Binghamton Mets prospect evaluations 6/11/15

Every season I try to attend a few of the Mets’ minor league affiliate games to see the future in action. This past week I did just that and had the pleasure of catching a Double-A Eastern League game between the Binghamton Mets and the Orioles’ Bowie Baysox on June 11 in Bowie, Maryland. Please keep in mind that I’m obviously not a scout and won’t pretend to be here. What I’ll share here are simply “eye-test” observations on some of the players I saw.

Prince George’s Stadium is just over 20 years old, but it’s nonetheless a nice little venue to catch a game. It’s very “minor league” in that there are just a ton of those in-between-inning activities. Also, minor league games tend to be intimate experiences. There are smaller crowds and fans are closer to the action and the players. Aderlin Rodriguez, who we will get to later, was standing inches from my seat in the stands before the game chatting with folks he knew. It’s a nice, relaxed environment when compared to big league games. What’s not very “minor league” are the prices for food and beer, which seem to have increased sharply over the years. I digress.

Rather than rehashing the game summary, which you can find here, I’ll touch on a few players of note. Unfortunately, neither Brandon Nimmo nor Gavin Cecchini was in the lineup. Nimmo is still on the disabled list and rehabbing in Port St. Lucie. Cecchini is reportedly day-to-day with a minor injury and was scratched before the game, though he did spend most of it as the first base coach. This limited players of significant interest to the few discussed below.

Luis Cessa

Cessa started the game for the B-Mets and really looked great throughout his six innings of work. His performance matched what you generally read in his scouting reports: great control and poise and a super aggressive approach to hitters.

His fastball sat low-to-mid 90s throughout the game and Baysox hitters had trouble keeping up with it. He did an excellent job of mixing it with his change-up. This was especially the case when he followed a change-up low in the zone with a fastball at the letters.

Speaking of that change-up, it was as filthy as reported. It sat in the low 80s throughout the game and he used it to make hitters look absolutely foolish. It was a sight to behold. Compounding the problems for the Baysox hitters was the fact that Cessa displayed his excellent control with both the fastball and change-up.

His breaking ball was less impressive. I’m not entirely sure what he was throwing, as I’ve read reports stating that he throws both a curveball and a slider. It looked like he was throwing sliders, but again I’m no scout. Either way, he seemed to have trouble locating it and it sat in the low 80s.

Cessa reportedly loses velocity on his fastball late in games, and that seemed to be the case here initially. He touched 96 mph with it early but was hitting 93-94 in the third and fourth innings. However, he dialed it back up to 95-96 in the fifth. Minor league stadium guns aren’t known for their accuracy, though, so take that for what it’s worth. Additionally, and although he was still getting outs, the Baysox hitters seemed to be making harder contact on him in his final inning or so.

Cessa started garnering hype a few years ago as part of the Brooklyn rotation, but has steadily fallen in the Mets’ prospect rankings since. He doesn’t have frontline starter upside, so his aggressiveness and top-notch control are what keep him looking like he can make some kind of impact in the big leagues as a backend starter or reliever. He’s making the case this year that we should all start paying attention again.

Michael Conforto

The 2014 first-rounder went 1-3 on the night with a walk, a strikeout, and a single while scoring twice. He was very “quiet” at the plate with a small leg kick. He had a very smooth swing that was mostly level but seemed to uppercut just a tad at times and his hands moved quickly through the zone. Just a very, very nice swing. He displayed the patience he’s known for as well with impressive approaches at the plate against a (albeit rehabbing) major leaguer in Kevin Gausman.

He didn’t get many chances in left field but looked solid on the chances he did get, taking what seemed like good routes to the ball. He made an excellent cutoff on a liner to mid-left field in the bottom of the first and delivered a bullet to the third baseman. He also bounced a throw to the cutoff man later in the game. Reports suggest a below-average to average arm, and the limited viewing here seemed to line up with that.

He’s not known for his speed, and he certainly doesn’t take off all that quickly, but once he got going his speed seemed pretty solid. He scored from first on a double in the fifth with relative ease. All in all he’s proving to be an excellent prospect and he continues to hit no matter where he goes. Mets fans should be really excited about this one.

Aderlin Rodriguez

Even more so than Cessa, Rodriguez has fallen significantly in prospect status over the course of his long tenure in the Mets’ system. In his last few seasons in St. Lucie and Binghamton he’s had trouble getting on base, posting OBPs below .300 in 2013 and 2014, as well as staying healthy. The power potential in his bat is what made him such an interesting first base prospect, though. His night was uneventful for the most part, but I felt I had to mention his solo homerun off of Gausman in the second inning. He absolutely demolished the ball and sent it over the left field wall, out of the stadium, and into the trees beyond. He hasn’t reached the end of his prospect life quite yet, but a healthy productive season is very important for him at this stage.