We’ve talked about promotion Smith and Rosario to help the floundering Flushing Mets but both the team is hesitant to throw those players into roles as potential saviors of the franchise. Meanwhile, there are a few players who can help the big league club right away and potentially stop the bleeding until we get off the injury roller coaster.
Rafael Montero started the season with the major league squad but struggled to keep his role as a long reliever for long. Since his demotion, the Mets have stretched him out in Vegas. He has two starts under his belt and the results have been very promising.
- 0 IP, 2 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 Walks, 7 Strikeouts
- 1 IP, 2 Hits, 2 Runs, 3 Walks, 9 Strikeouts
With Noah Syndergaard going onto the disabled list, Montero is likely to get another shot at the rotation.
Brandon Nimmo was having a fine spring when an injury knocked him from the major league roster. His injury did, thankfully, keep Michael Conforto on the club, but it meant the Mets went into the season without their ideal bench. Now, Nimmo has 5 rehab games under his belt and looks to join the Mets shortly.
As has been discussed at length, the Mets have no ideal candidate to lead off for the team and are playing with the likes of Curtis Granderson covering center field. When Nimmo returns to the Mets, the hope would be that he and Juan Lagares could platoon in center with Jay Bruce shifting back to first.
AAA: Las Vegas 51s
Amed Rosario it making it hard – Sandy Alderson may soon not have a choice but to promote Smith, who is tearing AAA apart. He has a .474 batting average with 4 stolen bases over his last 10 games.
Dominic Smith keeping pace – While Smith is not exploding off the charts he has managed to avoid any slumps in this young season.
Gavin Cecchini still struggling – He’s not been terrible as he had a 5 game hit streak broken last night but that batting average is uncharacteristically low.
Travis Taijeron has a good week – Meaning he played more games than he struck out.
Tyler Pill looks shockingly perfect – How is this happening? Pill has 29.1 innings under his belt over 5 starts and hasn’t given up a single run. Vegas is notoriously bad for non-power pitchers.
AA: Binghamton Rumble Ponies
P.J. Conlon stumbles – Nothing terrible but he’s starting showing some cracks. Still on track to have a solid year in AA.
Luis Guillorme is leading the offense? – The defensive shortstop has been the best offensive player for a lackluster team in Binghamton.
That’s more like it, Corey Oswalt! – After starting the year with a few so-so starts Oswalt turned out a great outing on the 26th.
Tim Peterson figures out AA – In 2016 Peterson was phenomenal in Port St. Lucie but struggled in Binghamton. Not anymore.
A+: Port St. Lucie Mets
Justin Dunn is… I guess… a little… better – 6.0 innings, no walks… 8 hits and 4 earned runs.
Wuilmer Becerra is reminding us of 2016 – After a hot start, Becerra has cooled off mightily and is striking out a ton.
Peter Alonso out – He has not played since 4/11.
Patrick Mazeika hitting more and more – The OPS is up to .964 as Mazeika looks more and more like a major league hitter.
Jhoan Urena might be back on track – We had grown cold on Urena but he’s once again hitting well.
Anthony Dimino is 100% a hitter – The versatile player (plays 1st, 3rd and catches) has hit .390/.447/.415 since being promoted to Advance A.
Nabil Crismatt struggles more – After a blip of a bad outing Crismatt throws a stinker, 11 hits and 7 earned runs.
Guess who’s back? Jeff McNeil – Not only is he back but he’s proving he belongs.
Andrew Church rebounds – After two bad starts he had a nice outing on the 29th.
A: Columbia Fireflies
Desmond Lindsay signs of life – Finally! The last four games have shown us a much better version of our outfield prospect.
Guess who’s hitting? Tim Tebow – At only 8 years older than the rest of the competition he’s managing to look like a solid hitter in the SAL.
Merandy Gonzalez solid workhorse – He’s not as flashy as Humphries but he’s pretty darned impressive.
Jordan Humphries rockets up the board – He’s got 40 strikeouts in 31.2 innings and 5 starts. That’s crazy!
Nimmo should come up and be given an opportunity with the Duda set back.
Tyler Pill was my most likely to be traded for Kelly Johnson. Why not promote him and sign Kelly Johnson for a daily double.
The saying is fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me.
But for Montero, we are now up to fool me for the hundredth time, shame on us for even having this discussion and why didn’t we sell him to a Japanese club.
It’s the biggest mistake giving this guy another chance. Why we didn’t DFA him for Familia’s spot on the 40 man is beyond comprehension.
^ +1
Thank. You. Name.
In a season (already) full of questionable player management, promoting Montero to start again would be the worst.