Mets360 2016 top 50 prospects: Players 42-39

This is the third entry in our prospect series, where we’re counting down the top 50 prospects for the Mets. Four people were involved in this project and what you see is a group consensus, not the results of one person. You can view 46-43 if you have not already seen it. Here are the next four:

42. Jeff McNeil – A 12th round pick in 2013, McNeil was pegged as a future utility player from the start. He’s hit well over his first three professional seasons, though it’s been achieved via a contact-only approach with little to no power. He’s undersized and, at 23 years old, his frame does not project to fill out further. His strength is severely lacking and his defensive versatility is undermined a bit by the fact that he’s fringe-average at second and third and doesn’t really have the range or arm for short, though he could play there in a pinch. Still, his contact skill should not be undersold as it’s probably close to plus. That, plus his defensive versatility and the fact that he hits from the left side suggest he has a decent chance at carving out a career in that utility role. He got his first taste of AA in 2015, albeit a short one. Across two levels he slashed .308/.369/.377 with an OPS of .746. He also stole 16 bases, which is a nice additional element to his game.

41. L.J. Mazzilli – Also a 2013 draft pick, Mazzilli was selected in the 4th round as a second baseman. Unlike McNeil, there was more potential for Mazzilli to be a starter at the highest level if things broke right. He was drafted as a second baseman because he really doesn’t have the tools to play short and, though the bat projected to be solid, it didn’t project to play up at third. Without any standout tools, he was going to have to ride his bat to the big leagues. His bat has been solid enough through his first three seasons but not enough to greatly distinguish him from similar middle infield prospects in the Mets’ system. He’s another contact-oriented middle-infielder that gets on base and has shown an above average strikeout rate. He showed a bit of surprising pop in 2014 that added an interesting wrinkle to his projection, but it completely evaporated in 2015. He slashed .261/.332/.342 across A+ and AA in 2015. There’s a decent chance he starts 2016 at AAA where he’ll need to do a bit more with the bat as a 25-year-old to make it as a utility player in the big leagues.

40. Thomas Szapucki – This one is based on projection as the Mets drafted this prep left-handed pitcher in the fifth round of the 2015 draft and signed him for slightly overslot. His best pitch right now is his live, sinking fastball that reportedly tops out at 95 MPH and sits in the low 90s. At 19 years old with room for his body to fill out more, it’s possible that he can get that to sit closer to mid-90s. That would essentially be a plus pitch for a southpaw. He really only has one other offering at this point, a breaking ball that flashes plus which has been labeled as both a curve and a slider. Either way, it was known to have the best spin rate for a breaking ball of the 2015 prep class. He’s been reportedly working on a change, which he’ll need if he hopes to remain a starter moving forward. The problem with that, and with his projection in general, is that his low 3/4 arm slot is high effort and puts stress on his shoulder. That not only complicates developing the change, but also is concerning for future health. He’s got some mechanical work to do and is a ways off, but the upside here is potentially a mid-rotation starter or a very good reliever. He had only three appearances in 2015 for the Gulf Coast League affiliate so there isn’t much to go by there, so we’ll get our first real taste of his potential in 2016.

39. Rainy Lara – It’s been an interesting ride for Lara, who has been in the Mets’ system for what seems like forever. His career started off strong in the Dominican Summer League in 2010, albeit slightly old for that league at 19 years old. He really started making a name for himself as part of the dominating 2012 Brooklyn Cyclones staff that also included Hansel Robles, Gabriel Ynoa, Luis Mateo, and Luis Cessa. Despite his success, the Mets were slow and methodical with his progression. That appears to have been for good reason, as Lara has struggled at the highest levels in the system. Although there were signs of trouble at both levels of A ball, he really hit a wall when he arrived at AA Binghamton in 2014. His strikeout rate collapsed, his WHIP and ERA ballooned, and he was giving up more hits than ever. He did show signs of improvement in AA in 2015, however, and got his strikeout rate back up to 6.7 and his WHIP down to 1.2. He was a disaster in his five starts at AAA, though, which should be acknowledged but taken with a grain of salt. The long and short of it is that Lara doesn’t have good stuff, he’s a righty with low velocity that relies on deception that hasn’t really flown at the higher levels, and his best bet is a move to the bullpen. It’s possible he can become an effective swingman/spot starter, but may have a career of shuttling between AAA and the MLB as an emergency starter.