Photo by Ed Delany of MMN
With St. Lucie’s 5-1 over the Tampa Tarpons on Wednesday night in Port St. Lucie, the Mets have won the first-half division title in the Florida State League Eastern Division. This marks the second straight season St. Lucie has won the division title. It is the first time in their history they have accomplished this feat.
Part of the reason St Lucie has won back-t0-back division titles is that they have had Alex Ramirez on their team both seasons. Ramirez went from a raw promising outfielder with no professional experience to one of the best hitters in the Florida State League this season. So far, Ramirez has a 145 wRC+, and he is in the top five in the league in OPS.
Of course, Ramirez is just part of the equation. St. Lucie leads the Florida State League in OPS and runs scored. Omar De Los Santos is the league leader in runs scored, and he is also second in the league in stolen bases. Overall, he ranks 13th in the league in OPS behind teammates Ramirez (fifth) and Carlos Dominguez (ninth).
Dominguez is the league leader in homers with De Los Santos eighth. Ramirez leads the league in triples while De Los Santos and Stanley Consuegra rank fourth.
Shortstop Junior Tilien has played a key role with an OPS over .900 since being added to the roster last month. The 19-year-old has 13 extra-base hits in 25 games including seven home runs.
While St. Lucie has been led by their offense, their pitching has been very good as well. The staff is third in the league in ERA and second in the league in strikeouts. The .221 batting average against is the second-best in the league.
Photo by Ed Delany of MMN
The 2021 Mets draft class has shined with St. Lucie. Right-handers Calvin Ziegler (2nd RD) and Dominic Hamel (3rd RD) led the team in strikeouts. Left-hander Keyshawn Askew (10th RD) was lights out with a 0.95 ERA, 11.8 K/9, and a 5.00 K/BB before landing on the injured list. Right-handers Carson Seymor (6th RD) and Mike Vasil (8th RD) both played key roles in the rotation before getting promoted to Brooklyn.
Daniel Juarez has been a lights-out closer ranking fourth in the league in saves. In addition to going 4/5 in save chances, he has a 1.73 ERA and a 14.2 K/9.
With the dominant hitting and pitching, St. Lucie won the division by 7.5 games over the Jupiter Hammerheads. As a result, they will return to the postseason with an opportunity to win their first league title since 2006 when they had a pitching staff with Jon Niese, Mike Pelfrey, and Bobby Parnell.
Notably, each of those pitchers pitched for Mets teams that went to the postseason. Perhaps, we will one day see this current group of Mets prospects go from the Florida State League playoffs to the Major League postseason like those players once did. Certainly, they have the talent to do that.
