The St. Lucie Mets had one of the best seasons in the club’s history and posted the best first-half and overall record in the Florida State League along their way to earning the title of Florida State League Champions in 2022.
The Mets finished the first half with a 40-25 record, which earned them their first playoff appearance since 2016. They finished five and a half games ahead of the Jupiter Hammerheads to claim the first-half Eastern Division title for the second straight year in a row. Impressively, St. Lucie won 23 of their first 29 home games.
St. Lucie finished the second half of the season with a 33-31 record, coming in second at four games behind the Palm Beach Cardinals. Though they came up in second in the second half, they were the only club to finish with a winning record in both the first and second halves of the season and finished with an overall 73-56 record, the best in the league, and five and a half games up on the Palm Beach Cardinals for the overall record.
After a successful regular season, the Mets went on to sweep the playoffs, going 4-0 en route to the title. They first swept the Palm Beach Cardinals in the FSL Eastern Divisional Series and then swept the Dunedin Blue Jays at Clover Park in the Championship series to claim the title of Florida State League Champions for the first time since 2006 and the sixth time in the club’s history.
The Mets’ roster was star-studded on both the mound and at the They were led by outfielders Alex Ramirez (promoted to Brooklyn in July), Omar De Los Santos, Carlos Dominguez, Stanley Consuegra, infielders William Lugo and Junior Tilien, and utility player Raul Beracierta.
Ramirez, just 19 years of age, finished the 2021 season in St. Lucie and began the 2022 season with the club as well. He batted .284/.359/.443, with a .802 OPS (fifth place in the FSL in the first half) with the Mets. He hit 13 doubles, six triples, six home runs, had 37 RBIs, and was walked 28 times. His speed also claimed him 17 stolen bases in 2022 with St. Lucie. His success at the Low-A level earned him a promotion to the Brooklyn Cyclones in July.
Omar De Los Santos, Photo by Ed Delany of MMN
De Los Santos, 21, finished the 2021 season and St. Lucie and spent the full 2022 season with the club as well. He batted .271/.339/.459, with a .798 OPS during the 2022 season. He had 23 doubles, five triples, 16 home runs (third in the league), 62 RBIs, and 75 runs scored. He led the league with 70 stolen bases and that was tied for third among all minor leaguers.
Dominguez, 23, also finished 2021 and spent 2022 in St. Lucie. He batted .233/.324/.426, with a .750 OPS. He had 54 runs scored and 65 RBIs, hit 15 doubles, a league-leading 20 home runs, walked 37 times, and stole 22 bases. Dominguez ranked in the top ten in the league in many areas offensively, he had the fourth-most doubles in the league, and the second-most runs scored.
Both De Los Santos and Dominguez struggled with strikeouts though with 151 and 173 respectively. That ranked them first and third in the FSL for strikeouts.
Consuegra 22, was another player who spent the first half of the season in St. Lucie before getting his promotion to High-A Brooklyn in July. During the first half of the season with St. Lucie, Consuegra was a big contributor, hitting .251/.324/.431, with a .755 OPS. He had 38 runs scored, 14 doubles four triples, eight home runs, and 32 RBIs. He walked 26 times.
Lugo, 20, was another big bat for the Mets. He hit .261/.347/.427, with a .774 OPS. He had 47 runs scored, 18 doubles, two triples, 10 home runs (tenth in the league), and drove in 45 RBIs. At the end of the 2022 season, Lugo ranked sixth in the league in OPS, fourth in SLG, seventh in OBP, and had the eighth-best average in the league as well.
Tilien, 20, showed off impressive power with the Mets as he blasted 12 home runs in just 84 games including a three-homer game. The athletic youngster played a majority of his games at third, but also got starts at second and third base.
Beracierta, 23, slashed .300/.352/.467 with 13 home runs in 93 games while playing first base, catcher, and both corner outfield spots.
St. Lucie’s pitching also contributed heavily to the team’s 2022 success. In the first half of the season, their pitching ranked third in the league in ERA and second in strikeouts. Opponents had a .221 batting average against the Mets, which also ranked second for the Mets.
Carson Seymour was 4-0, with a 1.19 ERA before being traded to San Francisco as part of the Darin Ruf trade. Dominic Hamel (5-2, 3.84 ERA) and Keyshawn Askew (4-0, 1.93 ERA) were both huge for the Mets in the first half before being promoted to Brooklyn during the second half of the season.
Calvin Ziegler, Photo by Ed Delany of MMN
Calvin Ziegler’s overall numbers won’t show you how well the 19-year-old started the season. He was 0-6 with a 4.44 ERA over the course of 16 games appeared in, but over the course of 46 2/3 innings pitched he struck out 70 and only allowed 26 hits. The Mets’ 2021 second-round pick had a 3.57 ERA and was holding opponents to a .480 OPS before he went on the injured list for almost two months.
Fellow 2021 draft picks Mike Vasil (2.19 ERA), Christian Scott (12.5 K/9), Nathan Lavender (0.48 ERA) all impressed to start the season in St. Lucie before receiving promotions to Brooklyn.
The Mets’ second half was led on the mound by 2022 second-round draft pick Blade Tidwell out of the University of Tennessee. Tidwell acclimated to Minor League Baseball very well. Tidwell had a 1.93 and struck out 11 over the course of 9 1/3 innings pitched and gave up just two runs on four hits in the regular season First-year manager Robbie Robinson called Tidwell’s repertoire of pitches and effectiveness on the mound “super elite.”
In the final game of the FSL Championship, Tidwell struck out seven over five scoreless innings and he finished the playoffs with 9 2/3 scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts.
Another starting pitching prospect to note due to a playoff performance is 18-year-old Joel Diaz. The overall 5.86 ERA in 16 regular season appearances looks ugly, however, he didn’t allow more than two more in any of his last seven starts. The big moment for the youngster came in the win that sent the Mets to FSL Championship when he threw six scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts.
Young lefty Javier Atencio had a 2.27 ERA in eight starts and two relief appearances for St. Lucie. The 20-year-old struck out 48 in 39 2/3 innings for the Mets.
The St. Lucie relief core was led by 100 mph arm Raimon Gomez (3.78 ERA), lefty Daniel Juarez (1.85 ERA), and versatile Jeffrey Colon (3.23 ERA).
Tidwell wasn’t the only 2022 draft pick to be a key factor in the Mets’ 2022 Florida State League Title. First-round draft pick Kevin Parada out of Georgia Tech was also a big factor in the Mets’ late-regular season playoff push, as well as the 2022 MiLB Florida State League postseason. Parada played in just 10 games with St. Lucie in 2022 (six regular season matchups, as well as four postseason games). He batted .275/.463/.414, with a .877 OPS. He hit one double, one home run, drove in five RBIs, five runs scored, and walked 10 times.
Coaching Staff
Manager – Robbie Robinson
Bench Coach – Gilbert Gomez
Hitting Coach – Victor Burgos
Pitching Coach – Victor Ramos
Development Coach – Bryce Wheary
Performance Coach: Kory Wan
Athletic Trainer – Kiyoshi Tada
MMN Top 30 Prospects
3 – Kevin Parada, C
4 – Alex Ramirez, CF
8 – Calvin Ziegler, RHP
9 – Blade Tidwell, RHP
11 – Joel Diaz, RHP
13 – Mike Vasil, RHP
14 – Dominic Hamel, RHP
16 – Javier Atencio, LHP
17 – Stanley Consuegra, OF
22 – William Lugo, INF
23 – Christian Scott, RHP
28 – Vincent Perozo, C
29 – Raimon Gomez, RHP
30 – Omar De Los Santos, OF
Team Batting Leaders (league ranking in parentheses)
G: Omar De Los Santos 111 (T 4th)
AB: Omar De Los Santos 431 (2nd)
R: Omar De Los Santos 75 (2nd)
H: Omar De Los Santos 117 (1st)
2B: Omar De Los Santos 23 (4th)
3B: Alex Ramirez 6 (T 2nd)
HR: Carlos Dominguez 20 (1st)
RBI: Carlos Dominguez 65 (2nd)
SB: Omar De Los Santos 70 (1st)
TB: Omar De Los Santos 198 (1st)
BB: Justin Guerra 41 (T 15th)
OBP: William Lugo .347 (7th)
SLG: .Omar De Los Santos .459 (2nd)
OPS: Omar De Los Santos .798 (4th)
Team Pitching Leaders
W: Dominic Hamel 5 (T 25th)
ERA: Nathan Lavender 0.48 (1st)
SV: Trey McLoughlin 4 (17th)
G: Joshua Cornielly 31 (16th)
GS: Dominic Hamel 13 (22nd)
IP: Dominic Hamel 63.1 (26th)
K: Dominic Hamel 71 (25th)
WHIP: Keyshawn Askew 1.007 (8th)
The 2022 St. Lucie Mets had a season to remember. Even with a total of 24 players being promoted throughout the season to high-A Brooklyn. And the fact that St. Lucie won the first half with those players and then Brooklyn came back to win their second half to make the New York-Penn League playoffs tells you just how talented that class of players is.
With those 24 players being promoted, the Mets still came in second place in the second half and ultimately went on to be crowned Florida State League Champions. The talented group featured half of the Mets’ top 30 prospects during the season and a large majority have them performed well.
