21
2011
MMO Top 20 Mets Prospects – #10 Reese Havens, 2B
An article by 
REESE HAVENS, 2B
Welcome back for the 11th installment of the 2012 MMO Mets Top 20 Prospect list. Today we bring you #10, featuring second baseman Reese Havens. The only reason Havens isn’t considerably higher on this list is his significant injury history. If he can stay on the field next year, there is every reason to believe he will soon force the Mets to hand over the second base job at Citi to him.
When Tom Glavine imploded on the final day of the Mets 2007 regular season thereby putting the finishing touches on one of the worst collapses in major league baseball history, the Amazins’ faithful were ready to run him out of town on a rail, or at the very least pay for his cab ride to the airport. A little more than a month later, Glavine signed a one year deal to go back to Atlanta. Once a Brave, always a Brave. The good news is that Glavine was a type-A free agent and the Braves had to sacrifice their 1st round draft pick in 2008 to the Mets. Suckers! That pick translated to the 22nd pick of the first round, four picks after the Mets had taken Ike Davis at #18. When the 22nd pick came around, the Mets spent it on a lefty hitting 21-year-old college shortstop with a real sweet swing named Reese Havens from the University of South Carolina.
Four years later, Havens still has that sweet swing, but now at age 25 he finds himself somewhat behind the 8 ball. He has garnered only 792 professional AB’s under his belt over four seasons and he should have twice that many by now and be on the verge of making the Mets this spring. Instead he heads to AAA Buffalo for 2012, having never played above AA ball. Injuries find Havens the way fleas find a dog. He has not had a single healthy year out of the last four since joining the Mets organization. He’s had a sore elbow, back spasms, oblique strains, and even had to have one of his ribs shortened through a surgical procedure performed after the 2010 season.
The recovery from that surgery took all last winter, and Havens was unable to start the 2011 season on time as a result. After extended spring training, Havens joined the Binghamton Mets at the beginning of June. He was healthy, but not in baseball shape, and played rather sparingly appearing in only 18 games in June hitting .257, and 9 games in July, when he hit .273. He made an impressive push in August when he played in 23 games, and over 78 AB’s hit .333, with 19 runs, 6 2B’s, 4 HR’s, 15 RBI’s and had an OPS of .988. At season’s end, he was originally named to head to Arizona to play in the fall league. But that plan was scrapped and it was decided Havens should go home and spend the winter working on his core and his conditioning. The skill set is already there, the important thing moving forward is for him to be healthy and strong and for him to stay on the field all season next year.
What is all the excitement about? It can be described in one word. Power. Havens’ sweet lefty swing generates plenty of natural power and lots of home runs and doubles will be the result someday. Not only that, Havens is a disciplined hitter with a strong sense of the strike zone. He generally has a fairly healthy OBP (.366 for his career), and a decent SLG% for a second baseman (.463), but the numbers are skewed as a result of the long stretches of season he has missed over his time with the Mets. All he needs to do is play everyday, and the numbers will pile up in a hurry.
As a fielder, his natural position is shortstop, but due to slow foot speed, he was moved to 2B by the Mets at the start of the 2010 season, where his limited range would not be as much of a factor. As a fairly accomplished infielder, Havens combines soft hands, athleticism, smarts, and a very good throwing arm. Having been a starting shortstop at a major college baseball program, Havens exhibits excellent maturity and leadership qualities. This translates to a player who is level headed and intelligent, and definitely posesses a “big league mind-set”. Is it out of the realm of possibility for Havens to make his debut at Citifield sometime next year? I’d say if he stays healthy, it will be inevitable.
Check back Thursday when we release the identity of #9, on the 2012 MMO Mets Top 20 Prospect list.
My short list includes:
- Cesar Puello RF
- Juan Lagares LF
- Kirk Nieuwenhuis CF
- Wilmer Flores INF
2012 MMO Top 20 Prospects – Numbers 10 – 20
10. Reese Havens 2B
11. Cory Mazzoni RHP
12. Jordany Valdespin INF
13. Darin Gorski LHP
14. Phillip Evans SS
15. Jefry Marte 3B
16. Collin McHugh RHP
17. Juan Urbina LHP
18. Akeel Morris RHP
19. Michael Fulmer RHP
20. Danny Muno INF
About the Author: Peter Shapiro
The first time I went to Shea was not for a Mets game, it was for the Beatles concert there in August of '66. My first Met game was '67, a guy named Salty Parker was the interim-manager then. My first pennant race was 1969. As a 12 year-old that summer and fall, I managed to get to the park for 3 games. The first was the beginning of the Miracle which actually started on Tuesday July 8, 1969 with a day game against the Cubs. I was there a lot in '73. I saw games 3 & 5 of the 1973 NL Playoffs against the "Big Red Machine", from the upper deck behind home plate. It was from there that I witnessed the fight between Bud Harrelson and Pete Rose, and the mayhem that ensued. And that sweet victory in game 5! I saw a couple of WS games at Shea that year against that legendary Oakland A's club. I was there in 1985 for every single game Dr. K pitched including his two 16 strikeout performances, and the day he one-hit the Cubs on an infield single and the Mets won 1-0. I loved being a Met fan in those days. Hopefully we are once again preparing to emerge from the darkness.
22 Comments + Add Comment
NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 24 | 18 | .571 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 20 | .535 | 1.5 |
| Phillies | 20 | 23 | .465 | 4.5 |
| Mets | 16 | 24 | .400 | 7.0 |
| Marlins | 11 | 32 | .256 | 13.5 |
Last updated: 05/18/2013
Recent Comments
- El Sid: on Is Collins The Blame For Team’s Poor Performance, Or Is He Just The Patsy?: The Mets were bad for years for...
- El Sid: on Is Collins The Blame For Team’s Poor Performance, Or Is He Just The Patsy?: If Sabathia's elbow goes then the Yankees...
- Nails: on Mets vs Cubs: Davis Not In Lineup As Gee Looks For A Win In Rubber Match: When Santana got hurt, I knew the...
- Metsie: on If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try Again In The Minors: If they do send him down it...
- Nails: on Mets vs Cubs: Davis Not In Lineup As Gee Looks For A Win In Rubber Match: Let's go Mets! Play hard and get...
MMO Mets Chat
Need Tickets To The Mets Game?
Check Out These Great MLB Links!
Photographs From Gordon Donovan
5356 Fans Follow Us On Twitter!
1269 Fans Like Us On Facebook!
2341 Fans Read Our Feed!
1702 Fans Subscribe via Daily Email!
I hope this guy is the goods. The Mets need a spark because they’re not going to get anything from the front office. Btw, I’m holding out hope Minaya gets the Blue Jays and we can sucker him into taking Jason Bay (Canadian). Cross your fingers for Captain Kirk!
he would have been up in 2010 when he was destroying AA mid-season if the rib issue hadn’t flared up again at the worst possible time.
so yeah, all he needs to do is get fully back into shape over the winter, and stay on the field in ST to force their hand.
“He’s had a sore elbow, back spasms, oblique strains, and even had to have one of his ribs shortened through a surgical procedure performed after the 2010 season.”
Out of curiosity, do we know if all the injuries were on the same side? I mean, is it possible the rib being longer than it’s naturally supposed to be impacted the back, oblique, and elbow? Seems like all of the injuries are in the same general area around the torso. Of course, if it’s the right elbow, left oblique, upper back, lower rib, etc., then my theory gets blown out of the water.
On the positive side, his swing reminds me of Chase Utley, as much as it pains me to admit this. I wasn’t sure if it was just the few videos clips I saw but your comment “Havens’ sweet lefty swing generates plenty of natural power and lots of home runs and doubles will be the result someday.” gives me hope that I could be right about him and he could be the 2B of the future.
One more thing…thank you for listing the previous prospects from #20 onwards. Is there any way to make the names hyperlinked to the writeup of each prospect? I understand if it would be too much trouble but I found myself copying and pasting into the search bar to find your writeup on the player listed. Thanks!
OK AV they are hyper-linked, enjoy!
Awesome! Thanks!
doing this from memory, but there were reports when he had the procedure that the rib was causing the recurring oblique issues, and most likely impacted the back.
I think the issue was he would rest and the oblique would heal up, then when he geared up the swing (lots of torque), it would start the rib poking into his side again. Something like that.
so enough causality to assume that the rib was the underlying cause of other issues.
but, we shall see. If he comes into camp in great shape and plays a full ST, he could really open some eyes again. Impressive numbers during the stretches between muscle issues!.
None of us know the future of Reese Havens because of his health. Just about all Mets fans wish him the best. His swing is the sweetest of all our infielders, bar none. It’s uncomplicated and trouble-free. He squares up on the ball better than 90% of the players in the majors. Utley is a good comparison.
Des, if havens gives us 4 years utley like… i’d be thrilled!!!!!!!!
Another good read as usual Petey! Your prospect articles are the only reason why I still come to this site.With all the constant day to day childish banter among Met fans on this site,I look forward to your articles about the future of this franchise. Hopefully Reese can finally put the injury hex that has struck far too many in the entire organization behind him and become the player that his talents suggest.A middle infielder with power and the ability to get on base is a luxury most teams do not have and if we were to resign Reyes the thought of having 2 middle of the diamond offensive weapons is something to be excited about.
Wow Joe, thanks a lot! I’m really glad you like my stuff and I really appreciate your kind words. Happy Thanksgiving!
You’re welcome Petey! Looking forward to the next one.Have a great holiday as well.
“A middle infielder with power and the ability to get on base”
If I were a GM and you came up and said that to me about a prospect you were offering in a trade I’d say What are you talking about? What do you mean? Can the guy HIT?
what you mean to say is:
“A middle infielder with power who can hit the hell out of the ball if he stays healthy”
That’s all you would have to say. The rest I can figure out.
Unbelievable. Even people who were around back in the day are forgetting the old lingo in favor of descriptions that tell you LESS about the player. Not only that, to me it’s a disrespectful way of describing a hitter’s talents – especially one that makes his living as a good hitter.
Now the by product of his talent is what people like to talk about. Forget mentioning the guy can hit, let’s just talk about that he gets on base. I shake my head each time I see this stuff.
Obviously if the guy can get on base he can hit.No one gets on base at a 370 clip by walking there way on.Maybe you can’t figure out what I mean but I gaurantee you anybody who knows the game knows exactly what I meant. A real GM wouldn’t have to ask that question.He would know the guy could hit. If I told you the kid has an 829 OPS in the minors in 4 seasons would you still ask if the guy can hit? Keep shaking your head,one day you’ll shake enough sense into it.Probably not.
You didn’t say 829 OPs in the post i responded to and you didn’t say anything about getting on at a .370 clip in the post I responded to as well.
And if you said to me he had a 829 OPS I would say that’s nice but in how many ABs and how any HRs did he hit. Also I’d like to how many RBI’s he has each season because I may want to consider him as a middle of the order guy..maybe hitting 5th, you never know.
If you understand the game of baseball than that’s what you look for in that type of a hitter. So not only did you NOT give those numbers in your post I responded to I would still need to know the proper info to determine exactly what kind of a hitter he is.
Knowing the amount HRs he hits is extremely important when talking about a Reese Havens so the OPS is not enough.
See now anybody who wasn’t familiar with him would know more about him because I brought this up.
“Dopey Joe” strikes again
Seriously? Have you been waiting all week for me to post something so you can start some childish bullshit.? How old are you? So I say Havens is a middle infielder with power and the ability to get on base and you need what batting average to figure out if the guy can hit? That comment alone wasn’t enough? Are you that dense?
And if you said to me he had a 829 OPS I would say that’s nice but in how many ABs and how any HRs did he hit. Also I’d like to how many RBI’s he has each season because I may want to consider him as a middle of the order guy..maybe hitting 5th, you never know.
Okay why would I care if you may be considering him for a middle of the order guy.Do you think I give a flying where you would consider hitting him.I neede to give these numbers for what purpose? So you can play GM.Here’s a tip for you.GM’s don’t look at RBI’s, you do.
If you want to know how many HR’s he hit,look it up.I wasn’t giving a scouting report for other GM’s to look at.Oh and the 829 OPS is for his 4 year minor career but I forget that you have reading and math skill problems so I apologize for not writing in retart form
If you understand the game of baseball than that’s what you look for in that type of a hitter. So not only did you NOT give those numbers in your post I responded to I would still need to know the proper info to determine exactly what kind of a hitter he is.OPS is a much much much much better way to evaluate a hitter. GM’s don’t care about batting avg and RBI’s.The difference between a 250 hitter and a 300 hitter is a hit a week over 162 games,a hit a week.RBI’s are impossible unless you have men ON BASE.
Do you honestly think anybody on this site doesn’t know who or what type of player Reese Havens is.Are there any casual fans on this site? Was I supposed to give his scouting report while I giving me opinion. RETART RANDY STRIKES AGAIN!
Joe — some people can’ t handle the truth. It’s really that simple.
Reese-Mart…the white F-Mart. All the talent in the world, but can’t stay on the field.
Hopefully Reese can stay on the field this year.The main issue was the rib and that seems to be taken care of.F-Mart has an arthritic knee and that means any chance of him becoming an everyday impact player ar nil,even if he stays healthy otherwise.Reese is much further advanced as a hitter than F-Mart.
Petey — Thanks for the excellent report. It’s appreciated.
man, the kid has potential, but he’s always hurt… sounds like someone i know… ohhh yeah, that’s right.. the 2009-2010 NY Mets seasons and Fmart…
on the real, i hope this kid turns out to be as good as he’s been advertise. if we sign reyes and have tejada produce at 2B and this kid is raking, the likelihood of him being used in a trade for a bonafide stud starter can be done.or, he can always take over 2B and be the best 2B in mets history then come free agency he’d be let go for picks if the sandy alderson goons are still running the front office (roll eyes)
Very good write up on this kid. In fact, I’ve been enjoying all these posts on our prospects.
Crossing my fingers Haven’s injury problems are behind him. If his minor league stats so far pan out at the major league level, we might have our second baseman for years to come.