The Mets other clear option for a call-up from Triple-A Syracuse when Jeff McNeil went on the injured list was another former Met, Dilson Herrera.

Ruben Tejada was the call instead (likely because of stronger defense), but Herrera is continuing to show impressive power as he too awaits his return to Flushing.

On Thursday night, Herrera went 2-for-4 with two homers and knocked in three of Syracuse’s five runs. The still just 25-year-old is hitting .259/.338/.544 with 26 doubles, 24 home runs, 58 RBI, and 106 strikeouts in 351 at-bats this year.

It should be noted that when you look at numbers from the International League (like Rene Rivera with 25 homers) that the ball is different this year as noted by JJ Cooper of Baseball America.

Juiced ball aside, Herrera’s .544 slugging ranks eighth in the league. Dilson’s goal this year has clearly been hitting the ball in the air, going into Thursday’s game his 51.7 fly ball percentage was tied for the highest in the league.

The former top 100 prospect has also shown his versatility in 2019 playing five different positions. He has played 32 games at first base, 31 games at third (hasn’t looked good here defensively), 28 games at second, six games in left field, and four games in right field.

Another name from the Syracuse box score to keep an eye on is right-handed reliever Matt Blackham. The 26-year-old has been one of the Mets best minor league relievers this year and has allowed only one earned run in 9 1/3 innings since his promotion to Triple-A.

Blackham is Rule 5 Draft eligible after the season though the Mets could add him to the 40-man this year to take a look before that. The former 29th round pick features a mid-90’s fastball and an impressive knuckle-curve. The .145 batting average against him ranks 10th among 1787 minor league pitchers with at least 40 innings.

His biggest issue has always been controlling his pitches, his walks are high this year (4.8 per nine) though lower than 2018 (5.4 per nine). The violent finish to his delivery is likely the biggest culprit for his inconsistency with strikes. On the plus side, Blackham’s 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings leads Mets minor leaguers with at least 40 innings pitched this year.

Other notable performances from the Mets minor leagues on Thursday were terrific outings by Double-A Binghamton’s starter Tommy Wilson (7 IP, ER, 7 K) and Single-A Columbia’s starter Bryce Hutchinson (7 IP, ER, 6 K).