Last season I watched Casey Meisner and he was good but not someone I had a ton of expectations for. The reason for this was that his fastball wasn’t quite a major league fastball. You can succeed in the majors with a 80-something MPH fastball (just ask Jamie Moyer) but it doesn’t always bode well (just ask Jered Weaver). He hit his spots and mixed his pitchers and his numbers were good, but without a 90 MPH fastball I couldn’t peg him as a real prospect.
Not everyone agrees with my assessment. Meisner ranks 18th in MLB.com’s top 20 Met Prospects. I should explain, that I don’t think Meisner is a bad pitcher or that he can’t succeed. The reason I don’t put Meisner very high in my prospect echelon is that not having “stuff” makes it that much harder to succeed in the majors. Based upon his results this last start, I think I might need to hop a flight to Savannah (if only) to give Meisner a re-evaluation.
This past start, Meisner took a perfect game into the 7th inning before giving up a few hits and a run. On the way he struck out 9 batters and didn’t walk anyone. On the year, he now has a 1.78 ERA with 27 Ks in 30.2 innings. His WHIP thus far is 1.09 and he has been the best Sand Gnat pitcher in 2015.
It is possible, at this level, that he’s still having this level of success thanks to his gamesmanship, but I would not be surprised if Meisner has taken his fastball up a notch or two. At 6’7” and only 190 lbs he can easily add some muscle to his frame.
AAA:
Travis Taijeron is red hot – Over the last 10 games he’s hitting over .400 and he’s starting to take more walks.
Alex Castellanos continues to power the Vegas offense – He’s been generating good numbers across the board, it’s all a matter of if he can continue to produce in the majors.
Matt Reynolds is hitting, but not as much – He’s cooled off somewhat significantly. He may not be quite so ready to come up and replace Wilmer Flores as some fans hope.
Steven Matz deserved the call equally – Noah Syndergaard will make the start on Tuesday but don’t take anything away from Matz.
Jack Leathersich has looked really really good – He’s still striking people out and he’s no longer walking people.
AA:
Brandon Nimmo steady – He needs to strike out less, hit for more power and run a little bit more, but he’s steadily getting hits.
For that matter, so is Gavin Cecchini – The only difference here is that Cecchini isn’t striking out frequently.
A+:
Michael Conforto is cold – He needs to break out of this slump which has seriously tarnished his immaculate start.
Amed Rosario is hitting better – He’s hitting .294 over the last 10 games and that is starting to bring his batting average out of the cellar.
Dominic Smith is doing nothing – He has 4 hits in the last 35 at bats and only 10 hits on the season. He needs help and fast.
Rob Whalen is pitching well – He’s not striking lots of hitters out but he’s not walking many batters or giving up many hits.
Robert Gsellman is worth watching – He’s walking a few too many but he’s taken a positive step this season.
A:
Wuilmer Becerra is on a roll – He’s kept hitting and may prove to make the R.A. Dickey trade even more absurdly good.
Eudor Garcia is a multi-hit master – He’s had 3 multi-hit games in his first 5 games. Not a bad start.
Whalen only struck out one batter in his first game. Not that he’s been piling them up in record amounts since then, but it’s still hurting his overall numbers. In the rest of his starts he has 17 Ks in 24 IP, including a season-high 6 in his last start.
Overall, he has a 3.60 K/BB ratio, a 2.10 ERA and a 1.100 WHIP
There are several key stats for pitchers developing. Whalen excels at two of them. A top pitching prospect should also have a K/9 over 9.00 in High A.
Castellanos definitely deserves a call-up with those numbers, but alas he will cool on the Mets bench as TC would start him once every 10 days, maybe.
I think that as players move up in the organization, not only do they add a couple years of experience and perhaps a few pounds of muscle but they get introduced to other pitching coaches who might find an adjustment in their mechanics which can help add some MPH to their fastball.
I saw 2 of the 4 Sand Gnat games when they came to town. Meisner threw his gem the day before the series started so I too missed him. Becerra, although an undisciplined hitter has tools. He is faster than I expected, nice arm and range in RF. He made a nice sliding catch in the gap and seems to know what he is doing out there. He needs to improve his pitch recognition.
The most entertaining part of the game was John Mora. When he steps into the batter’s box he does a “Reyes Spotlight” and then shakes his knees like Elvis ! I think the term is “moxey”. Then I saw Martires Arias walking to the dugout pregame and I thought he was on circus stilts. He is listed at 6’7″ 210 but looks 7’0″ 160 ! In the off season the pitching staff should go on the road as a basketball team, with four pitchers 6’7″ or better !