Once you hit the eighth round of the draft most teams aren’t getting top value. In 2015 the catching talent was supposed to be particularly poor, so when Sandy Alderson and company selected Patrick Mazeika out of Stetson University people might have been a little confused. Not only did the Mets reach for a position that they have relatively well covered but they reached for a player who hadn’t been ranked in Baseball America’s Top 500 at all.
Mazeika is large catcher, in that he’s 6’3”. That doesn’t make him too big to stick at the position but it will make it harder for him as he progresses. Add that he isn’t a plus defender and you begin to wonder if this was merely a wasted pick by a rudderless Mets organization. Then you look at his bat.
Mazeika has plus tools in contact, eye and power. He has no speed to speak of but he enters the Met organization as a complete hitting prospect with the ability to make an impact in a shorter course. Consider that Mazeika is off to a blistering start to his minor league career in Kingsport. He’s hitting .367/.462/.583 and carrying the offense of the Appalachian League Mets to a large degree. So, did everyone just miss on him?
Yes and no. His deficiencies on defense are real. While he has a strong arm, the scouting does not suggest that he will be a plus defender at the position. He’s also coming off of a downward trend in college. He led Freshman with a phenomenal .382/.488/.495 line fell back to a .354 batting average as a Sophomore and then to a .307 average as a Junior. Scouts who saw this thought, perhaps correctly, that his Freshman success was a fluke and he was not going to round into a great player. What Alderson saw was a bat that might quickly progress through the minors.
Mazeika should start in full season ball to start 2016. Whether that’s the South Atlantic League or the Florida State League will give fans a good idea of how the development team see’s Mazeika’s future. He may eventually shift over to first base if his defense proves too much of a liability but he’s a prospect to keep tabs on for sure.
AAA:
Dilson Herrera needs to do this in the majors – He’s got a .919 OPS in AAA and is hitting with some power. If his OPS was .100 lower in the majors we’d all be doing backflips for joy.
Darrell Ceciliani hitting well – He’s hitting over .300 for his last 10 games and he’s walking a little more often. He is a good bench option.
Brandon Nimmo might be our leadoff hitter of the future – He’s got 8 walks and only 4 strikeouts in the last 10 games.
AA:
Gavin Cecchini is proving me very wrong – He’s just kept up his hitting all season and at this point I think he’s converted me into a believer.
Josh Smoker looking mighty tempting – Especially with the bullpen woes in the majors.
A+:
Jeff McNeil might be something of a prospect – He doesn’t have much speed or power but he gets on base and that is worth a lot.
Why isn’t Dominic Smith in AA? – He’s hitting .313 on the year and hitting .405 over his last 10 games.
Jhoan Urena has a good week – He hit .300 for the week but that only raised his batting average to .219 on the year.
David Wright’s rehab is on track – He’s got a ways to go, but so far… so good.
Steven Matz throws an inning – It’s the first step but the Mets would love to have Matz back in the rotation.
A:
Luis Guillorme is intriguing – He’s not a top talent but if he can continue to hit, his defense should earn him a bench role in the majors.
Wuilmer Becerra’s eye is improving – He’s striking out less and walking more. There is a lot to like about this kid!
Eudor Garcia looks to supplant Urena – With 2015 a lost season for Urena, Garcia now looks like the team’s top third base prospect.
Corey Oswalt lonely but solid – There aren’t many good pitching stories in the Met’s minors at this point but Oswalt is one of them.
A-:
Kevin Canelon has a nice start – 7 innings pitched with only 6 hits and 11 strike outs is a pretty nice start.
R1:
Why is Kevin Kaczmarski still in Kingsport? – He’s 23 and he’s hitting a ton. Nobody is being served by his continued presence in this league.
Milton Ramos bouncing back – He’s hitting over .300 over his last 10 games but he’s striking out too much and walking too infrequently.
Nabil Crismatt is still mysterious – There is almost no information about Crismatt on the internet. He continues to be one of the better pitchers in the Met system though.
R2:
Desmond Lindsey needs to improve his eye – The Met top pick of 2015 is hitting well but striking out far too much.
Any ideas how many catchers were ranked in BA’s Top 500? Regardless, right now Mazeika’s made a name for himself and this time next year we’ll have a pretty good grip on if he’s a legitimate prospect. Good job by Alderson & Co. on this pick.
There were 40 catchers listed in the Top 500.
8 of these were not drafted.
Not a comment on this pick specifically, but watching the Pirates I did start to miss Omar’s mantra of athletic, fast, and talented.
Obviously, it’s a balancing act. But the organization could use an influx of speed, which correlates to defense.
But a good eye is nice, I guess.
Speed is something the farm does not have a lot of.
When Dilson Herrera gets his sea legs and claims a place in the starting lineup — and I do believe the operative word is When, not If — then the Mets are going to present very differently than they have in a long, long time. Three good, young hitters, d’Arnaud, Conforto and Herrera, plus Duda: that’s your new core team. If Lagares can get his arm working again, better still.
Given the comments on this thread, it’s worth noting that Herrera was a Pirates signing.
And acquired by Alderson, with players that he acquired going out in the deal.
If I may add, Scott Rice and Chase Hutchinson both have sub 2.00 ERAs in Las Vegas. Why did we need O’No and when can one of these guys get a shot?
Scott Rice is terrible. There’s no reason to ever see him in the majors with the Mets again. At least with the LOOGY who shall not be named, there’s the hope (however remote) that he can return to his form of 2011-2012.