By this point, you know who Wuilmer Becerra is. He’s the final piece of the coup that Sandy Alderson orchestrated with the Toronto Blue Jays when he traded away R.A. Dickey. You’ve seen Travis d’Arnaud and have seen him shine as a starting catcher. You’ve witnessed the emergence of Noah Syndergaard as an astonishing pitching talent and now Becerra has begun to display an almost astonishing level of talent.
When he first joined the Mets in 2013, he had only played 11 games for the Blue Jays GCL affiliate. After a ho-hum season with the GCL Mets few people thought much of his inclusion in the blockbuster deal. Then in 2014 he took some major strides as a member of the Kingsport Mets.
Last year, at the age of 20, he shone brightly in Savannah managing a .290/.342/.423 slash line displaying solid power and speed. It seemed that Becerra would eventually make it to the majors as a Plus right fielder. Now, it seems that might have been selling him short.
Thus far, in 2016, Becerra has blossomed into a tremendous contact hitter. Through 23 games he’s hitting .415 and only has 13 strikeouts. While he’s not hitting a ton of doubles and hasn’t notched his first home run or stolen base of the season, he is hitting .541 over his last 10 games and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.
Expect the power to arrive shortly as it’s clear he’s figured out the pitchers of Advanced A in short order. It’s entirely conceivable that he’ll make his way to AA this year and even make some buzz as a potential replacement for Yoenis Cespedes.
AAA: Las Vegas 51s
Travis Taijeron back to old habits – Here come the Ks. He’s got 15 over the last 10 games.
Gavin Cecchini is getting hot – He’s hit .441 over the last 10 games.
Welcome back Dilson Herrera – In his first game back from a minor injury, Herrera had a major impact. On 5/3 Herrera enjoyed a triple and two home runs.
Brandon Nimmo starting to come around – He’s not developing into a star player but he could be a capable leadoff option.
Gabriel Ynoa is ready to offer innings – He’s not a star and he’s not that special but he’s ready to pitch in the majors.
Josh Smoker is next in line – Should the Mets need a relief pitcher, Smoker will be ready.
AA: Binghamton Mets
I could have easily written more about Dominic Smith – If Becerra hadn’t been burning hotter than the sun I might have been more able to mention Smith and that his power seems to finally be manifesting.
Matt Oberste is pretty solid – He’s not a Top Prospect but he does have power and hitting chops.
More of the same for Robert Gsellman – He’s very good but not good enough to crack the Met rotation.
A+: St. Lucie Mets
Amed Rosario stays hot – 16 hits, 5 walks and 11 RBI in his last 10 games. Also he’s only struck out 4 times.
Tim Peterson is a very good reliever – His k/9 is almost 18 and his whip is only 0.41 which is pretty darned impressive.
A: Columbia Fireflies
Tucker Tharp is hitting but – He’s also 24 and way too old to be in Columbia.
David Thompson is for real – He’s got power and enough hitting talent to be a major asset to the Mets.
Kevin Canelon has a good outing – 5 innings pitched with 1 hit, 1 walk and 7 strikeouts.
The Mets have this lefty in AAA: 2.48 ERA, 32 inn, 34 K’s, 8 BB’s, and is batting .375. I think he would be a nice complement to this rotation, and maybe even go six starters during the summer to help the guys pitch deep into October without a burnout. What do you think?
Sean Gilmartin will be the first line of defense if an injury occurs that allows him multiple starts. The Mets have Ynoa and Montero as lower ceiling options for spot starts.
Ignore any pitcher’s hitting stats with that small a sample size.
Whose place does he take, Colon,Wheeler, or Verret!
Do you have an opinion on the 24th-25th man usefulness – separated out offense and defense – for Ty Kelly, Matt Reynolds and T.J. Rivera?
Contact:
Rivera>Reynolds>Kelly
Power:
Kelly>Reynolds>Rivera
Speed:
All about meh…
Defense:
Reynolds>Rivera>Kelly
Kelly is more of an outfielder who dabbles in infield.
All are adequate 24th/25th men but none have the overall hitting potential of Wilmer Flores… who I know you aren’t a fan of.
It’ll never be a Glove Show, but Flores can probably play…if his bat plays. He has just 48 ab’s…and it’s really been a sporadic schedule for him. This is tough duty for any player…and especially for a young player.
Part of managing a bench with MLB level depth is to feed it some ab’s. the schedule hasn’t been very cooperative. Collins needs to force some ab’s for 2of 3— Lagares/d’Aza/Flores. Otherwise, they’ll give you nothing.
I just took a hard look at Becerra’s stats and unless he’s showing something in-game that doesn’t make it to the box scores, i don’t see what’s to be excited about.
Stats are very Lagarish, who is beyond useless against lefties and is heavily reliant on singles finding holes. Walks a bit more than Lagares, but not by much. Strikouts not crazy, but probably too much for a contact hitter, although it is pretty low this year. Don’t see much power, but i guess we’ll keep hearing the “Power will come” argument that accompanies every prospect and only occasionally ever does. An ISO of <120 in the minors doesn't bode well for any sort of power in the majors
I’m thinking just making the majors should be his goal.
He’s had an injured shoulder, hasn’t played in field much, and obviously it s limited his power this season. Big kid, he’s hit for power in previous seasons.
Hitting over .400 is nothing to sneer at.
Name, the doom and gloom is pretty absurd. Becerra played in Savannah in 2015 and hit 27 doubles, 3 triples and 9 home runs. The power should come, and soon. He began the season injured and is seeing advanced A pitching for the first time. He’s also hitting over .400 with excellent plate control. There is a lot to be excited about.
For a Lagarish (awesome turn of phrase by the way) comparison. At the age of 20 Lagares played 47 games for Savannah and managed 6 doubles and 2 triples with 0 home runs. He also struck out 42 times.
Majors is the goal and majors is the projection.
I’m not totally down on this kid, i just don’t think he’s done enough to get excited about. I know you’re not going to agree and will continue to use the “it will come” argument, but he’s shown very little power so far in his career, even though he’s been young, and it’s a paltry .070 this season. Power translates to the major league, singles will stop finding holes with better pitching and better fielding.
If i had to choose a player to represent what i meant by “making the major leagues should be his goal”, it might be someone like Darrell Ceciliani. But unlike Ceciliani, Becerra will always have some name recognition because he was part of the RA dickey deal, so maybe he’s more like a Mdd, who always seemed like he was going to get a shot in the majors, and unless Becerra completely flops, he likely will get a shot in the majors as well.
Alderson finally had the balls to drop Becerra from the 40 man. About time. Not sure if he cleared waivers and will remain with the org.
He completely flopped in A+ ball this year and it’s now looking more likely he’ll follow the Cesar Puello path, who after stumbling around for a few years in AAA, finally made it to the majors this year for a cup of coffee.
Young at Single A…. Not a great or necessary place to be too stay focused
That is. Stat focused