The 2026 St. Lucie Mets finished with a 58-72 record, which was fourth in their division and seventh overall in the Florida State League. In the first half of the season, they were an exactly .500 team at 33-33, but they struggled heavily in the second half, going 25-39. 

They benefited from having players that would eventually get promoted in the earlier part of the season, including Elian Peña, Randy Guzman, Trey Snyder, JT Benson, Nicolas Carreno, Jose Chirinos, Emilio Obispo, and more.

Single-A is an interesting beast to analyze. Ideally your top talent is not going to spend a significant amount of time at that level. You want to see these top players moving to the upper minors quickly. You also want to have space post-MLB Draft for the new players you acquire like Aiden Robbins and John Smith III, two players who were quickly promoted to High-A after performing well in Single-A.

Single-A is also the first step in a player’s rehab when coming back from injury. Major leaguers like Francisco Lindor, Kodai Senga, A.J. Minter and Dedniel Núñez all had rehab assignments there, as well as minor leaguers like Jacob Reimer and Will Watson.

With so many moving parts and so many players making pit stops, how do you evaluate a Single-A season? There is some argument to say that having the best team record may not even be the best thing. Teams that are full of players regularly alongside one another while building chemistry tend to perform the best, and if your Single-A team has that consistency, they are not likely hitting the developmental goals of the level.

Across the 2026 season, 49 position players and 80 pitchers played in games for the St. Lucie Mets. Compare that to the Yankees’ Single-A team in Tampa, which used 34 position players and 41 pitchers. That could have played a part in Tampa having significantly more wins than any other Single-A team in the league. It also could just be a coincidence.

What is clear is that the Mets used this level to their full advantage. They were not afraid to promote players who succeeded and gave players who struggled like Jeremy Rodriguez ample time to try to work through problems.

Elian Peña by Ed Delany / MMO

The MVP of the St. Lucie Mets season has to be Peña, who ended the year with sixteen games in High-A. Carreno and his 1.94 ERA and 1.06 WHIP across 41 2/3 innings arguably made him the team’s most valuable pitcher. A close second was Obispo with a 2.03 ERA and 1.26 WHIP across 53 1/3 innings pitched, and you could absolutely argue those two should be flipped.

Late in the season we also got to see some of the most recent draftees like Shane Sdao, Luke McNeillie, Alex Petrovic and Aidan Keenan pitch. Some of them could even start 2027 in St. Lucie.

Coaching Staff

  • Manager – Luis Rivera
  • Bench Coach – Jonathan Gramman
  • Pitching Coach – David Mervis
  • Hitting Coach – Bryan Muniz
  • Assistant Pitching Coach – Jimmy Nelson
  • Athletic Trainer – Ruthe Sandberg
  • Athletic Training Associate – Cooper Fowler
  • Strength and Conditioning Coach – Ross Boyd
  • Baseball Technology & Video Associate – Logan Nieves

MMO Top Prospects (Min. 30 GP/30 IP)

  • 6 – SS Eian Peña
  • 17 – 1B/3B/COF Randy Guzman
  • 24 – LHP Nicolas Carreno
  • 36 – RHP Jose Chirinos
  • 38 – INF Antonio Jimenez
  • 44 – RHP Joel Lara
  • 45 – RHP Emilio Obispo
  • 46 – UT Vladi Gomez

Team Batting Leaders

  • Games: Julio Zayas – 104
  • AB: Julio Zayas – 357
  • Runs: Elian Peña – 72
  • Hits: Elian Peña – 99
  • 2B: Elian Peña – 18
  • 3B: JT Benson – 5
  • HR: Randy Guzman – 12
  • RBI: Julio Zayas – 57
  • BB: Elian Peña – 61
  • SO: Julio Zayas – 107
  • SB: Elian Peña – 28
  • CS: Elian Peña – 9
  • BA (Qualified): Elian Peña – .271
  • OBP (Qualified): Elian Peña – .388
  • SLG (Qualified): Elian Peña – .397
  • OPS (Qualified): Elian Peña – .785

Note: St. Lucie had two qualified hitters: Elian Peña and Julio Zayas

Team Pitching Leaders:

  • W: Zack Mack – 9
  • L: Conner Ware – 9
  • ERA (min. 60 IP): Conner Ware – 4.40
  • G: Miguel Mejias – 38
  • GS: Joel Lara – 13
  • SV: Miguel Mejias – 6
  • IP: Christian Rodriguez – 77.1
  • HR (allowed): Conner Ware – 16
  • BB: Joel Lara – 54
  • SO: Conner Ware – 84
  • WHIP (min. 60 IP): Conner Ware – 1.30
  • AVG (min. 30 IP): Nicolas Carreno – .160

Overall, St. Lucie ranked No. 9 out of of 10 in the league in runs scored (670) and No. 9 in ERA (5.37). They went 58-72, which put them in fourth place just above Daytona.