If you weren’t paying attention, you might have missed that the Mets have started their 2017 Top Draft Pick in Columbia, instead of aggressively promoting him to Advanced A. Often times you see collegiate pitchers skip over the Full Season A leagues because teams are eager to get them to the majors. Afterall David Peterson is already 22 years old (Dominic Smith is only 5 months older) and the Mets want to get the most value they can out of his pick.
Meanwhile, the most likely culprit in this Peterson assignment is likely to be Justin Dunn. The Mets promoted Dunn to Port St. Lucie to begin his 2017 campaign and the results were awful. Instead the Mets delayed Peterson’s debut and began his season in the lower league. Being gun shy would make a lot of sense as Dunn’s bad season has led to the Met farm system being rated in the bottom third of baseball.
Another possible reason is that the Mets also have another talented lefty starting his year in the South Atlantic League. Anthony Kay (Who is 23) hadn’t pitched a single major league inning since he was drafted in 2016 and it is possible that the Mets wanted these two promising southpaws to learn together.
Whatever the reason, Peterson has pitched in several games and the results are pretty mixed:
● Game 1: 6.0 IP, 4 Hits, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
● Game 2: 5.2 IP, 9 Hits, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
● Game 3: 5.0 IP, 4 Hits, 0 ER, 4 BB, 6 K
The Mets are hoping that Peterson and Kay both round into form quickly as I’m sure they’d like both pitchers to finish their years in Port St. Lucie. Peterson is likely to pitch again soon and we should how to see more of him on my weekly rundown.
AAA:
Is Dominic Smith losing stock? – He’s hit .325 in the last 10 games and somehow I think the Mets and their fans have moved on.
Gavin Cecchini should be in the majors, not Jose Reyes – Anyone who doesn’t agree is wrong and also managing the Mets.
If the Mets drop Adrian Gonzalez, Bryce Brentz may get a call – He’s probably the best outfielder in Las Vegas and would fill the vacancy created by Jay Bruce’s move to first.
Luis Guillorme is waking up – Hitting .406 with 4 walks in his last 10 games.
AA:
Peter Alonso the myth the legend – His hitting streak (which had a ton of power in it) came to an end on the 5th. Hopefully he picks up where he left off later today.
Jeff McNeil is gonna make the majors eventually – Thanks to a couple of diners his OPS is above 1.000 for the year.
Tim Tebow is bad… very bad – Sure, when he hits, he has power but he has 17 K’s in his last 10 games.
Jhoan Urena is still relevant – He hasn’t been great but he’s starting to show signs of life.
What can we say about Nabil Crismatt? – He limits walks and hits and manages to strike people out without great stuff. I really like him, even if the Mets appear to be ho-hum on his profile.
A+:
Andres Gimenez is looking better – He’s not yet crushing the ball but he’s no longer striking out too much.
Justin Dunn is becoming the team’s Ace – I can’t say that Dunn is showing me “Ace” numbers yet but he’s been the best pitcher for the Port St. Lucie staff.
Stephen Nogosek looks like a reliever to watch – Hard to get too pumped over a reliever who is 2-3 years from the majors, but he’s been sharp.
A:
Jeremy Vasquez remains a great story – He’s proving to be more than a match for Low-A and should soon see a promotion to Port St. Lucie.
Walter Rasquin out for doping – The surprise success of Rasquin is explained as he now serves out a 50-game suspension.
Joe Cavallaro is clearly the “Ace” of the staff – While there are a number of promising starters on the Fireflies the only one with consistent success is Cavallaro.
Blake Tiberi bounces back – Just when we thought he was coming crashing down to earth, Tiberi shows more signs of life.
360 Degrees of Insight:
I polled the pundits at Mets360 regarding what the Mets should do with their first base situation and the results were very uniform:
● Brian Joura – “Move Jay Bruce to 1B, insert Brandon Nimmo into the lineup, leave Smith and Alonso where they are.”
● Matt Netter – “DFA Gonzalez and let Flores and Bruce split time at first for the month of May and then reevaluate Dom Smith. This will open the door for Nimmo and Lagares to get more regular playing time as well.”
● Charlie Hangley – “Play out the test of the season with a Wilmer Flores/Jay Bruce platoon — Bruce in RF when Flores plays 1B.”
● John Fox – “I think the Flores/Bruce platoon is the way to go.”
● David Groveman – “With 2018 slipping away, start with a platoon at first base of Jay Bruce and Wilmer Flores but if the Mets are truly out of things work to move Bruce and Flores and give Dominic Smith an extended chance to prove himself. Likewise, expose Peter Alonso to AAA pitching.
I don’t believe the initial assignment means very much…if anything, it’s an opportunity for a Young Player to get maximum contact throughout the organization–“Getting to know you” kind of stuff with coaches and players.
Meanwhile, Peterson is settling in to “The Mets Way”…. 8-10 or so good starts and he probably jumps somewhere in June…and maybe more later.
I think you came up with two pretty good reasons for the assignment and I hadn’t considered the second one previously.
Peterson had a great outing Monday night, making that second start stick out more. A couple of more outings like that and Peterson will force the Mets’ hand into a promotion before the AS break.
Mets just dealt Harvey to the Reds.
This thread is about the Mets’ minor league system. Please put all items not related to the original article into the open threads, which are published on Mondays and Fridays.