With how often I fawn over a certain first base prospect, you might forget that I ranked Andres Gimenez #1 overall in the Met system. You might also forget this because my mentions of the young shortstop have been few and far between. That can be credited to his learning curve in Advanced A (Port St. Lucie) as much as anything else.
In April, Gimenez struggled. He struck out 24 times in 22 games and walked only 5 times. He still was able to show some pop but nobody in Port St. Lucie has really looked phenomenal just yet.
May has been a different story and the last two weeks in particular have seen tremendous strides for a player who could have quite the future. In May Gimenez has played 19 games and struck out only 10 times and while he’s hit less home runs he’s stolen 10 bases. This has pushed his 2018 numbers up into the realm of his career minor league numbers giving him a .293/.359/.442 batting line.
Gimenez came up from the DSL back in 2017 with some high praise and promise attached to himself. He had managed a .992 OPS between the two clubs and all at the ripe old age of seventeen. Then, as a surprise to some, the Mets pushed him past Rookie Ball and Brooklyn and right into the fires of the South Atlantic League.
As an eighteen year old players his .265/.346/.349 line might not seem that impressive but with the way that the league hurts hitters and helps pitchers it actually made Gimenez profile as one of the top hitting prospects on the Columbia Fireflies team.
Should his hot streak continue into June (he’s hitting.371 over his last 10 games) the Mets might consider Gimenez for a mid-season promotion which would certainly make him part of the 2019 Mets narrative.
AAA:
Kevin Kaczmarski is back – He’s done with his rehab and is back in the middle of the Las Vegas lineup.
Dominic Smith is not impressing – He has only hit .231 in his last 10 games. He should be crushing the ball in AAA if he expects to make it in the majors. At some point the fans will demand he produce or make way for the prospect he’s blocking.
Chris Flexen and Corey Oswalt are proving to be up to the challenge – Their AAA numbers are in line with the higher expectations we had for the AAA rotation before the major league injuries and failures of Matt Harvey became a problem.
AA:
Peter Alonso going through a minor slump – He’s still got 3 home runs and only 9 strikeouts during this past 10 games.
Jeff McNeil is demanding a promotion – He’s 26 years old so he has nothing much to prove in AA and he’s been hitting everything in sight.
Jhoan Urena is quietly surging – Week by week his batting average is moving higher and higher. FYI, this third base prospect has been shifted into the outfield.
A+:
Anthony Dimino is getting back onto the catching radar – He is the only other person on the Port St. Lucie team who is currently hitting.
A:
Jeremy Vasquez is ready for promotion – His eye is clearly more advanced than the South Atlantic League and he’s old enough to be challenged.
Joe Cavallaro also looking like a mid-season candidate – With 7 starts under his belt he’s looking more and more like a player who is ready for the next step.
Another “Ace” outing for David Peterson – Another start, another 6.2 innings and 7 more walkless strikeouts.
Anthony Kay isn’t far behind – His last outing was his best of the season. 5 hits, 1 earned run, 1 walk and 8 strikeouts over 7.0 inning pitched.
The scouting reports that I can search are from 2017—so they’re based on the original observation and measures of a 16-17 year old kid. I’d be interested in seeing more about his present physical tools and speed.
He ran a 700 OPS in the SAL as an 18 year old, and he’s near 800 OPS in A+ Lucie. The FSL is a real league with advanced college Pitchers…all of the pitchers there have demonstrated something to get there. He’s been very impressive, statistically.
Is he a young competent player (Reuben Tejada), or is there athleticism and skill to project for more?
He already seems like more of a complete package than Tejada but I never was a fan of Ruben.
Love these reports David.
Cant help but wonder if Gimenez is the shortstop of the future, and with a move of Rosario to 2B? Or is Gimenez a more likely candidate to move to 2B?
I confess, Rosario has made a lot of defensive miscues that never seemed to be a deal moving through the pipeline.
Honestly, I believe that Gimenez has pretty good defensive scouting so it seems that Rosario would shift. I could see Rosario adding muscle and moving to third.