Francisco Alvarez, Photo by Rick Nelson
The 2022 minor league season saw great performances from top prospects of the Mets and other top seasons from lesser-known players, and this team will consist of the players that performed the best regardless of their prospect ranking.
Catcher
No surprise here, the Mets’ top prospect, and arguably the top prospect in the game, had a big-time season from a statistical standpoint in 2022. The 21-year-old led all Mets minor leaguers with 27 home runs and his .885 OPS was second only to Brett Baty‘s impressive .943 OPS.
Álvarez hitting .260/.374/.511 in 2022 is even more impressive when you consider he was 20 the entire season playing in Double-A and Triple-A. Then he had a double and home run in 12 at-bats at the major league level.
Honorable Mention: 19-year-old Vincent Perozo slashed .252/.350/.444 between FCL and St. Lucie Mets.
First Base
The veteran minor leaguer was tied for second in the Mets minor leagues with 26 home runs and with 79 RBIs, and fifth with his 122 wRC+. Palka spent the entire season with the Triple-A Syracuse Mets hitting in the middle of their lineup and playing some corner outfield in addition to first base.
Honorable Mention: Mets’ 2021 4th RD pick J.T. Schwartz hit .273/.344/.400 in Brooklyn, a place known for suppressing lefty power numbers.
Second Base
The story of Young’s 2022 season is not one you see often as he went from playing only 26 games in the Florida Complex League in 2021 to making his Triple-A debut on April 16 of this year. The Mets selected the contract of Syracuse shortstop Matt Reynolds and with the Mets not wanting to move Ronny Mauricio to Triple-A yet, they decided to reach further to the minors and have Young play shortstop.
The 23-year-old Young started the season going just 3-for-14 with High-Brooklyn when he got the call to Syracuse. All Young did in Triple-A was hit .352/.446/.437 with 11 walks and seven RBIs in 19 games. Young was sent down to Double-A Binghamton when Tzu-Wei Lin was added to the Syracuse roster. Young wasn’t as good in Double-A, but did slash .257/.353/.380 with 56 walks in 98 games. For the season, Young posted a .369 OBP in 122 games ranking him third behind Baty and Álvarez.
Honorable Mention: Brooklyn infielder José Peroza had a .563 OPS heading into July, but the 22-year-old had a .968 OPS in his final 60 games of the 2022 season.
Shortstop
The 2022 season was a mixed bag of results for the Mets shortstop prospect that set career-highs in home runs (26), doubles (26), RBIs (89), and stolen bases (20), but also had an OBP (.296) under .300 for the second straight season. The 21-year-old spent the entire season in Double-A with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies as one of the younger players in the league.
Honorable Mention: 17-year-old Deangelo Sarmiento posted an impressive .295/.374/.390 line in the Dominican Summer League.
Brett Baty, Photo by Richard Nelson
Third Base
The 23-year-old had a monster season in the minors with a .315/.410/.533 line and a Mets’ minor league best 158 wRC+. The left-handed hitter had a combined 22 doubles, 19 home runs, and 60 RBIs in 95 games between Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Syracuse. The 160 wRC+ posted in Double-A was by far the best in the Northeast League with three players tied for second at 129 wRC+.
Baty got a quick taste of the big leagues with a home run in his first major league plate appearance and hit a ton of balls hard that didn’t fall for hits.
Honorable Mention: William Lugo hit .263/.347/.432 with 25 doubles and 14 home runs combined between two tough hitter environments with the Low-A St. Lucie Mets and High-A Brooklyn Cyclones.
Designated Hitter
While Vientos still played a majority of his time at third base for the season his eventual home will be in the first base/DH slot. The 23-year-old hit .280/.358/.519 with 24 home runs and 72 RBIs in 101 Triple-A games before his promotion to the majors.
Honorable Mention: The 23-year-old Raul Beracierta hit .300/.352/.467 with St. Lucie while playing first base, catcher, all three outfield spots, and serving as the DH in 22 games.
Alex Ramirez, Photo by Ed Delany of MMO
Outfielders
Omar De Los Santos – The 22-year-old led the Mets organization with 70 stolen bases while hitting 23 doubles, five triples, and 16 home runs for the St. Lucie Mets. His .798 OPs ranked fourth among qualified hitters in the Florida State League.
Alex Ramirez – The Mets talented outfield prospect played the entire season at 19 years old and impressed with the bat hitting .281/.346/.436 with 30 doubles, 7 triples, and 11 home runs in 121 games between St. Lucie and Brooklyn.
Travis Blankenhorn – The 26-year-old played both corner outfield spots, second base, and first base for the Triple-A Syracuse Mets. He hit .268/.342/.465 with 20 doubles, 15 home runs, and 10 stolen bases in 91 games. Blankenhorn played in one game at the major league level for the Mets this year, and has signed a minor league deal with the Nationals this offseason.
Honorable Mention: Jake Mangum (.804 OPS, Dyron Campos (.803 OPS), and Stanley Consuegra (46 extra-base hits).
Dominic Hamel, Photo by Ed Delany of MMO
Starting Pitchers
RHP Dominic Hamel
The Mets’ third round pick from 2021 posted a 3.25 ERA (2.59 ERA in Brooklyn) with 145 strikeouts and only 83 hits allowed in 119 innings between St. Lucie and Brooklyn. The spin rate darling also gave up only five home runs in his 25 outings for the season.
RHP Jawilme Ramirez
The 21-year-old started his season in the Florida Complex League and finished it off with a couple of appearances for the St. Lucie Mets. The FCL Pitcher of the Year had a 0.78 ERA and 0.84 WHIP in 46 1/3 innings in 2022.
Honorable Mention: LHP Javier Atencio (2.03 ERA in 43 2/3 innings) and Mike Vasil (10.7 K/9, 3.11 FIP).
Relief Pitchers
RHP Grant Hartwig
The 25-year-old started the season in Low-A St. Lucie and finished the year in Triple-A Syracuse posting a 1.75 ERA along the way. Hartwig struck out a whopping 83 batters and gave up only one home run in 56 2/3 innings.
LHP Daniel Juarez
The 22-year-old pitched to an impressive 1.66 ERA in 43 1/3 innings between St. Lucie and Brooklyn this season. Juarez allowed only 25 hits and struck out 59 batters in that span.
Honorable Mention: LHP Nathan Lavender (1.70 ERA, 12.7 K/9) and RHP Jeffrey Colon (2.48 ERA in 77 2/3 innings).
