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Recently, Fangraphs published their ranking of the Top 100 prospects in baseball. Their list included Peter Alonso (48), Andres Gimenez (52), Ronny Mauricio (68), and Mark Vientos (92). While many fans will be excited about this, the natural question is who else do the Mets have in their farm system who can join this quartet in being considered a Top 100 prospect.
Fangraphs has endeavored to answer this question themselves by analyzing prospects who they have determined have a 50 FV or lower in this year’s rankings. They also separated the list into a number of sub-catergories. Overall, there would be three enticing Mets prospects included in these projections.
Mets 2018 second round draft pick Simeon Woods Richardson was named in the sub-group “Teenage Pitchers.” When putting Woods-Richardson in this group of pitchers Fangraphs did denote he was one of the more advanced pitchers in the group. That’s fairly remarkable considering how he split time between pitching and third base in high school, and last year, he lost playing time due to a tonsillectomy.
The 18 year old pitcher is viewed by Fangraphs as the seventh best player in the Mets farm system. Overall, they view him as a player with “reasonable floor is that of a high-leverage or multi-inning reliever (a role that would seem to suit his fiery on-mound presence), but if a third impact pitch develops he could be a mid-rotation starter.”
Kingport shortstop Shervyen Newton was named in the sub-group entitled “This Is What They Look Like,” which is a group of prospects who are “big, well-made athletes.” Fangraphs believes Newton is the fifth best prospect in the Mets system viewing him as potential superstar and as “one of the more high-variance prospects in the minor leagues.”
The last propsect included in Fangraphs outlook was their eighth ranked Mets prospect Thomas Szapucki. Fittingly, the left-handed pitcher who is returning from Tommy John surgery was included in the group “Bounce Back Candidates.” Interestingly enough, where the Mets may see a future starting pitcher, Fangraphs sees a pitcher better suited to the bullpen due to his mechanics which could lead to both injury and control issues. Ultimately, Fangraphs is of the opinion Szapucki should move to the bullpen role where his “style of pitching may fit best in a Josh Hader-type role.”
Should this group fulfill the potential both the Mets and Fangraphs sees in them, it is very possible the Mets will have six or seven players in next year’s Top 100. That is a quite a remarkable achievement for a farm system many have been critical of over the past few years. If nothing else, it shows how bright the Mets future could be with players like this making their way through the farm system.
