Tom Brennan: Recap of Mets System Action

“HEY! HOW'D IT GO LAST NIGHT?” 

Mets score 8 but surrender 10.  Jose Quintana (1-3) gave up 8 runs in under 3 innings and has a seeming extreme aversion to winning games.  

How else do you explain this jaw-dropping stat for Jose:

Just 10 credited wins in 63 starts and 22 relief outings (85 total outings) from 2020 thru 2024?   Heck, Reed Garrett won 5 games in a month!

Brett Baty awakens with a 3 run jack and 3 hits.  May this will propel him.

Double and 2 RBIs for Francisco Lindor.  He now has 17 RBIs, an incredible number considering his hitting collapse in the season's first 2 weeks.

Dedniel Nunez was nice in long relief. 2.1 IP, one hit (solo HR), 3 Ks.  6.1 innings for the 27 y/o rookie so far, 10 Ks.  Like it.  Hard throwing Dedniel missed all of 2021 and most of the first 2 months of 2022, and of course all of 2020, which is how he becomes a 27 year old rookie.

AAA

10-1 ugly loss.

Mark Vientos, in first at bat since his demotion, was hit by a friggin' pitch and came out of the game.  Dude can't catch a break.  I've seen no report yet on that.

Justin Jarvis struggled but threw 4 scoreless innings.  

Then Griffin got shelled.  8 runs in a short span.  ERA of 19+

Then Steve Blass came in.  Funny, for some reason, Blass looked just like Shintaro Fujinami.  Four walks and a wild pitch in 2 innings.  39 pitches, and if you guessed that 23 were balls, you win the prize.

After his 4th walk, a mound visit.  Then, Yolmer Sanchez took over and threw two straight 47 MPH curves, the second of which resulted in a single.  Ultimately a 10-1 loss.

AA

7 run late inning rally and Bingo won 7-2.  Without that surge, it would have been a very low scoring night in the Mets minors.  JT Schwartz (.256) had 3 singles and an RBI.  Kevin Parada hit and walk (.188).

High A

Brooklyn only had 2 runs on 5 hits, but Cyclone pitchers shut out the opponent on one hit.  It was surrendered by the great Brandon Sproat, who fanned 8 in 5 innings.

Drake Osborn had 2 more hits and continues his awesome season start.

How awesome?  .381/.490/.538 in 14 games.  

Amazing that the righty hitting catcher hit just .179 in Brooklyn last year, and now is exhibiting this level of elevated stick work early on. 19th rounder in 2021.  He has an excellent opportunity this year to shoot up if he can keep hitting, as the catchers in AAA, AA, and High A, other than him, are not hitting.

He and 1B Nick Lorusso are a combined 36 for 109 (.330) for the Cyclones.  The rest of Brooklyn is hitting just 120 for 618 (.194).  

Can't blame Cyclones Park this time for the team's overall .201 hitting - the team is hitting just .191 on the road so far.  But their lowly .201 compares to a league high team average of .238 and a low of .193, so hitters clearly trail pitchers in general in the SAL.

A Ball

St Lucie lost and had just 1 more hit (6) than its 5 errors, 3 by Baez.

FSL Player of the Month Nick Morabito sat this one out, keeping his .411 average right where it was.

David Peterson went 3 innings, 1 hit, no walks, 4 Ks in his 2nd rehab outing.

OPEN THREAD - WHAT BASEBALL RULE CHANGES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE?

Baseball Rules Ain’t All Perfect

Tom Brennan here. 

Baseball has 7 billion rules currently, give or take a few. 

What rules changes would you like to see?

I’d like 3 changes:

1) Increase rosters by one spot, to 27, but it has to be an extra hitter. Why?

    - Because teams had 15 hitters in my first 30+ years as a Mets fan. Now they have 13.

    - Reduce underemployment- raise it from 13 to 14. Give more guys a good job.

2) Start runners in extra innings for the 10th and 11th inning at FIRST BASE, not second.

    - If it goes to the 12th inning, THEN start guys at second base.

3) If you bean someone, the batter and any base runners automatically score. And it you hit a guy and he goes on the IL, due to that injury (think Marte September 2021, Pete June 2022), you (the pitcher) get suspended without pay for 7 games.

Do you agree? Disagree? 

What are your rule change requests?

Happy Quattro de Mayo.

Reese Kaplan -- So What 2024 Mets Will Not Be Here in 2025?

Today let us take a very early and premature look at the major league offensive roster and who has a future in New York in 2025:

• Pete Alonso is in his final year before hitting free agency.  Some say the Mets should extend him now.  Others say trade him away midyear.  Still others want him to remain here for the duration as the Mets make an outside drive towards October baseball.  The fact is until they make a decision here, they don´t know what will be doing at the first base position.
• Jeff McNeil is a crafty hitter who got a long term deal.  The price on him is not so high that it would prevent the club from offering him up in trades.  He doesn´t have a lot of home run power nor much base running speed, so with a plethora of infielders in the minors it may mean McNeil is on the trading block.
• Shortstop Francisco Lindor is here for the duration of his $341 million contract.  His price is too high to find ready takers and he delivers a combination of power, speed, defense and RBIs that would be hard to replace. Right now he is clearly the most productive shortstop the club has ever had.
• The big unknown here is Brett Baty.  At times he flashes defense that might make him a starter on that basis alone.  The real question remains his bat.  He started off well, then backslid for the past few weeks.  It is really a mystery of what kind of ballplayer he will become.
• Catcher Francisco Alvarez is out now with his unfortunate thumb surgery but he is showing the effort both with the bat and behind the dish to know he is the man with the catcher’s gear now and for the future.  He earns next to nothing and is very young. 
• Between his on-base ability and his defensive skills Brandon Nimmo looks like a winner.  Last season he showed an increase in home run power.  Thus far in 2024 it is too soon to tell how he will finish the year, but everyone seems to respect him and enjoys having him in the lineup every day.
• Harrison Bader has been better than many anticipated but at $10.5 million for a guy whose primary skill is with his glove no one knows what his future is in Queens.  He was signed to a single year deal and there is no guarantee the Mets will want him back when other players may offer more overall skills than glove alone.  If Pete Alonso goes, then the likelihood of Bader returning is extremely slim.
• Now people are remembering the player Starling Marte was for the team in 2022.  If he finishes as he has started the season then the club has a tough decision to make for the future.  They have him for one more year at a salary of $20,750,000.  It may be time to take a Branch Rickey approach of dealing him away a year too soon than be saddled with him a year too long.  At age 36 in 2025 it might make sense to sell high if he finished strongly (or even in 2024 at the break if the club is out of contention).
• J.D. Martinez is a professional hitter and despite his back problems he is generally going to play every day at DH which puts less stress on him than playing the field would.  At the rate he is being paid, they may want to entice him to come back for another year if he finishes strongly. 
• Many feel I am on a one-man dump D.J. Stewart campaign, but I simply look at the numbers.  He is a career .218 hitter and doing worse than that this year.  He cannot field.  He cannot run.  He kind of reminds me of the low average years of Dave Kingman.  He will hit it out of the park or retire to the bench having done nothing much.  He is not expensive but are one-dimensional players how you build for the future?
• Former Brewer Tyrone Taylor is a keeper for his glove and his bat.  He may not be a regular starter, but as a 4th outfielder you won´t be embarrassed when he is inserted into the lineup.  He is not even arbitration eligible until 2025 and not a potential free agent until 2027.  Bring him back. 
• Thus far Joey Wendle has been a bit less than expected.  He is a .262 career hitter which isn´t bad for a backup player but he started off a little slowly.  He offers up positional versatility but thus far his defense has not been all that good.  At a $2 million salary for one year he is serviceable but his future in New York could go either way. 
• Omar Narvaez is earning $7 million on a contract that ends this year.  Buh-bye!
• Tomas Nido never has done much with his bat, so it is possible he finds himself off the 40-man roster once again as the Mets shop around for a stronger back as a backup catcher. 

Monday we will start to look at the Syracuse Mets roster and who may or may not have a 2025 future at Citifield.

Tom Brennan: Mets Minors Heat Map; Nick Morabito is # 1

How are the best performer doing (and the not-so-hot)?

OK, NO HEAT MAP, BUT THE WORDS WILL CONVEY AS NO MAP EVER COULD!

Many minors guys are not hot, but some are red hot. Some unfortunately are ice cold. 

Here are some of them (stats thru Wednesday):

AAA

Veteran Ben Gamel (.321/.440/.605 in 25 games) has been consistently hot.

- Star prospect LuisAngel Acuna has been not so hot at .216/.266/.353

5’8” Rylan Bannon (28 years old) leads the squad with 6 HRs. Might without height.

- Yolmer Sanchez .164 is not good, and Kohlwey was .088 when he was released.

Joey Lucchesi has a stellar 2.25 ERA in 32 innings. 4th lowest in his 20 team league.

- better than ERAs of touted teammates Scott (3.20), Hamel (5.16), and Vasil (10.91).

NO MATTER, THO’, CHRISTIAN SCOTT WILL START FOR THE METS SATURDAY.

- Fujinami, the $3.35 million man? 5.2 IP, 13 runs, 13 walks, 2 HBP? Sayonara?

Mets just got rid of Zach Short, but still have Wendle who declined last year and has one RBI and a .207 average for the Mets. Unsatisfactory.

If I were David Stearns, I would absolutely, and without delay, trade or release Wendle and call up Jose Iglesias. Jose in AAA has 5 HR, 15 RBI in 78 AB, .308, 9 game hit streak, and no errors at short and second over 20 games.  

Wendle was a decent major leaguer in 2020-22, but dropped sharply to .212 last year, with a poor OBP. 

Iglesias on the other hand is a career .279 MLB hitter with excellent fielding. Do it ASAP. Call up Iggy.

AA

Matt Rudick homered 6 games back, waking his totally comatose bat up, and the last 5 games after that, he has scorched with 10 hits and 3 walks. Matt is back to early 2023 Siper Duper Fuego Status.

Alex Ramirez .309 with a homer and 12 RBIs and steals in 21 games.

Jose Peroza .302 in 53 at bats. 

Blade Tidwell 1.69 ERA, with 27 Ks in 21 innings.

Reliever Wilkin Ramos 11.1 IP, 0.00, 11 Ks.

- C Kevin Parada is 12 for 66 (.182). Colder than the weather. I would bat him lead off, to get him as many ABs as possible. Why? The NY Mets desperately need functional hitting catchers, given that Narvaez/Nido are 10 for 56 and 3 walks, and Hayden Senger is 3 for 36, and has forgotten how to hit since 2022.

- Jaylen Palmer 1 for 17, with 12 Ks. Avoids contact, but Mets play him nonetheless.

- Jeremiah Jackson .176/.256/.270 in 20 games, 24 Ks. Is he in the process of demonstrating he is not good enough?

- Tyler Stuart  4.58 ERA. Expected better in AA.

Joander Suarez went 6.1 IP Thursday, allowing NO HITS and fanning 7. 2.60 ERA.

High A 

 

Nolan McLean has fanned 20 times in 40 PAs, but has been a friggin’ beast in the other 20 PAs: a single, 5 doubles, 3 HRs and 3 walks!  His HRs invoke fond rocket launch memories of Dave Kingman. He also has aWHIP of 1.00 and a K per inning over his 14 IP. INTRIGUING GUY. 

I am not as concerned about his hitting-related strikeouts, as I might normally be, because as a hitter, he would most certainly only be assigned to a lower level like St. Lucie. However, because of his pitching prowess, he was assigned to high A Brooklyn, where many more seasoned hitters struggle. So, I am duly impressed by his hitting so far, and fervently hope that the strikeouts can be reduced substantially. The power is electric.

Ryan Clifford started slowly, but he has been on base with 22 walks (and 29 Ks) in 22 games, with a .432 OBP. Just 1 HR and 4 doubles, as the slugger has likely realized his power will be neutered in Brooklyn hitting conditions - smart.

1B Nick Lorusso is one to WATCH….295/.375/.541 and just 10 Ks in 17 games. He is outhitting his AA 1B counterpart, JD Schwartz (.237).

C Drake Osborn .359/.479/.548 in 13 games. Much improved. 

- Many Cyclones are cold to frigid and fan a lot (Consuegra, Lugo, Tilien, De Los Santos).

Doug Orellana, Justin Lawson, and Josh Cornielly have been strong in relief. Jordany Ventura 20 Ks in 14 relief innings, so he finally seems to be rising.  

Jordan Geber and Dakota Hawkins strong in a starter role. Brandon Sproat turning heads with a 1.23 ERA so far. He may be a fast riser.

Calvin Ziegler was dynamite for 6 innings, then Tommy John came knocking. So sad.

A Ball

Nick Morabito (.391) and Chris Suero (.318) were on base 5 more times Wednesday. Morabito has a .528 OBP, and Suero already has 15 RBIs.  (Early in Thursday’s game,  Morabito (pictured above) drove in 2 runs with 3 more hits in 4 ABs Thursday.

Pay attention here.

Morabito is now hitting .411/.538/.534!  Which, for average and OBP, are light years ahead of any other player in the FSL.

And the speedster added 2 more steals (11).

Morabito started the season at 8 for 30 (.267) but with 9 walks. At that point in mid-April, he had a .450 OBP.  Nothing wrong with that, right?

SINCE THEN?  22 for 43, with 8 walks.  .600 OBP.  Unconscious.

I know he’s just in St Lucie, but I will go out on a limb here. 

He is now my top offensive Mets prospect in the system, ahead of Jett, Gilbert, and Acuna.

*** Get Morabito up to Brooklyn ASAP ***

Marco Vargas just 4 games, but with 4 hits and 4 walks and 4 runs scored.  Limited, but impressive, results. Career .427 OBP. Play the lad more - you’ll be glad more.

SS Jesus Baez hitting 256, but just 9 Ks in 100 PAs is very promising. (He added a single and a 411 foot HR in his first two ABs Thursday).

- Cold hitter, until Wednesday, was 1st rounder Colin Houck, but he had 3 hits and a walk, getting his average up to .200 on its journey to (much) higher places. He added 2 hits and 3 RBIs and a walk on Thursday to prove the point.

- C Ronald Hernandez just .200 also, but 18 walks in 20 games give him a solid .360 OBP. I bet his OBP is over .400 at season’s end. (2 for 2 to start Thursday’s game).

Jonah Tong?

Dudes, he has earned the moniker Tong Terrific after his simply stunning pitching, and has deservedly been promoted to Brooklyn. Where, he was again terrific on Thursday. As in 5 innings, no earned runs, 7 Ks. Terrific.

Messrs. Troesser, Wenninger, Morris and Hudepohl have all been pitching well and have been fanning lots of batters. May it so continue.

Jawilme Ramirez has been fine, as he has allowed just 2 runs on 6 hits in 13 relief innings and fanned 15. To my knowledge, he is the first Jawilme in pro baseball.

I’ll leave it there.  Stat’s all, folks.

FCL ball starts on Saturday. What does that mean? More stats!

PETE ALONSO, IRON MAN? OR OVERWORKED MACHINE?

Pete Alonso always wants to play. ALWAYS.  Every inning, every game. 

First, he is a fierce competitor. 

Second, you can’t hit homers or drive in runs on the bench.

But he is 1 for 24 over his last 8 games. Down to .218. After .217 last year.

As I see it from my cozy armchair?

It is OK to sit once in a while, rest up, and just pinch hit. It really is. 

So…sit a game a month. You’re not hitting 60 HRs this year, and 50 is a long shot. But, if you get worn down, hitting under .200 may not be a long shot.

Reese Kaplan -- Staying on the Right Side of a .500 Record

If you want to start a vociferous argument within the Mets fan community, start advocating for a starting rotation when the current crop of injured folks make their way back.  Kodai Senga is a given.  No one is really arguing that point.  However, others seem to feel that Tylor Megill and David Peterson are the righty/lefty equivalent of Seaver and Koosman.

Are they watching some other duo of mediocrity?  I do recall seeing a number of promising games by both of them, but no matter how you slice and dice their numbers they are emergency depth starters at best or 5th starters on a non-contending team.  There´s no nice way to represent 4.50 and worse ERAs for guys who are not just having a poor week or poor month.  This output is over the course of YEARS. 

Granted, starting pitching has been nearly as big a problem for the Mets as hitting.  Adrian Houser is single handedly making even the most jaded fans who would rather take the mound themselves than see more of Megill and Peterson think that maybe these two aren´t so bad after all.  Take a look at the long term numbers on Houser and it would appear he is the one having a short term hiccup in an otherwise acceptable 5th starter career.

As a pitcher for his career he has allowed opposing hitters to bat .255 against him.  While that is not great, it is not exactly horrific either.  By contrast last season the recovering David Peterson gave up an opponent batting average of .287.  Megill was slightly better at .282, but if you take a moment to consider the Mets lineup and how many of their hitters are .282 or better you can quickly see that neither of the IL would-be starting pitchers is exactly prime time material.

While all three hurlers have recently faced live batters, it is Kodai Senga who would likely represent the removal of Adrian Houser from the starting rotation.  By contrast, Senga was pitching last season like an All Star allowing other teams to hit a paltry .208 against him.  Obviously he belongs in the number one slot in the rotation when he proves his shoulder is healthy enough to return to regular strain every 5th or 6th day.

The same rose-colored glasses fans who heap praise on Megill and Peterson are already beating the drums to get Butto out of New York City.  Yes, he has given up some runs in each of his past two starts.  That performance pushed his ERA for the season to a theoretically miserable 2.86.  When have Megill and Peterson approached a sub-3.00 ERA?  And for the record, last year Butto pitched to a .212 batting average against and this year it is a miniscule .160.  Methinks the younger Butto deserves a longer look than the more experienced pair of emergency starters. 

Of course, a similar question arises about the club´s offensive struggles.  Obviously the veterans are safe as they have track records to back up their slow starts.  Less certain are the futures of D.J. Stewart, Joey Wendle and Brett Baty.  Given Wendle’s positional versatility and career batting prowess as a respectable replacement hitter, he is likely safe.  Baty and Stewart, however, are at best on the bubble. 

Brett Baty is a career major league hitter over 145 games with a .217 batting average, 12 HRs and 48 RBIs.  While those numbers are not great, they do not represent the level of performance you want from a starter.

Stewart has more power for sure.  Unfortunately that is about all he can offer the club other than a pretty good eye at the plate.  Getting on base is a good thing but running like Daniel Vogelbach is not.  Neither is fielding like Todd Hundley in the outfield.  His career batting average is only 1 point higher than Baty and this season he has been hovering at or below the Mendoza line. 

Not to reiterate the entirety of the Wednesday column, but Mr. Vientos has had 55% of the ABs of Brett Baty during his career, trails him by a single home run despite that 45% gap and is hitting at the same low .200s level.  The difference is that he was on fire in Syracuse and is hitting a tidy .429 in his three game trial subbing for Starling Marte during his absence.  So the question is whether or not the club might be better off getting Vientos´ bat into the lineup regularly rather than feeding more opportunities to Baty or Stewart?

These questions when answered properly might help decide which side of .500 the club´s record will be as the season progresses.

Tylor Megill rehab start in Binghamton

Tonight, Tylor Megill pitched a rehab game for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies as part of his path back to the NY Mets.  Megill pitched 2 2/3 innings giving up 2 hits and one earned run with 4 strikeouts and no walks.  His next rehab start will be in Syracuse.  See the post-game interview courtesy of the Binghamton Rumble Ponies here.

 Tylor Megill Post Bing Rehab_05.02.24.mp4

Paul Articulates - Diving headfirst into uncertainty

In last night's controversial ending, Pete Alonso dove headfirst into home plate, attempting to score on a Jeff McNeil sacrifice fly to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth inning.  He was unsuccessful, in a way, and the Mets lost the game.

At the same time, he was successful in the perspective that he left the game intact.  The success of the team this year depends on having their primary stars healthy, yet in the span of two days we say Francisco Lindor and then Pete Alonso dive headfirst into home plate and make full contact with a well-armored catcher.

If you are a speedy base stealer in today's MLB game, you are probably trained that the fastest way to get to a bag is to transfer your forward running momentum into a forward head-first dive, stretching your fingertips (now an elongated sliding mitt) towards the base.  That probably saves milliseconds over the old tradition of a foot-first slide.

In a home plate attempt, the foot-first approach is much safer because a collision with a beefy, well-armored catcher who is rooted at the plate does not often end well if you offer your hand, arm, and shoulder as the first line of defense.

I understand that the game has changed since the days of Pete Rose barreling over Ray Fosse.  Many rule changes have completely eliminated the prospects of a runner lowering a shoulder into a catcher who is braced in front of the plate.  But the catcher is still a solid guy with protective pads that is leaning into a tag, so Newton's laws apply a firm penalty to those who impose a force with a fragile part of their body exposed.

In a 162-game season there are many opportunities for players to be injured, and inevitably everyone gets banged up.  But the Mets' coaching staff has to firmly impose some guidance upon the players to avoid putting themselves into high probability of injury situations like a head first dive into home plate.  It's just common sense.

Tom Brennan: Was Mets Spring Pitching Success Predictive? DJ Stewart & Austin Troesser

How are the strong pitchers in spring training doing through April?

On March 20, I wrote this about the Mets' staff late in spring training:

HEY!  WHO IS THE BEST?

Coming into spring training, I never expected The Mets To Be “Da Best”…did you?

Relief pitching? Best ERA in baseball (2.93). Best WHIP in baseball (1.12). Best K rate (157 in 129 innings)

Starters? They have the 2nd best ERA (3.12). They have the 4th best WHIP (1.11)

Pitching overall?  Just 11 HRs allowed in 22 games? Toronto has allowed 41.  2.99 ERA is best (Detroit 2nd at 3.69). Seattle 2X Mets, at 5.83. Best WHIP at 1.11.

Remember…no Senga. What a shame the Mets can’t take 26 pitchers north with them. After all, 25 Mets pitchers have an ERA of 0.00, #26 (Butto) is at 0.90, and Severino would miss the cut due to his 1.00 ERA, just 27th best.

REMARKABLE. AS WE WROTE THAT THE METS’ PEN LACKED DEPTH PRIOR TO SPRING TRAINING…WE WERE WRONG.

So...spring training is one thing, the real season is another. Right?

So, Mack asked for a follow-up…

In other words…

“How is the team staff performing in March and April relative to the superlative state of spring training pitching affairs thru March 20?”

First of all, several hurlers who helped build that great March 20 ERA were farmed out or cut. I guess you CAN have too much pitching.

Secondly, the team had a fine 3.48 ERA over its first 29 March/April games.

The starters were 4-10, 3.95 in 150 innings, with 130 Ks.

The relievers? A stellar 11-4, 2.85, with 140 Ks in 110 innings.

The pen has been the strongest part of this team so far.

Starter Adrian Houser wasn’t good in spring training. He got worse since. As in “23.2 innings, 22 runs” worse. He has to be on a short leash right now.

Reliever Tonkin? 0.00 ERA in 7 spring innings. But…

Regular season? In April, he’s pitched (poorly) for the Mets, Twins, and Yanks. 

14 runs allowed in 11.2 innings? Jeesh.

Otherwise, there’s been some regression from spring brilliance, but starter Jose Quintana has pitched decently, with a brilliant outing Sunday (8 innings, one run) pointing to him being our John Tudor circa 1985.

And Tylor Megill got in less than 5 innings in start #1, said “Ouch, I have a boo boo”, and won’t pitch again for the Mets for likely another 2 weeks (brilliant in his first short minors rehabber the other day). 

David Peterson was equally brilliant in his minors rehab outing, and if all goes well, he will join the Mets in 4 weeks, hopefully with Senga ready around the same time.

But, 3 starters have been great. Sean Manaea has been mostly very good, as has  Luis Severino (sensational in his 8 innings of one bloop hit ball on Sunday), and Butto has been mostly Butto-ful in his quality outings. 

A passing meteor, Julio Teheran, was lousy in his one brief, poor start for the Mets, and you won’t find me and Julio down by the schoolyard. I don’t hang out with stiffs.

The pen, outside of Tonkin, has been mostly super strong, but quite a revolving door, as the usage has been great because starter length has not been lengthy (until Saturday and Sunday’s back-to-back 8 inning starter outings), which can be its own lengthy subject.

Reliever Yohan Ramirez stunk and was promptly sent packing, too.

The shock of all baseball has been Rampaging Reed Garrett, whose career stunk…until his utterly sensational April. 

Raley was excellent…then headed to the IL.  

Smith was very good…then headed to the IL.  

Lavender in AAA might have been getting the call…actually, he did…he needs Tommy John surgery, so he’s done for 2024.

Diekman and Jorge Lopez and Edwin have been great, and striking out bunches. 

Adam Ottavino has been outstanding. Dedniel, Foley, and Josh Walker have been fine in short innings.

In all, a mind-boggling 22 pitchers in the first 29 games.

DJ STEWART ROCKS!

Some guys come to the Mets and suck. Since 1962, it is a mighty long list.

DJ Stewart is not on that list, folks.

In 2023 and 2024, if you had a hitter in a span of 213 at bats that hit .234, with a .345 OBP and 11 doubles, 15 HRs and 40 RBIs, you’d think, “that’s Pete Alonso.”

Wrong. It’s DJ Stewart.  

Kudos, dude….you ROCK! Hope you stick right here in Queens.

In fact, Pete Alonso in 679 at bats in 2023 and 2024 has hit .220 with 24 doubles, 54 HRs and 133 RBIs, with an OBP of .319.

If you projected DJ Stewart’s 213 at bats up to 679 at bats, you’d have 35 doubles, 48 HRs, 128 RBIs and an average and OBP that are 14 points and 26 points higher than Alonso.

Maybe? Just maybe?  Pete leaves after 2024, the Mets put DJ Stewart and Mark Vientos at 1B and used the freed up money to sign … oh … I dunno, Juan Soto?

Just spitballing here.

AUSTIN TROESSER

Only the hardest of hard core Mets junkies are spending time thinking about Austin Troesser.  Including me, I confess.

But he was the 135th overall pick last year, which is way high, and he is firing bullets for the St Lucie Mets this spring. 

Last 4 outings? What’s not to like?  15.1 innings, 26 Ks, few hits and walks? Wow. The 22 year old 6’3” righty has slung real good, so remember the name:

TROESSER, THE IMPRESSER.

P.S. Mets lose 1-0 (boring)

Tom Brennan - Mets Minors Rock

“HEY! 3 MINORS GAMES, 3 WINS?!” 

A very short update:

Binghamton’s contest was canceled due to inclement weather. (No, it wasn’t snowing).

The other 3 Mets minors teams won, though, and scored 33 runs on 33 hits.

What a great day down there. “Three-mendous.”

Sadly, in Queens, roaring Mark Vientos got sent down, but DJ Stewart hit a 3 run bomb in a Mets 4-2 win. DJ now has 14 RBIs in 53 at bats, sweet!

A very good “W” night in Metsville.

Heat Alert: 

Nick Morabito is hitting .397/.518/.529 in 20 St Lucie games. Sizzling like bacon on a skillet.

His St Lucie hitting co-conspirator Chris Suero (.318) had a single, HR, walk, 4 RBIs, and a steal.  What, Chris, no cycle? Great night for the duo. 

One pitching note: 

Tyler Jay is back in AAA and was sharp in relief last night, with 2.2 scoreless innings.  With options, and with lefty Nate Lavender out with Tommy John, lefty Jay is in a great position to get called up a few times this season.  That May come in handy soon if lefty Brook Raley is out longer than expected. 

My only concern with Jay is he has fanned just 7 in 17 innings (majors & minors) this year. But he also has allowed just 3 earned runs and has been super stingy on walks, with 2in 17 frames.