the Brooklyn Cyclones in late August. Baro, at 20 years old, still has a lot of developing to do. Following his late-season promotion, he is expected to start in Brooklyn.
Franklin Gomez was the closest a St.Lucie Mets pitcher to being qualified with 82 innings this year, and he had a solid year being a “bulldog” at only 18 years of age, its rare to see a prospect that young throw that many innings in a season, but Gomez defied those odds, starting 16 games and posting a 4.42 ERA while punching out 83 batters. The southpaw’s stuff is solid, throwing 5 different pitches. The future is bright for the 18 year old left-handed starter.
This year was one to forget for St. Lucie, but as the Mets Front Office continues to draft and develop young talent, we should continue to see promising prospects make their way to the Sunshine State.
