Heading into the Arizona Fall League, Tim Tebow and Gavin Cecchini were the two Mets prospects grabbing all of the Mets headlines. However, with yet another strong performance, many people are starting to notice Champ Stuart.
It is not surprising that Stuart is largely unrecognizable to most Mets fans. The 24-year old Bahamian born Stuart was a largely unheralded 2013 sixth round draft pick out of Brevard College. No player out of Brevard College has ever played in the Major Leagues.
In Stuart’s four year Minor League career, he has only been a .226/.319/.349 hitter. Underlying those stats, however, is a center fielder who has the potential to be a five tool player. MLB’s Jonathan Mayo believes the same saying:
“He rates at the top of the scouting scale [as a] runner. A former multi-sport standout, the other parts of his game are a bit raw, but he’s not without tools. He’s willing to work counts and draw walks, knowing his job is to get on base. He has some strength, unlike some pure speed guys, giving hope that there’s some hitting ability to be unlocked.”
The issue with Stuart is, other than his elite center field defense and his tremendous base stealing ability, he has not yet unlocked his full potential at the plate. Stuart began the 2016 season repeating High A St. Lucie. In 71 games at that level, Stuart hit .265/.347/.407 with nine doubles, six triples, six homers, and 24 RBI. Moreover, Stuart stole 25 bases in 28 attempts. This was far and away the best he has played in his professional career, and he was rewarded with a promotion to AA Binghamton.
In 43 games with Binghamton, he regressed to the frustrating player he had been in his brief professional career. Stuart would hit .201/.264/.261 with three doubles, one triple, two homers, and 10 RBI. On the bright side, he played well defensively, and he was 15/18 in stolen base attempts. This is why our affiliate site, Mets Minors, recently ranked him as the Mets 47th best prospect, and why Mets Merized Online predicted the Mets would not protect him in this year’s Rule 5 Draft.
However, Stuart seems to be a different player in the Arizona Fall League. Whether it is being around Major League coaches like Mets first base coach Tom Goodwin, or whether it is him taking his game to a new level against some of the best prospects in the game, or possibly having the benefit of a small sample size, Stuart has started to put his five tools together.
So far in 11 Arizona Fall League games, Stuart is hitting .350/.381/.500 with six runs, three doubles, one homer, and two RBI. While he is hitting the ball with more authority, he is also more selective at the plate as evidenced by him drawing two walks in his 37 plate appearances. More impressively, Stuart has done this while also reminding everyone of the elite speed he has that makes him a special player.
Stuart is a perfect 8 for 8 in stolen base attempts in the Arizona Fall League. On Monday, we saw how Stuart’s speed on the base paths could be game changing as he would score what Mets fans have popularized as a Jose Reyes run.
Stuart led off the sixth inning, and reached on a catcher’s interference. He put himself in a position to score from third with less than two outs by not only stealing second base, but third base as well. These stolen bases were all the more impressive as they came against Baltimore Orioles catching prospect Austin Wynns, who had thrown out 45% of would-be base stealers this season. After an ensuing single, Stuart would score what would prove to be the winning run.
As of this moment, we still do not know how Stuart will be as a Major League player, or if he will become one at all. We don’t know if his tools will ever fully develop, and we don’t know how much longer the Mets will be able to stick with him while he’s trying to put everything together. What we do know is that Stuart is having an impressive Arizona Fall League season that truly gives him and all Mets fans hope that he can fulfill his potential at the Major League Level.
