Met outfielder Travis Taijeron is 27 years old and currently playing for the Las Vegas 51s. So far for this season he’s hitting .314/.394/.587 which gives him a hefty .981 OPS. Shouldn’t the Mets be looking at this powerful righty as they rumble through this abysmal low-offense streak? No.
Here’s why:
Over his career, Taijeron has managed a solid OPS at almost every level he’s played in.
- 2011 – .943 (NYP)
- 2012 – .839 (SAL/FSL)
- 2013 – .887 (FSL/EAS)
- 2014 – .832 (EAS)
- 2015 – .929 (PCL)
- 2016 – .981 (PCL)
The problem isn’t the hitting, the problem comes from the swinging. In his minor league career he’s struck out 652 in 1968 at bats. He has more strikeouts than he’s gotten hits (537) and he’s a fly ball hitter. This means against the better pitching in the majors he’ll strike out more, hit less and (in the more spacious parks) fly out instead of hitting home runs. Remember that the PCL is one of the worst leagues for stat inflation amongst hitters.
Sure, lots of players in the majors strike out a lot and still manage to be productive players, but the rate that Taijeron strikes out goes beyond what is reasonable. Any time you see a player with over 10 strikeouts in their last 10 games you need to worry and Taijeron gives us reason to worry most weeks.
Still looking to see him in Queens? Well, Taijeron’s fans will likely get to see him get at least a few at bats this season. Once rosters expand the Mets will want to test him in the majors to see if he’d be useful off the bench. Expect roughly 1.75 strikeouts a game.
AAA: Las Vegas 51s
Brandon Nimmo stays hot – Our feature player of last week manages to continue his fine hitting and has a .419 batting average over his last 10 games.
Gavin Cecchini is quietly showing lots of promise – He’s not striking out and he’s getting plenty of hits. He looks like an MLB shortstop.
Dilson Herrera heating up again – Herrera is striking out too much but he’s again getting hits, which is a start.
Travis d’Arnaud is ready to return – He’s healthy again, for now.
AA: Binghamton Mets
Dominic Smith a reason for concern – He’s been slumping for a long time now and things do not seem to be turning around.
A+: Port St. Lucie Mets
Amed Rosario might be the Mets top prospect – He’s hitting with power, stealing bases, striking out less and walking more. Is there anything else we could want?
Ricky Knapp and Corey Oswalt are doing enough – They will never be Ace pitchers but their progress at Advanced A has been good.
Andrew Church is making the rounds – He has suddenly shown up in Port St. Lucie. His first start was rough but his second was fantastic. You may need to add Church back into your radar pool.
A: Columbia Fireflies
Alex Palsha is dominant in relief – He is performing to the high expectations he earned in Brooklyn last season.
A-: Brooklyn Cyclones
Merandy Gonzalez is starting his season on the right foot – One of the better Met prospects on the pitching side of the ball, Gonzalez’s first start in the NYP was very promising.
Where is Nabil Crismatt? – He should have been starting for the Fireflies, based on his sparkling 2015 but we expected him to, at least, make the Cyclones.
Considering his youth, unless he has a big 2nd half, Dom will certainly do a AA repeat next year. It’s been said the jump from high A to AA is tougher than from AA to AAA.
FWIW – Crismatt is one of nine names currently on the K-Mets roster
http://www.milb.com/roster/index.jsp?sid=t506
Considering his 62 innings in Kingsport in 2015 I don’t see a reason to repeat the level.
And then Monday night he shows up for Brooklyn in relief
Mets have needed RH bat from Day 1 and Taijeron has earned a shot. It’s weird to me how the organization doesnt see this.
On Cecchini, isn’t it true that his fielding problems have persistent in AAA? I remember reading something like 6 errors in last 8 games, 20 for the season. But I never checked to confirm. I think over the last season and a half he’s made a ship-ton of errors. The bat has been good, however, and this year at least, arguably better than Dilson’s.
I’ve always liked and routed for Taijeron, but he’s a 27 year old Boarderline Prospect with “Sellout Power”—he needs a 30% K Rate to generate a 950’ish OPS in Hitters Heaven.
He’s more Kaptain K than Adam Dunn. …but, sure….when your next option is Ty Kelly…..
Taijeron is obviously a limited player, but there’s reason to hope that he could be a strict RH bat vs. LHP and provide some pop in that role. I don’t think he’s an everyday major leaguer.
In general, my guiding rule for bench players is that I’d rather they do one thing very well, then be all-around okay players. So I’d want a great defensive player, I’d want a super fast guy, I’d want a guy who crushes LHP, and so on. You aren’t going to get perfect players on the bench, so I like to get guys who can excel in one area of the game.
The saddest thing of all, the moment I’m dreading, is that TC is going to bat d’Arnaud in the 8 spot. He’s the worst kind of hitter for that place in the order. Patience does not work for Travis.
I acknowledge how hamstrung he is with his bench…and the “Starting Assortment”!!….but the game in which he batted for Conforto, there were several “throw stuff at the TV Moves”!!!
Lack of Readiness…lack of Speed…Lack of Baserunning Decisions….
This team needs a Shake!!!! They are playing like they have a playoff run on Layaway—they’re about to get splatted before mid July.
Taijeron is not on the 40 man roster but the Mets do need a right handed power bat for the bench. Taijeron would not be my solution to the current Met problem. I would hold off for a better established player.
Conforto has really been scraping the bottom and Nimmo has been hot. If Nimmo comes up then he has to play so Conforto should therefore be sent down. The Mets are only 1/2 game out from the WC so I don’t advocate this move at this time.
The other solution of bringing up Herrera and moving Walker to third is also premature especially with Flores being hot.
At this point of the season, the Mets don’t have solutions to right the ship in the minors. The minors may once again be the chips to trade to get an established third baseman and a catcher, which are their two weakest positions. It would be great if Flores and TDA could get/stay hot to avoid this.