Down on the Farm, @MetsProspectHub's bimonthly look at what's been happening in the farm system.
This was a fruitful week overall for the Mets minor league system, with only the K-Mets having a below .500 stretch. As of August 14th, five teams out of the seven total stateside teams sit in first or second place (Las Vegas, Binghamton, St. Lucie, Brooklyn, Kingsport).
Note: I could have made a Borg joke about Five of Seven, but I declined to. Resistance is futile, though, so I did mention it. Onward:
Las Vegas 51s
July 31st: 60-50
August 15th: 67-56
Games Played: 13
Record: 7-6
Offensively, no one player really stood out, so I'll highlight a potential September callup, outfielder Matt den Dekker. Den Dekker is a smooth fielder who might've gotten first crack at the majors instead of Juan Lagares were it not for an injured wrist he suffered in spring training making (what else) a fabulous defensive play. MDD struggled last year in AAA Buffalo, but he struggled in 2011 upon a promotion to AA, so it's been a consistent thing for him. This year, he got off to a 1 for 25 start in Vegas, and since then has been tearing the cover off the ball. Over this 2 week stretch, den Dekker hit .275/.326/.450/.776 (11 for 40, 7 runs, 2 2b, 3b, HR, 3/13 BB/K), and overall in Vegas, he's hitting .275/.338/.466/.804 (131 ABs), which does include the aforementioned 1 for 25. Factoring that out, he's crushing it to the tune of .330/.383/.547/.930 (35 for 106, 7 2b, 2 3b, 4 HR, 9/30 BB/K), which is actually in line with what he did last season in Binghamton (.340/.397/.563/.960 in 268 ABs)
On the pitching front, there are two standout performers during this two week stretch, Jacob deGrom and Rafael Montero. deGrom, who has rocketed through the system from St. Lucie to Vegas, has been uneven in his 11 starts for Las Vegas, he's had some good, and some bad ones, but overall during the three starts he had during these two weeks, he was largely effective, giving up 10 runs, 7 earned over 19 innings (3.32 era; 24 h, 4/16 bb/k, 2 hr, 3.52 FIP). Overall in Vegas, deGrom has a 4.02 era in 62.2 innings, but a 3.18 FIP.
Montero was otherworldly in the two starts he got during these 2 weeks, he was 2-0 with a 1.20 era over 15 innings (6 h, 2 er, 2/13 bb/k, hr, 2.73 FIP). Overall, Montero's been pretty good in AAA, with a 3.60 era/3.31 FIP over 65 innings, after a 2.43/1.88 in 66.2 innings in AA.
Binghamton Mets
July 31st: 67-42
August 15th: 76-47
Games Played: 14
Record: 9-5
Since rejoining AA on August 6th, Cory Vaughn has been on fire, hitting .364/.405/.667/1.072 in 9 games (33 ABs), blasting 3 homers over that span. Vaughn, who has always been a pretty polarizing prospect in the system, is hitting a cool .295/.369/.473/.843 in 207 AA ABs (55 games), with a 21/57 BB/K and 8 steals in 9 tries. In my opinion, Vaughn is a 4th OFer, someone who won’t be bad on defense, won’t embarrass you offensively, and can potentially steal a base for you (15 steals in 76 games this season).
Obviously, Noah Syndergaard is the pitcher I’m going to highlight, did you expect anyone else? Noah's been otherworldly in his 2 starts during the 2 week stretch here, he's 1-0 with a 0.00 era over 10 innings (innings being limited due to cap), but the… hit OPP line is just… there's no way to accurately describe it. Opponents in these 2 starts hit .121/.171/.152/.323 against Syndergaard (4 hits, 2 walks in 35 batters) with 8 strikeouts. If he were not coming up to an innings cap, I fully believe he would’ve been in AAA by now. However, better to be safe with such a prized commodity, he’ll open 2014 in Vegas, and follow the #SuperTwo watch from Wheeler's call up, so he should be in the majors in mid June.
St. Lucie Mets
July 31st: 20-16
August 15th: 28-19
Games Played: 11
Record: 8-3
Dustin Lawley continues to mash during these 11 games, hitting .262/.360/.571/.931 with 4 HRs and 12 RBI, he's now got 89 RBI on the season, 11 shy of 100, which hasn’t been done in the Mets system since Brett Harper in 2005. I like Lawley as a bench guy who can (in theory?) play all 4 corners + center field.
On the pitching side, Michael Fulmer's been walking way too many all season in St. Lucie, but outside of that, he put up a good line in his two starts (12 ip, 5 h, 4 er, 8/12 bb/k) for a 3 era on the strength of a .125/.294/.175/.469 opponents line. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him in the AFL this winter, and then maybe the PRWL as well, just to get him some innings. He's still got legit #2/#3 SP upside, he's just in a much much deeper system for pitching.
Savannah Sand Gnats
July 31st: 18-17
August 15th: 25-23
Games Played: 13
Record: 7-6
Brandon Nimmo's offensive resurgance, which began in mid July, continued over the first two weeks of August, he hit a blistering .364/.517/.500/1.017, on the strength of 16 hits and 12 walks in 58 Pas, he also had 3 doubles and a homer. He's had a very hot and cold season. In his hot stretches (4/4-4/19; 7/18-8/14), he's hit a ridiculous .376/.486/.497/.983, 56 for 149, 26 runs, 6 2b, 3 3b, 2 HR, 20 RBI, 27/42 BB/K; while in his cold stretch (4/20-7/17) he hit a woeful .187/.307/.258/.565, 34 for 182, 24 runs, 7 2b, 3 3b, 13 RBI, 28/72 BB/K.
On the mound, Gabriel Ynoa had 2 great starts, walking none over 12.2 innings while allowing a run on 6 hits with 9 strikeouts (0.71 era). After a little period of struggling, Ynoa is back to his dominating ways, and remains on track to likely enter our top 10 prospects by seasons end, assuming Wilmer Flores, Zack Wheeler, and Travis d'Arnaud all graduate.
Brooklyn Cyclones
July 31st: 20-22
August 15th: 27-26
Games Played: 12
Record: 7-5
Gavin Cecchini, after a slow start, has begun to hit, and hit a TON, he hit .391/.408/.478/.886 over his 11 games during the first 2 weeks of August, with 14 singles and 4 doubles in 46 trips. On the negative side, he only walked twice, and for the season, has a 6/20 BB/K in 120 ABs.
On the mound, there were several positives, but I'm going to highlight Akeel Morris, who pitched 3 times in “relief”, outings of 2, 3.1 and 3 innings, and pitched extremely well, giving up 6 hits and 2 runs over 8.2 innings with only TWO walks and 16 strikeouts. Walks have always been Morris' downfall, and outside of 2 rough outings walk wise (7 walks in 7.1 innings in back to back appearances on 7/15, 7/22), Morris has been outstanding, walking just 7 in 27 innings while striking out 40 in that span.
Kingsport Mets
July 31st: 24-15
August 15th: 30-22
Games Played: 13
Record: 6-7
Jeff Diehl, a catcher the Mets took in the 23rd round in 2011, can no longer play behind the plate due to back troubles, so he's been shuffled around between first, and the corner OF spots this year, but he's hit well as a 19 year old in Kingsport. So far in August, he's hit .333/.357/.538/.896 with 5 doubles and a homer in 39 ABs. Since his bat will have to carry him at any of his 3 positions, it's good to see him hitting.
Pitching wise, it was Christopher Flexen who was the best pitcher for Kingsport. He had 3 starts, won 2, and pitched 19 innings, his final start snapped a string of five straight starts of 7 innings (he only went 5). He pitched to a 2.84 era, allowing 20 hits and 3 walks while striking out 10 and allowing a .654 OPSA.
And that's this trip around the minors. My next (and last for this season) article for the Daily Stache will be whenever the last day of the regular season is in the minors, probably around September 6th or so. Please don’t forget to visit MetsProspectHub for daily minor league recaps and Gameday Links, and follow me @MetsProspectHub on Twitter. Until next time, you stay classy, and remember to always love lamp, and desk and carpet.
