Minors Weekly Report: Thornton, Reimer Get Hot

The Mets minor league system has not started strong this year, but there are signs players like Jacob Reimer and Zach Thornton could be breaking out. (The latter will get the call to make his first big league start on Wednesday.)

Let’s dive into the last week in Mets minor league games.

Jacob Reimer
Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Triple-A Syracuse

After a rough week, the Syracuse Mets tied a six-game series against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. They scored 27 runs but gave up 31. Despite the high number of runs scored, six batters hit under the Mendoza line, including Ryan Clifford who only got one hit across the six games.

Clifford went hitless across his last five games going 0-for-21, bringing his season slash line down to .215/.290/.405/.695. This is coming off one of the hottest stretches of his season, a bit of a trend this year. Both months Clifford has had roughly a week where he makes incredible contact and dominates, followed by multiple weeks where he cannot buy a hit. His 72.4% zone-contact rate is in the 2nd percentile, his 35.8% whiff rate is in the 5th percentile, and his 38.1% strikeout rate is in the 1st percentile. Some hitters with his power can survive with poor contact rates but they can draw walks, and Clifford’s 9.7% walk rate is in the 26th percentile.

Christian Pache was the only one to hit for some power with his .440 SLG—two doubles and home run—but he ran only a .290 OBP this week as his bat cools down.

Nick Morabito struggled heavily to get hits this week. He did hit the ball hard, but he struggled to make contact and chased significantly more than usual. It is possible he is trying to work through stuff to increase his power output, as that is likely keeping him from being major league ready.

On the pitching side, Jack Wenninger delivered one strong start, where he struck out seven in five innings, and a second start where he could not make it out of the third inning, walking four and hitting a batter. His command has been a struggle this year, and he regularly loses velocity throughout outings. With his subpar fastball shape, he needs to sit around 95-96 for it to be effective.

Zach Thornton pitched very well in his start, striking out nine batters over six innings—his second outing in a row going six innings on a low pitch count. Thornton fills the zone, and even though his stuff is not particularly strong, when he is working his best, he can attack the shadow of the zone. He has a similar pitch mix to David Peterson but with better command. Thornton has struggled with giving up too much hard contact, as he can leave the ball over the heart of the zone too often. Even in his last game, he gave up too many hard-hit balls on pitches down the middle.

Jonah Tong had the worst start of his season as he was unable to make it out of the second inning. He struggled with his command, he struggled to get horizontal break with his cutter, and he gave up two home runs. One thing to watch with Tong is that he seems to have developed a new slider and has started to introduce it over the last two appearances and may have some promise.

Anderson Severino continues to shine and recently joined the Mets taxi squad, though he did not join the roster. Matt Turner made his Syracuse debut and struck out two in 1 2/3 innings pitched. Dan Hammer looks like he should be in the majors. The Syracuse Mets bullpen overall has been strong recently.

Double-A Binghamton

The Rumble Ponies only won two games but they finally began to score some runs, scoring at least three runs in every game save one. On the offensive side:

Jacob Reimer had a strong week, slashing .333/.435/.778/1.213. Since April 22, he has looked like how he was expected to look going into the season. If he continues this, he could force his way up to Syracuse soon.
Chris Suero also had a very strong week, slashing .333/.455/.667/1.122 with two home runs.
Eli Serrano struggled, slashing .158/.273/.158/.431.

On the pitching side, Jonathan Santucci was not aided by defense, giving up four runs, but only two earned, and struck out four in his five-inning outing

R.J. Gordon struggled in his start not making it past the second inning and giving up six runs. Bryce Conley also struggled, giving up four runs but he did make it five innings.

Mitch Voit
Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

High-A Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Cyclones also only won two games, but outscored their opponent 19-15 across the series.

Mitch Voit had a strong week, slashing .278/.364/.500/.864. Across that span, he raised his season OPS by 23 points and hit his fourth home run of the season while stealing his 12th base.

While they did not hit much, walks were the game of the Brooklyn Cyclones this week. In their 7-0 victory they walked 10 times. On the pitching side:

Channing Austin looked strong striking out five across five without giving up a run.
Noah Hall struggled with his command walking five to four strikeouts in four innings.
Irving Cota pitched three solid innings with three strikeouts.

Elian Pena. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Low-A St. Lucie

The St. Lucie Mets lost their first four games of the week but rebounded to win the last two. The offense is almost an even split between red-hot and ice-cold batters.

Elian Peña has struggled in May, slashing only .180/.317/.280/.597. He only has two extra-base hits this month. He is still making above-average contact, but not plus contact like he was in April. He still is not hitting the ball hard consistently, and there could be concerns that his low swing rate is more passive than plate discipline.

Randy Guzman continues to hit the ball hard, but his contact rate has taken a big dip in May. He is chasing and whiffing at a much higher rate and is not drawing enough walks. He still hits the ball harder than almost anyone else, but he will need to fix some of the holes in his game going forward, evident by his .188 AVG and .438 SLG across the last week.

Catcher Julio Zayas has the best OPS this week for the St. Lucie Mets, slashing .333/.474/.733/1.207 with two home runs.

AJ Salgado was the St. Lucie Mets second best hitter this week, slashing .421/.450/.526/.976. He showed his best exit velocities of the season while running plus contact rates in the zone. He could be a name to watch if he can keep this up.

Jose Chirinos continues his strong season, throwing just one out shy of a quality start and securing the win while working around a fielding error by Elian Peña.

The Mets had two players on the rehab end playing for St. Lucie this week.

Jared Young began his rehab stint with a hit in a walk in seven plate appearances and will be heading to Syracuse soon.

Adbert Alzolay is working his way back from elbow surgery and had one rough appearance where he gave up two runs and another that was scoreless. He is struggling to get whiffs, but these are also the first professional innings he has thrown in roughly two years.

FCL Mets

The FCL Mets offense carried the team to three wins while the pitching struggled.

Yovanny Rodriguez has started the year strong, slashing .294/.351/.735/1.086. He is a strong defensive catcher and any ability to hit could turn him into a future backup catcher.

Jeremy Rodriguez, whom the Mets acquired in the trade for Tommy Pham, is slashing .300/.382/.467/.849 to start the season while repeating rookie ball.

Vladi Gomez has been the Mets’ hottest bat, slashing .350/.536/.600/1.136.

Organizational Leaders

Offense

AVG – Vladi Gomez (FCL Mets) – .350
OPS – JT Benson (STL) – 939
HR – Randy Guzman (STL) – 8
SB – Sam Robertson (STL) – 22

Pitching (min. 10 innings)

ERA – Bryce Jenkins (BRK) – 0.73
SO – Jonah Tong (SYR) – 55
WHIP – Bryce Jenkins (BRK) – 0.65

Players of the Week

Offense – Jacob Reimer, Syracuse

When A.J. Ewing graduates, Reimer may be the best prospect in the Mets’ farm system. He looks to have truly broken out over the last few weeks, showing off his plus hit tool and plus power. He could force his way to Syracuse soon, and from there, he is only a train ride away from the majors.

Pitching – Zach Thornton, P Syracuse

Zach Thornton had his best start of the season, throwing six scoreless innings with nine strikeouts and only one walk. He throws strikes, and while too many of them still bleed over the heart of the plate, he is able to attack the shadow of the zone more than anyone in the Mets system. Thornton also has a knack for getting called strikes on the edge of the zone. He still projects to be more of a back-end starter or a reliever, but if the Mets decide they want to go with a long-term solution to replace Clay Holmes that is not currently in the majors, he could be an option.