Fernando Martinez Heads Mets Top 10 Prospects

Check out the Mets Top 10 Prospects as compiled by Marc Hulet of FanGraphs, who did an excellent job of providing a detailed analysis on each player complete with statistical data as well.

Fernando Martinez tops his list and he writes the following about him,

Although some have already, it is far too early to give up on Martinez. Just 21 years old, the Dominican outfielder just needs to have a healthy season. When he did get on the field in ‘09, he hit .290/.337/.540 with an ISO of .250 as a 20 year old in triple-A. That is pretty darn impressive. He reached his ‘08 total in home runs in about half the at-bats. Martinez actually had a career-high OPS of .877 in ‘09. He also kept his strikeout rate below 20% at 18.8%, but it would be nice to see more patience at the plate (5.9% walk rate). At the MLB level, he was over-matched and hit just .176/.242/.275 in 95 at-bats. With a career line against southpaws of .237/.308/.392, he has some work to do against lefties. Despite that, he still has a chance to be a very good player.

I’ve soured on F-Mart a little this past season, but mostly because of my frustration with his constant trips to the disabled list. Hulet is right of course, and we should all be more patient with someone so young and so gifted. Maybe everything will break right for Martinez in 2010, and we can finally see his tremendous talent applied over a full season.

Check out FanGraphs for more analysis on the rest of the top ten that includes 1B Ike Davis, RHP Jenrry Mejia, SS Wilmer Flores, LHP Jonathan Niese, RHP Brad Holt, IF Ruben Tejada, C Josh Thole, OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis and RHP Jeurys Familia in that order.