The first real note on David Thompson is that back in 2012 the Yankees aimed to snatch him in the 38th round of the amateur draft. As all scouts predicted, Thompson went to college instead. Part of the issue with his draftability was the fact that he was a two sport player. He wound up in the University of Miami where injuries limited his exposure.
First, a shoulder injury ended his quarterback career. Next, he required having a rib removed to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome. This left Thompson with only sporadic playing time between his Freshman and Sophomore years. In his Junior year, finally healthy, he hit .333/.445/.658 and led college hitters in both home runs and RBIs.
In the field, he displays surprising athleticism for his size that could allow him to stay at third or move to left field. Though firstbase might ultimately prove to be his final destination.
Why were the Mets able to get him so late?
Despite Thompson’s “Plus Power” hitting potential, his bat speed is only average and his contact and eye were not scouted favorably.
In 2015, those scouts looked right. He only managed a .588 OPS in Brooklyn (a team that just couldn’t hit all year) and didn’t appear to have much of a future.
Despite his lack of success in the New York Penn League he was promoted to Columbia for 2016 and the early results are quite refreshing. Through his first 11 games with Columbia, he’s slashing a mighty .324/.422/.595 and is looking like the offensive leader of the team. In the same 11 games he’s managed 7 extra base hits, including a home run and a triple, and he has a 5:9 BB:K ratio.
AAA: Las Vegas 51’s
Same Old Travis Taijeron – Through 8 games he’s got a .517 SLG but he’s also struck out 10 times. Prior to the season I explained that Taijeron would need to strike out less to make it to the majors and that hasn’t happened yet.
Matt Reynolds Making His Case For The Majors – He’s slashing a very solid .273/.385/.485 and at some point the Mets will need an infielder.
Sean Gilmartin Eyes The Rotation – Don’t look now but there might be another pitching prospect for the Met rotation for 2016.
Prospects Struggling – Dilson Herrera, Gavin Cecchini and Brandon Nimmo are all off to poor starts and will look to turn things around quickly.
AA: Binghamton Mets
Maikis De La Cruz Might Not Be A Name You Know – In his five games at the AA level all he’s done is hit.
Robert Gsellman Destined For Trade – He will not break into the Met rotation, but Gsellman is worthy of starting on a MLB club.
Dominic Smith Is As Cold As Ice – Perhaps he’s just not an April hitter. He’s only slashing a .194/.216/.333 and he’s got 9 strikeouts in 8 games.
A+: St. Lucie Mets
Amed Rosario Might Be Worthy Of That Praise – He’s slashing .298/.313/.468 and he needs to learn better pitch selection but the power and speed are showing themselves.
Kevin McGowan Will Strike You Out – He’s not a perfect pitcher but he’s certainly a strikeout machine.
Tim Peterson Looks Polished – He’s got 5.0 innings pitched this season and 10 strikeouts in that time. He also owns a 0.00 ERA and a 0.20 WHIP.
Wuilmer Becerra Has Been Bad – He’s got nothing to show for his first five games in Advanced A.
A: Columbia Fireflies
Joe Tuschak Is Trying To Get Onto The Radar – If he can keep his OPS over .900 all year he’ll be on everyone’s radar.
Vinny Sienna’s Hot Start – Sienna began the season red-hot and has cooled off a bit. Let’s see if he can get hot again.
Chase Ingram Looking Like He Belongs – In his first two starts of the season, Ingram looks like he might be the next big prospect pitcher for the Mets.
Nabil Crismatt Is Oddly Missing – One of the best pitchers from the Rookie Leagues is surprisingly not among the full season pitchers in the Met organization. We will have to assume that he’ll have a role in the Brooklyn rotation but it would be nice to have seen him in Columbia.
When I saw him last season, I all but wrote him off. But as a 4th rounder, I figured he must have shown something elsewhere. Still, big guys with slow bats tend to fail to translate to the MLB. Anyway, glad to see him having success. Defensively, he did not pass my eye test, but that whole Brooklyn team made me grouchy. Could have been me.
That Brooklyn team was terrible. He’s striking out, but not at dangerous rates. We will see what he is over the next three years.
Thompson is Mark Trumbo…or He’s Not.
Chase Ingram is one I’ll be following. 15 Ks, 1 BB in 10 IP is enough to make anyone take notice.
Astromets has some nice GIFs of Ingram, Thompson and my darkhorse – Ivan Wilson and others here – http://www.astrometsmind.com/2016/04/mets-minors-gifs-of-week.html
Another guy I like is PJ Conlon,who’s also off to a nice start in COL. Doesn’t have the Ks that Ingram does but has a 1.69 ERA after two starts.
Shaw is impressive too
The comment of Wuilmer Becerra should mention that he was hurt, somehow. I wasn’t able to find out which part of him was hurting, but it seems to be something that carried over from Spring Training.
At some point he will feel better and then we’ll see.
Unfortunate that so many hitting prospects have started off poorly, but it’s early. Tomas Nido has been all but forgotten, but he’s off to a very nice start as well.