It took me a moment to decide who I was going to focus this week. Zack Wheeler tossed two more games, Reese Havens returned to Binghamton and made up for lost time, Wilmer Flores is still hitting and T.J. Rivera continues to try his best to make me take notice of his play in Savannah. Instead I’m going to write about Cory Vaughn… Again.
I have a pretty legit excuse. Since last Monday, Vaughn has clubbed 4 Home Runs and three of them in the last three games. About 50% of his shots have gone for extra bases and he’s rapidly catching up to Wilmer Flores in terms of RBI production.
This is the kind of production that we wanted to see from Vaughn when he was freed from Savannah in 2011. When we didn’t, a lot of people relegated Vaughn into the lower echelon of Met prospects with only an outside chance of being an MLB regular. I think Vaughn can be an everyday corner outfielder and he well on his way to his promotion to AA Binghamton.
With great power also comes lots of swinging and missing. Cory has whiffed 8 times in the past week. Sluggers tend to strike out a lot, but Vaughn’s recent power has also seen him not walking nearly as much. It’s the biggest negative to his recent performances.
Around The Minors:
AAA:
Matt Harvey Has His Best Start of 2012 – 7 Innings, 4 Hits and 5 K’s with no walks is a pretty nice outing by any measuring stick. Matt Harvey’s strikeouts in 2012 are way down from 2011 and it has me a little concerned.
AA:
Zack Wheeler Succeeds Despite Hiccups – In two outings since my last article, Zack Wheeler has been effective if a little wild. On the 24th he didn’t give up a run and only gave up 3 hits but walked 6 and only K’d 6. The next start had 3 walks and 6 K’s along with only 2 hits but he’s still walking too many batters and I’d like that to change.
Reese Haven’s Triumphantly Returns to AA – It’s one game but Reese went 3 for 4 with a homer and a walk. He’s got the best swing of anyone in the Met system I’ve had the pleasure to watch so… I’m still excited.
A+:
Wilmer Flores’ Power Continues – He’s raised his average around .300 and he’s getting extra base hits and RBIs. This is going to hopefully be a trend.
A:
T.J. Rivera Forces Me to Mention Him – On the one hand he’s a bit old for Savannah… on the other he’s hitting .396 through 23 games. Rivera has been the best offensive player on the Sand Gnats.
Dustin Lawley Heats Up – Lawley is the other player on the Savannah offense who is getting on base regularly. He also has begun to show more power but what I like best is the 7:9 BB/K ratio.
Jack Leathersich Bounces Back – After his only shaky professional outing ever, Jack Leathersich has recovered and is back to his super-human ways and absurd K/9.
I really would like to see Havens make it to Queens, but he needs to stay healthy. I think a lot of his future with this organization depends on what they do with Wright. If the Mets are out of it come the All-Star break, they could trade him, move Murphy to third, and then bring Havens up to play second. Then again, there is also Valdespin who is shooting for the second base spot.
I think Wright will be sticking around for baseball and financial reasons but I think the Mets will figure out a way to get Havens in there when he’s ready.
The secret to Cory is inside his head.
He has all the talent to make it big, but just needs to stay both positive and focused. He actually seems to go through spells of bredom.
Hey Mack,
Yeah, it might be. I don’t know enough about Cory as a person to speculate.
What type of chances do you think Havens ever makes it to the big show? And even if he does, will it be for any more than a cup of coffee?
Reese has a reasonably good shot. His issue has never been talent, it’s been health.