Every Met fan, at this point, has heard the name Amed Rosario. He was first signed by the Mets in 2013 and the expectations were set fairly high for a player who was still only 17. International signees can be a bit of a gamble as they are often drafted before they’ve fully grown into themselves. Rosario was drafted as a shortstop (most of the top prospects are) and scouts projected that an eventual move to third might be on the horizon.
Before you get too far ahead of yourselves Rosario doesn’t need to be shifted off of shortstop. He’s got a strong arm, soft hands and good range. However, with Jose Reyes struggling, David Wright near permanently assigned to the DL and Wilmer Flores being needlessly restricted to only facing lefties, perhaps the Mets could get creative.
I would strongly discourage the Mets from shifting Rosario to third. His greatest value to the team is at short and he’s a better fielding shortstop than Asdrubal Cabrera. Perhaps another idea would be to shift Cabrera to third (a position his justifiably diminishing range is better suited to) and having Rosario play shortstop.
Thus far, in his first glimpse of AAA, Rosario is hitting well, albeit without power: .357/.391/.357, 0 XBH, 3 SB, 6 K. It seems that Las Vegas is only ballooning his numbers above where they already were in AA. Once he clears Super Two status expect the Mets to seriously discuss his promotion.
AAA: Las Vegas 51s
Dominic Smith not starting slow – Through 11 games he has a .948 OPS with 5 XBH and isn’t striking out too often. All really great things to see.
Gavin Cecchini is a patient man – Yes, he’s only hitting .250 to start the year but his OBP is over .350 and his batting average is on the rise.
Travis Taijeron is hitting… but – he’s also striking out a ton. 10 k’s in 11 games is more of what we’ve come to expect from him.
David Roseboom isn’t striking people out – Instead he’s just not letting them on base. He’s got a 0.60 WHIP through 5.0 IP this young season.
AA: Binghamton Rumble Ponies
P.J. Conlon steady so far – His second outing was similar to his first except he pitched 1 additional inning and through no walks.
Luis Guillorme is continuing a fine spring – He impressed at camp this spring and continues hitting in Binghamton to the tune of a 1.015 OPS.
Matt Oberste shouldn’t be in AA – His .881 OPS is pretty good but his 7 walks are even more telling.
A+: Port St. Lucie Mets
Justin Dunn continues to struggle – It wasn’t as bad as his first outing but to give up 8 hits and 2 walks in 5.1 IP isn’t part of the plan.
Wuilmer Becerra sees mixed results – On the one hand he is hitting: .378/.455/.459. On the other he’s got 11 Ks in 10 games.
Peter Alonso scuffling – Things have not been awful but he’s still adjusting to AA.
Patrick Mazeika still looks good – He’s got a .973 OPS and as many walks (4) as strikeouts.
Jhoan Urena making a bid for relevance – He fell off the radar with disappointing seasons in 2015 and 2016 but he’s hitting in 2017 and is still only 22.
Anthony Dimino already promoted – He started the year in Columbia but quickly got a promotion to Port St. Lucie.
Nabil Crismatt is still worthy of praise – It’s another year and Crismatt just keeps producing quality starts.
A: Columbia Fireflies
Desmond Lindsay not looking great – He’s struck out a lot and he’s not hitting.
Dash Winningham still on track – Players ranked 50th out of 50 often fall off the rankings but Winningham is poised to move up them.
The Pitchers of Columbia Shine – Merandy Gonzalez, Jordan Humphries and Colin Holderman have all impressed thus far.
- Gonzalez: 13.2 IP, 7 Hits, 1 Walk and 11 Ks
- Humphries: 12.2 IP, 6 Hits, 1 Walk and 18 Ks
- Holderman: 8.0 IP, 1 Hit, 0 Walks and 11 Ks
You make Cabrera sound like an old man. He’s still solid in the field, even if he isn’t flashy.
My guess is the front office gives Jose every chance to succeed, and then some. If he still doesn’t produce, I don’t think they’ll call up Rosario unless he’s deemed ready. Easier to find a corner infielder than a shortstop.
Asdrubal Cabrera isn’t an old man but his range is not as good as Rosario’s is.
I foresee that option next year for sure with Rosario at short and Cabrera at third. Also Dom Smith at first and Walker back at second. I don’t see Duda coming back in 2018 and the captain will either be retired or playing sporadically.
What’s going on with Lindsay? I expected to see him advancing through the system.
He’s walking a lot and striking out a ton. It could be that coaches are instructing him to wait until the third pitch of an at bat to start thinking about swinging or he could just be having trouble with the pitching of the SAL.
Why anyone is surprised that Reyes isn’t hitting shouldn’t come as a shocker and they didn’t obviously watch him the past couple of seasons. This isn’t the Reyes most remember his 1st stint with the Mets at this point he’s a bench bat nothing more. The Mets have been so desperate for a lead off bat they are forcing him into the lineup which is another bad decision by Collins.
Gavin Cecchini would be the best candidate to lead off for the Mets. He’s not a base stealer but he should be a .300 hitter with a .400+ OBP.
Brandon Nimmo would be a good lead-off player too but no room for him.
Nimmo is still hurt and needs to strike out less to be a true lead-off option. It’s possible though, certainly.
A 300 hitter? HMmm, let’s think about that.
It appears you are stating that it shouldn’t be a shocker that anyone is surprised that Reyes isn’t hitting.. which I think is the opposite of the point you are trying to make.. nevertheless… based upon last year’s half season results with the Mets and his career slash line his current below.100 OBP was not anticipated.. in fact you could say that about nearly any league average or better mlb player. But April is just that… April, lets talk at the end of May.
Great post.
I see that Becerra is DHing. Still having shoulder problems? Not loving this.
Here’s a question that you could answer with a post, if you are so inclined: What are realistic immediate options for the bullpen down on the farm? Imagine that Mets jettison Montero and Edgin. Who is behind Seward?
Does anyone seem promising, rather than, say, merely next in line?
Chasen Bradford has been the best RP for Vegas.
Anticipate an early season trade if the pen does not stabilize—a decent pen “functionary” on a lousy team. Prospects in exchange for Hopespects/Suspects
Has everyone forgotten Familia?
“Wilmer Flores being needlessly restricted to only facing lefties”… I love wilmer but he has so far shown he can not hit righties.
Rosario is close but not quite ready. When he is ready, he should get the majority of starts and handled similarly to how Conforto was handled in 2015. Cabrera would then be moved over to third base. It would be great if Rosario keeps developing and have this occur in the summer of 2017. Reyes troubles should not accelerate Rosario’s promotion, Rosario’s development should be the deciding factor.
Dominic Smith appears to have hit his stride. Cecchini also seems to be a player. It is too bad Nimmo is hurt because he may have lost out on an opportunity when Lagares was injured.
With another multi-hit game and another homer last night I’d agree that Smith is the most ready but the Mets have no position for Smith to play until Lucas Duda has moved on. It’s one heck of an insurance policy for Duda’s gimpy back.
I understand that Smith is the future but let’s not twist the performances of Vegas as automatic MLB ready hitters.
Does statcast extend to milb? The desert can skew ops but not exit velocity (hard hut ball rate). I wonder what Smiths is.