Oct
4
2011

Florida State League Top Prospects: Matt Harvey #2, Wilmer Flores #20

An article by Joe D

Baseball America released their Florida State League Top 20 Prospects and Mets pitching prospect Matt Harvey was ranked at #2 while infielder Wilmer Flores closed out the list at #20.

Matt Harvey had a tremendous campaign for the Mets in 2011. The big right-hander started out in St. Lucie and went 8-2 with a 2.37 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 76 innings and struck out a whopping 92 batters in his very first taste of professional baseball.

He was then promoted to Binghamton where after a brief adjustment period settled in and pitched solidly to finish with a 4.53 ERA in 59.2 innings with 64 strikeouts.

Manager Wally Backman called Harvey’s stuff electric and raved about his curveball, “I know it’s Double-A, but this kid has a big-league, swing-and-miss curveball.”

He calls Harvey the “real deal” and sees him as a “No. 2 starter in a championship team’s rotation.”

I expect Harvey to begin the season in Binghamton next season with a promotion to Buffalo in the offing if he gets off to a great start and dominates. GM Sandy Alderson said it probably might not happen, but he wouldn’t be surprised if Harvey forced the issue and worked his way onto the Mets in 2012.

Wilmer Flores is a completely different story. I was actually shocked to see him ranked on the FSL Top 20 after what I felt was a big regression in 2011. But that might be more of an indication of the lack of quality prospects in the league this year compared to previous ones.

After batting .300 with a .739 OPS in 290 AB for St. Lucie in 2010, Flores regressed in virtually every category this season. His power was down and his batting average sunk to .269 with a .689 OPS despite repeating this level. On the plus side, Flores did finish strongly and played more consistently during the final two months of his season.

There’s also the concerns that he ultimately will move to first base or a corner outfield position which would make his production less valuable.

Still, he’s very young and there’s still a very raw but remarkable skill set here that could still translate into major league success in the future.

About the Author: Joe DeCaro

I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.

8 Comments + Add Comment

Metsie October 4, 2011 at 11:25 am

I definitly would take my time on Harvey…
I can’t see where this team could be in any position to promote him mid 2012 that makes it worth it.

If we are competing do we really want to put a kid under that pressure?
If we are out of it does it even pay to bring him up and possibly shake his confidence?

September? FINE!
Just don’t see any situation that would warrant bringing him up before then.

Only scenario that makes sense is he gets promoted to Buffalo and he is so lights out and overmatching the hitters there because at least then you don’t want to waste him there and he will have a ton of confidence based on success to warrant the promotion.

I think ultimatly it would be better to wait till Familia catches up and start off the season with both cause by then the remaining SP positions should be a bit more solid and the Pen should too!

Flores is still too far away, even if he was hitting well, if he mneeds to learn a new position the Minors is the best place for that!
- Badnewsbrown October 5, 2011 at 5:43 am
  
  You must not pay close attention to the mets farm…because Familia has actually been ahead of Harvey
  - t agee October 5, 2011 at 12:04 pm
    
    Familia is WAY ahead of Harvey. Five professional seasons compared to one.
    
    To me the whole thing is about having guys ready when they get up here. Dominating hitters in a pitching rich league like the Fl. St. League (A+) for Harvey last year is nothing more than a good indicator that he can be a top starting pitcher.
    
    If he doesn’t already posses or hasn’t polished the things he needs to dominate Major League hitters he’ll turn into a nibbler like Pelfrey. Pelfrey was brought up here in his first professional season and while he’s put together 3 good half seasons, he’s never really put it together.
    
    Of the two Familia is by far the most likely to see Citi in 2012 but that really shouldn’t be until September at the earliest and would only make sense in that we have to get some of our AAA depth from our high end prospects in order to be able to protect as many of our high ceiling kids as possible who don’t have a chance to be in Queens next year and probably the following year either.
    
    If we have to have a couple of Misch types on the 40 as depth we can’t protect a Puello, McHugh, Flores or Lagares so a rush job on Familia would only make sense in that context.
OmarFan October 5, 2011 at 12:30 am

If this article started with the names Nimmo and Wheeler, we would have seen 200 comments already….LOL
- Donal October 5, 2011 at 11:20 am
  
  So, instead of saying something positive about Harvey or Flores, you decide to take an unprovoked shot at other fans who compliment other Mets prospects?
  - Metsie October 5, 2011 at 1:43 pm
    
    Dude according to you they ALL suck!
    Remember all that talk about having no prospects you touted for your Moneyball Push and trashing of Omar?
- alex68 October 5, 2011 at 11:25 am
  
  lmao!!! true that!!
Donal October 5, 2011 at 11:21 am

I like after getting promoted to Bing, Harvey got waxed but shook it off, adjusted to the hitting, and finished strong. That says a lot about him.

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