Not everyone can be Alex Bregman, but when they played the All Star futures game on Sunday night, we had hoped that Dominic Smith (U.S. Futures’ starting first baseman) might make a show of his hitting potential. While Bregman looked brilliant (going 3 for 4 with a double and a triple) Smith was a lowly 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
This was unfortunate considering the up-tick in Smith’s production over the last few weeks. Thus far, in July, he had managed a phenomenal 1.226 OPS to start his season. Much of that success coinciding with the promotion of Amed Rosario.
Rosario entered the Futures Games in the 5th inning only to ground out to Bregman. In the 9th, Rosario stepped to the plate with a chance to put the game out of reach. With Francisco Mejia on second and Herrera on first, he faced down Ryne Stanek. After facing down four pitches at or above 99 MPH Rosario singled to load the bases.
In 59 at bats at the AA level, Rosario has hit .424/.462/.610 with 8 extra base hits. Not all of Rosario’s exploits have been perfect as he hasn’t shown much patience at the plate. With him hitting the cover off the ball, that won’t bother anyone, but should the hits stop falling the lack of walks will begin to tell. For those that love their sabermetrics, his BAbip is .500 at the moment.
Dilson Herrera, the Mets top second base prospect, entered the game in the 7th inning and was swiftly called out on strikes in his first at bat before driving in a run in the 9th on a questionable single.
Strikeouts may ultimately lead to Herrera’s downfall in the majors. With 62 strikeouts in 73 games and only 20 walks to his credit, it becomes harder and harder to see a bright MLB future in the cards for Herrera.
AAA: Las Vegas 51s
Michael Conforto remembering what hitting feels like – He’s got a .991 OPS in AAA and will hopefully be ready to rejoin the Mets who could sure use his bat in their lineup.
Gavin Cecchini needs to mind his glove work – He’s hitting, he’s getting on base but that .913 fielding percentage won’t cut it.
Kevin Plawecki using his MLB experience – Hitting .317/.396/.610 in AAA sure makes Plawecki look like a promising prospect again.
A+: Port St. Lucie Mets
P.J. Conlon keeps rolling after his promotion – His first four games in after his promotion have gone fairly well.
A: Columbia Fireflies
Eudor Garcia is back in action – After serving his suspension for PEDs, Garcia has returned to game action and has continued to hit.
A-: Brooklyn Cyclones
Colby Woodmansee is worth seeing – The 5th round pick is doing well in his debut for Brooklyn. An .826 OPS is very impressive in a league not known for offense.
R1: Kingsport Mets
Thomas Szapucki looks like the next Met Ace – His results in four starts are nothing short of greatness. He racks of strikeouts to a rate rarely seen in the ranks of starting pitchers.
With the Dilson’s star collecting a lot of tarnish, what is the destiny of 2B with the Mets. Obviously, its not gonna be Murphy, or whatever alien decided to inhabit his body, and Walker will be commanding a large sum. Is it time to think of getting Flores to be the guy at 2B? Looking his career over, his highest OPS comes from 2B (really 1B, but very few games played). And sure he has more attempts at SS, but his days playing short for the Mets are over. He is now 3rd, heading to 4th in positional depth there behind Cabrera, Reyes, and Rosario. We can plainly see he cannot handle 3B except to have a person at the position. He lacks the agility, foot speed, arm accuracy, arm strength, and overall speed to manage the position at an above average clip. 2B is different, mainly because he basically can catch things, and has the benefit of a shorter distance throwing to 1B. Im not sure how killer he would be pairing with Cabrera at SS for DPs, but Cabrera has shown us he can still play the position. With the speed of Rosario that will be different entirely. So I cant help but wonder if his bat grows into a net positive putting him in a place where he can be a better ball player. Realistically, a career sub .700 OPS is not gonna cut it, but his near .800 from 2B intrigues me.
I’m not a big believer in his OPS differentials…but Wilmer has an opportunity to prove his bat.
Hererra—I don;t quite get the Tarnish you refer to.
I know it’s been well noted that there’s a Vegas effect for hitters…that said, there’s a AAA effect for All “Prospects” …the Prospects and the Pretenders perform similarly at high Minor League Levels…and the Boarderline 24-28 year old :”AAAA” guys perform spectacularly at a variety of places from Buffalo to Las Vegas. It’s not as simple as using the Den Decker/Kirk/Soup MILB-MLB conversion table and applying it to your next guy.
Hererra has talent and performance…. there is no magic to determining whether he’s Ready…but there will be a decision that he’s ready for His Shot. Then, he gets to prove whether he’s a player or not.
Herrerra is just 22 and is working in AAA to improve having been called up to the major leagues too soon both seasons.
It’s way too early to pronounce this kid a bust.
Agreed. He’s also been injured for much of the season. He’s a catalyst when he’s in the lineup.
Next year in Vegas, I’d go w/ Rosario at SS and shift Cecchini to 2B.
In Flushing, could be either Flores or Herrera at 2B. It is certainly not clear to me that Herrera is the better overall player.
Could be that Herrera gets flipped. Could be that Cecchini is the better player. Hard to say.
Seems like the Mets do have some in-house insurance if they want to gamble on Herrera.
Club needs the real Michael Conforto to please stand up — and quickly.
Random Fact: Neil Walker, only 6 doubles in 291 ABs.
Surprising.
He wont be a Met next year. I think Herrera is still a wild card. The whole system is beginning to unravel in terms of having healthy overlapping strengths.
Its too early to proclaim this season over, but we are in a starting pitching jam, and facing offensive production issues. Thats alot to solve even with DWs salary being covered mostly by insurance. I even heard someone on MLB radio talk about Clay Bucholz of all people as someone this team needs. If hes the answer then we got serious problems.
We started the year counting the first rounder the Mets will gain for Walker turning down a qualifying offer. But at this point, can you offer him one?
Unless you have 3 big starters Healthy and Raging—Matz, Thor, deGrom— and you’re in the thick of it, there is no sense in trading for a 2nd level Pitcher.
It would make more sense to Market your players—all available except your 5 dream starting pitchers, Conforto, Rosario.
healthy and raging? umm, are you watching the games?
Matz, bone spur stuation highly worrying.
Thor, removed from game and ASG, suffering from dead arm from over use
deGrom…has hopefully just turned the corner.
Your appraisal does not comport with apparent reality.
Lets start looking at the future since the Futures Game has just been played.
Smith just turned 21, has 10 homeruns and a 777 OPS. He needs a solid 2017 if he is going to replace Duda in 2018. He may not be ready. Will Smith have a better career than Loney has had? Smith seems to be in the Loney mold.
2017 will be the year Herrera will get a shot at 2B but he has to beat out Flores. Flores needs to solidify his hold by having a solid second half. Herrera seems to be the better all around player.
Rosario, based on his positive development, should be taking over for Cabrera in 2018.
Can the Mets have a 2018 outfield of Cespedes, Lagares/Nimmo, and Conforto?
TDA should still be catching with Plawecki (?) as the backup if he learns to hit ML pitching.
There doesn’t seem to be anyone readily available in the system to take over 3B and that is a major concern. This is where the free agent money will need to be spent or a major trade made.
Personally, I am high on Conforto, Rosario,Herrera and TDA to be very good major leaguers. I believe with their pitching core and these position players that the Mets are a playoff caliber team. I think the future is bright.
Chris… Did you notice the word “Unless”???
Oops my bad. Apologies offered.
I see a time coming when Baseball Heads like Us will be part of Minor League Tours…maybe a team or two over several days.
We can go and Boo all the Prospects who are not progressing as well/fast as we like.
Actually, Dom’s futures game performance was not bad at all. In his first AB, he hit a grounder to the right side of the infield with a runner on 2b and no outs, moving the runner to 3rd where he could score on a sac fly (he didn’t, but that wasn’t Dom’s problem). He also drove in a runner with an out. Making productive outs is a trait that the MLB club needs desperately.
Mikey, seems like when players first come up they know that. However, no one stresses it on the big level on 80% of the teams. Everyone is too concerned with giving up an out.