Photo by Ed Delany

The Arizona Fall League season got underway on Wednesday with the Mets top two prospects participating played key roles in an Opening Day walk-off win for the Salt River Rafters.

Mets prospects Carlos Cortes and Brett Baty hit 1-2 in the Rafters lineup and they were a driving force in their 6-5 win. All four of the Mets position player prospects were in the lineup and both of their relief prospects got in the game out of the pen.

  • LF Carlos Cortes 3-for-4, 3B, BB, R
  • 3B Brett Baty 3-for-3, BB, HBP, 2 R
  • C Hayden Senger 0-for-2, HBP
  • 2B Wilmer Reyes 0-for-4

Cortes started the game off with a single up the middle off Padres talented lefty MacKenzie Gore. Baty followed with a 106.5 mph single of his own. Gore got out of the inning in thanks to a double play off the bat of Spencer Torkelson.

In his second at-bat, Cortes hit a 102.1 mph triple down the right field line, again off Gore. Baty was hit by a pitch, off his elbow pad so no need to worry Mets fans.

The third time through the lineup, Cortes and Baty both singled ahead of a two-run double by Torkelson in the fifth inning that tied the game at 2-2.

Cortes struck out and Baty singled in their fourth plate appearances of the night. Both of them then walked in the eight inning.

Baty ended up with two of the top three hardest hit balls in the game with his 106.5 mph and 108.7 mph singles. Even more impressive to note that both of those hits came off a tough lefty and against 95+ mph fastballs.

Mets right-handed relief prospects Brian Metoyer and Colin Holderman both pitched an inning in the Rafters win.

  • RHP Brian Metoyer 1 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, K
  • RHP Colin Holderman 1 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, K

While Metoyer struggled with his control (only 12 strikes in 24 pitches), he did get three whiffs on the three curveballs he got hitters to swing at. A key note for the curveball of Metoyer is the 3103 rpm average spin rate and 3252 rpm max spin rate. That average curveball spin rate would’ve ranked him seventh out of 454 pitchers in the big leagues this season. For more reference, Mets reliever Seth Lugo led the majors with his average 3261 rpms on his curve.

Holderman was efficient during his inning needing only 14 pitches (8 strikes) to retire the side. Holderman was up to 99 mph as the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies closer this season, but topped out at 97.8 mph on Wednesday. He also got two whiffs on three of the sliders he threw.

The Salt River Rafters are back at it on Thursday with a 3:35 p.m. ET start. Unfortunately, these games are not televised but can be followed on MLB Gameday. Mets pitching prospect Connor Grey is scheduled to be the starter for the Rafters on Friday. You can read more about his unusual path to the AFL and other notes in my preview.