Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo and shortstop Matt Reynolds have been named Arizona Fall League All Stars and will represent the Mets in Saturday’s Fall-Stars Game, which will be televised at 8:00 PM on the MLB Network.
Nimmo, 21, was the 13th overall pick of the 2011 Draft and he made great strides this year in the Mets system. The Wyoming native started the season at Advanced-A St. Lucie where he batted .322 with a .448 on-base in 227 at-bats before earning a promotion to Binghamton. Nimmo struggled for the most part in Double-A batting .238/.339/.396 in 240 at-bats with six homers and 26 RBI.
In the AFL, Nimmo is batting .231 with just three extra-base hits in 52 at-bats with 20 strikeouts. He told MiLB.com that he is enjoying the opportunity to play in the elite developmental league and is eager to build on the progress he made this year.
“There’s always just little things that you’re working on,” Nimmo said. “For me, I’m always going to try to include every aspect of the game — the fielding, the first steps when I’m trying to steal bags, obviously the hitting, being a little more consistent.”
Nimmo said he knows ups and downs are an inevitable part of baseball. But he hopes he can learn to even out his performance and avoid prolonged slumps.
“You’re going to have the peaks and the valleys, it’s just minimizing that and keeping it a little more constant and consistent,” he said. “I think I did better at that this year. I think there is still a lot of room to improve, especially from that jump from high A to Double-A.”
Matt Reynolds had a breakthrough season for the Mets in 2014. The 2012 second-rounder batted a combined .343 between Binghamton and Las Vegas with a .406 on-base and a robust .859 OPS in 478 at-bats. He could win a job on the Opening Day roster with a good Spring. In Arizona he’s showing some power, posting a .542 Slugging Percentage with three doubles and three homers in 48 at-bats.
One Met prospect who certainly deserved an All Star nod is second baseman L.J. Mazzilli, who is in the top ten in many offensive categories. Mazz, who is sporting a 7-game hitting streak, has a .316/.422/.506 slash line for Scottsdale in 11 games. He was the Mets fourth-round pick in the 2013 Draft and batted .301/.361/.440 with 11 home runs in 131 games in his first full professional season. His approach at the plate and his defense has been drawing raves from scouts.
