In his last 12 games, Savannah third baseman Jeff McNeil has seven multi-hit games and has a .420 AVG and a 1.015 OPS. For the year, McNeil is tied for fourth in the league in batting with a .346 AVG and his .409 OBP places 10th in the loop. McNeil was one of seven Sand Gnats recently selected for the mid-season South Atlantic League All-Star Game.
McNeil was underwhelming his first two seasons with the Long Beach State Dirtbags but gained notoriety when he batted .301 in the Cape Cod League the summer between his sophomore and junior year. His third campaign with the Dirtbags was his best one yet, as he batted .348 with more walks (12) than strikeouts (11).
The Mets’ 12th-round pick in the 2013 Draft, McNeil spent his initial season in pro ball with Kingsport in the Appalachian League, where he played mostly second base. McNeil continued to hit for a good average, as he batted .329 and had a .413 OBP in 199 PA.
That performance was enough to get him into a full-season league this year, but in Lo-A rather than Hi-A. Still, his hot hitting might be enough to earn a mid-season promotion to the Florida State League. Right now, McNeil has a .142 ISO, higher than what was expected from him, but that might have more to do with the level of competition rather than the start of a sustained power increase on his part.
McNeil makes good contact, can run – he’s been successful on 25 of his 30 SB attempts in pro ball – and can play all over the field. While he’s been primarily an infielder in pro ball, he does have experience playing the outfield, too. It adds up to a guy who has a legitimate chance to make the majors as a utility player.
Triple-A
After pitching into the seventh inning in his first start of the year for Las Vegas, Darin Gorski was lifted after five innings in his second outing. He gave up four runs and took the loss. A flyball pitcher, it’s hard to imagine a worse place for Gorski than the Pacific Coast League. Both of his starts have been at home and batters have hit the ball in the air 29 times, compared to eight hit on the ground. The good news is that he’s given up just 1 HR. Additionally, he’s fanned 10 in 11.1 IP.
Thought to be a candidate to make the major league bullpen out of Spring Training, Joel Carreno has started four of his last six appearances for Las Vegas. His first three outings were solid but he got knocked around in his latest game, allowing 6 ER and 2 HR in 6 IP.
Double-A
After closing May with back-to-back hitless games, Kevin Plawecki ushered in June in a big way, with a four-hit game, including a homer. Last year, Plawecki suffered a significant drop in power when he was promoted to Hi-A. But his power stroke is back in full force this season in Binghamton. Plawecki carries a strong .520 SLG and a .187 ISO so far this year. However, he’s done most of his damage at home this season. Here are his home/road splits:
H – .387/.427/.613 in 103 PA
R – .274/.326/.417 in 92 PA
Binghamton had a three-game road trip to Altoona and infielder Matt Reynolds responded by pounding out 10 hits in 16 ABs. When they returned home, Reynolds went 1-for-8. He’s the opposite of Plawecki, as Reynolds struggles at home and goes wild on the road. His home OPS is .645 and his road mark is 1.081, with both samples over 100 PA. Overall, he has an .854 OPS, a nice mark for a guy who has played 40 of his 52 games at shortstop.
Hi-A
Back in affiliated ball after playing the last two years in Independent leagues, Jairo Perez is making up for lost time. He’s hit safely in 15 of his last 16 games and has a .452 average in that span. Additionally he’s scored 10 runs and driven in 15 in that stretch. The Venezuelan native is old for the Florida State League at age 26. But given that he was playing last year for the Kansas City T-Bones, it’s still a great story.
In his second stint with St. Lucie, catcher Cam Maron has rediscovered his batting stroke. After a disappointing .622 OPS in 2013, Maron has a .764 mark this season. He’s currently riding a 7-game hitting streak.
Lo-A
The adjustment to full-season ball was a tough one in the early going for Chris Flexen. But the pitcher who dominated last season in the APPY has now strung together three strong starts. In that span he’s 2-0 with a 2.50 ERA and a 1.167 WHIP. He’s also fanned 14 batters over 18 innings in that span.
Dominic Smith broke out of a 1-for-19 slump with back-to-back-to-back two-hit games this week. In his last 33 games, Smith is batting .307 with a .380 OBP.
It’s great to see a positive report on Flexen.
I was bullish on Flexen coming into the year, so I’m right there with you. He’s had more starts on the road than at home but even his home numbers aren’t great. Still, I’m hoping that he’s in the groove now and can put up results like he did last year.
The left handed hitting McNeil will be the starting “second baseman” at the all star game. LJ Mazzilli, the Gnats regular second baseman, got hot too late to make the squad with his 7 home runs, 375/454/830. That is a shame since I think he deserved the designation. The Gnats are 41-19 and in first place.
It looks like a Plawecki promotion to AAA will be stalled until TDA works out his swing and gains confidence. A tough break for Plawecki.
If Tejada is getting the starts at the major league level then why isn’t Flores back in AAA at least swinging the bat regularly? I find it confusing. If they don’t send Flores down then the Mets should be moving Reynolds up to AAA.
If Flores isn’t going to get regular ABs as well as spending productive innings at shortstop, then he should be at AAA.
A prolonged stay in AAA for TdA might prompt the team to leapfrog Plawecki over him although it would take a really poor showing for that to occur.