Mets Minors: Peter Alonso and the first base logjam

The Mets winning big thanks to a nice 3-for-6 outing from Adrian Gonzalez it’s more apparent than earlier why the Mets have a bit of a logjam on their hands. The Mets have Gonzalez, Wilmer Flores and Jay Bruce in the majors which is holding Dominic Smith in AAA and that, in turn, leaves poor Peter Alonso in AA.

What many fans don’t realize, because they hear about names in the minors but don’t necessarily follow them religiously, is that Smith is about six months younger than Alonso. We think of Alonso as a younger player because he’s been around the Met organization less long. That being said, people are justifiably more excited about Alonso’s offensive potential at the moment and his delay in AA is going to begin to bother them.

Alonso is currently destroying the ball in Binghamton where he is hitting .444 over his last 10 games with 9 walks and 7 strikeouts. He also has a home run in each of his last 4 games for a total of 7, on the year. Altogether he’s got 13 extra base hits in 20 games and an OPS of 1.278 for a league that is known to be fairly balanced between hitting and pitching numbers.

This 20 game showing surpasses even his 2017 numbers in AA where he showed in 11 games that he was ready for his midseason promotion.

Meanwhile, Dominic Smith isn’t playing poorly. Smith boasts an .837 OPS in Las Vegas and has been on a hitting tear with 7 hits in his last 3 games. The problem here is that the PCL inflates numbers and probably means that Smiths .837 OPS in AAA might equate to a sub .700 OPS in the majors.

To make matters worse, he’s been striking out. With 23 strikeouts in 21 games the Mets need to be concerned that their contact hitting prospect is doing something wrong at the plate.

The silver lining is that his defense, which had always been scouted well (prior to 2017), has been solid this season.

So, what do the Mets do with two promising prospects who are actively affecting one another on their race for the majors? Short of cutting Adrian Gonzalez, I’m not entirely sure.

AAA:

Gavin Cecchini comes on strong – He’s got his OPS over .900 and starts to be relevant with Jose Reyes achieving nothing in the majors.

Bryce Brentz is an interesting name – The former Boston prospect is hitting well in AAA and could be a useful piece if injuries befall the Met outfield.

Luis Guillorme is proving me right – I don’t want to be right but he isn’t looking like much of a hitter.

Chris Flexen strong against Albuquerque – He’s one of the Mets best trade chips with his major league experience and readiness.

Tim Peterson deserves a call – The righty should be up in the Met bullpen in the near future.

AA:

Jeff McNeil back on track to reach the bench – He’s not a big name guy but he’s versatile and gets hits when he’s healthy.

Patrick Mazeika on a tear – After a slow start, he’s got a .325 batting average with 3 home runs over his last 10 games.

Nabil Crismatt the Ace of the staff – He’s been consistent and strong throughout the early season.

Tyler Bashlor settles into closers role – He’s been strong through the early season and should be promoted to AAA before the season is over.

A+:

Andres Gimenez is giving me concerns – The strikeouts are a serious problem for this promising prospect.

It’s time for Desmond Lindsay to produce – We talked about his breakout potential but he hasn’t lived up to it.

Justin Dunn has been pretty good through 5 starts – He’s not pitching like an “Ace” yet but he’s better than he was in 2017.

A:

Jeremy Vasquez is most of Columbia’s offense – Some players are slowed by the SAL but Vasquez hasn’t been.

Walter Rasquin is proving to be miscast – The Fireflies keep batting him late in the order but he’s hitting more than almost anyone not names Jeremy Vasquez.

Joe Cavallaro looks like Mr. Consistency – His outings are a little ho-hum but he gets the job done.

Tony Dibrell and Chris Viall have crazy power numbers – Both have over 30 strikeouts in under 20 innings which is a glaringly good stat for starters.