Five Mets Non-Roster Invitees to Keep Tabs on This Spring

Spring Training is an exciting time of year.

It marks the beginning of a long baseball season, a team’s core players get to mingle with the new offseason additions, prospects get a chance to experience a taste of the big league lifestyle, and some guys come in just looking for a chance to prove themselves and end up being pleasant surprises.

Pitchers and catchers report to the Mets Spring Training facility in St. Lucie, Florida this week, and as such, the Mets released their full spring roster, as well as non-roster invitees as things begin to ramp up.

The list of non-roster guys is an area of particular intrigue, as we might see some of these guys in Queens this season, and hopefully some make an impact.

The Mets did a good job this winter of bolstering the upper levels of their minor league system which had been stripped away under the team’s previous regime. So there are some interesting guys that will be in camp this winter. Let’s take a look at five players to keep an eye on this Spring.

I have chosen to exclude well-known prospects such as catcher Francisco Alvarez, right-handed pitcher Matthew Allan, infielders Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Mark Vientos, and outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong in this article. It will be exciting to see these guys, but they likely won’t make it to Queens this year, and they are already rookies that are closely followed.

Oscar De La Cruz, RHP

Back in November, the Mets inked right-hander Oscar De La Cruz to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training as part of a slew of moves.

The 25-year-old has yet to reach the majors, but is a former top prospect from his time with the Chicago Cubs, ranking as high as No. 1 in their system in 2017.

De La Cruz originally signed with the Cubs as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2013. In 2018, the righty was popped with an 80-game suspension after testing positive for Furosemide, a masking agent and banned substance. He would still remain with Chicago until 2020, but was released in May before latching on with the Mets.

Even after the suspension, De La Cruz hung around in the Cubs’ top 30 prospect list by MLB Pipeline over the years. Originally, De La Cruz came through the ranks as a starter, but in recent years has slowly been transitioning to more of a bullpen arm.

This might be beneficial for him, as his arsenal includes a curveball with good break, a complementary changeup and a mid-90s fastball on the upper end.

Transitioning him to be a full time bullpen arm could make him a potential effective big league middle reliever.

At just 25-years-old, De La Cruz’s former top prospect status was enough to warrant seeing what they could get out of him.

Ryley Gilliam, RHP

Right-hander Ryley Gilliam is a bit different from some of the other non-roster invitees as he is not someone the Mets are trying to catch lightning in a bottle with, but a minor league reliever who is pretty close to the big leagues.

Of the non-roster invitees who were incumbent members of the Mets system, Gilliam likely has the best shot of making the big leagues this season.

Drafted in the fifth round of the 2018 MLB draft out of Clemson, Gilliam rose rapidly through the Mets system, appearing in 17 games for Short-A Brooklyn in 2018, and then advancing as high as Triple-A Syracuse in 2019.

Due to the shortened MLB season and no minor league season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gilliam was forced to miss the season.

Now with MLB and MiLB back on track as the 2021 season approaches, Gilliam will likely start the year with either Double-A Binghamton or Triple-A Syracuse, but could be called up after he gets some additional seasoning.

In 2019, Gilliam struggled a bit as he advanced to the higher levels of the minors, but now that he’s 24-years-old and nearly two years later, he might see that correction.

A bit of an undersized reliever at 5’10”, Gilliam makes up for it with a quick arm action, a mid-to-upper 90s fastball and a secondary curveball with good downward plane.

The Georgia native punches out a strong amount of batters, but has had some control issues that has led to an elevated walk rate during his time in the Mets sytem.

Though, as a mid-to-back end reliever at his ceiling, Gilliam could be an effective bullpen piece for the Mets if he continues to develop and everything culminates.

Gilliam is ranked as the No. 21 prospect in the Mets system by MLB Pipeline.

Tylor Megill, RHP

Taken just a few rounds after Gilliam, right-hander Tylor Megill‘s placement in this article is all contingent on how the Mets deploy him going forward.

Standing at an imposing 6’7″, The 25-year-old Megill has been used as both a starter and a reliever during his time in the Mets system, though his future could very well be the latter.

Megill has always had strong spin on his fastball going back to his college days at the University of Arizona and has racked up a ton of strikeouts as a professional.

The combination of his large frame, delivery, high spin fastball and hard slider would make him an absolute threat as a reliever and if that’s the route the Mets decide to go, they could have something really fun on their hands.

Megill has some control issues, but generates strong velocity on his pitches and is deceptive, so used more sparingly as a reliever as opposed to a starter, Megill could thrive.

The California native appeared in just one game for Double-A Binghamton in 2019, but a couple years later and being in his mid-20s now, Megill will likely start the year in Double or Triple-A.

The right-hander currently ranks as the No. 28 prospect in the Mets system according to MLB Pipeline.

Jerad Eickhoff, RHP

Mets fans might be familiar with right-hander Jerad Eickhoff, as he spent the 2015-19 seasons with the division rival Philadelphia Phillies.

In 2020, he spent time as part of the Texas Rangers and San Diego Padres’ rosters but didn’t pitch in an MLB game. The Mets inked him to a minor league deal in December.

Eickhoff, 30, comes with three more years of control and is a guy who will likely be on the taxi squad from Citi Field to Syracuse in 2021, especially if the team plays a lot of seven-inning doubleheaders.

In 2016-17, the Indiana native was worth 5.0 combined fWAR for the Phils, but missed almost the whole season in 2018 due to a back strain followed by numbness in fingers.

The numbness was due to nerve damage, but he met with specialists who ruled out thoracic outlet syndrome or carpal tunnel. He received two cortisone shots after this.

In 2019, Eickhoff pitched in 12 games for the Phillies, but his season was again cut short due to biceps tendinitis.

What Eickhoff does bring to the table when he is healthy is a decent back end rotation piece. Though, he will likely be used for spot starts in 2021 barring a spectacular spring or an injury.

His fastball spin in 2019 was higher than it ever was in his career, while his curve spin went from slightly above average to extremely strong. Though, it was a small sample size as he only had 10 starts to show for it.

If he can hone in more on his fastball and curveball spin in 2021, he could benefit the Mets as even more rotation depth. If not, perhaps he finds some of that success that he had during the middle part of the 2010s.

Mallex Smith, OF

Barring any additional moves, an area where the Mets are somewhat thin for 2021 is the outfield.

The team recently signed Albert Almora to be the team’s fourth outfielder, but beyond that they have only Guillermo Heredia on the 40-man roster.

After that? There is Mallex Smith, who was signed as a non-roster invitee on November 4, 2020.

Smith, 27, comes with two more years of control and a minor league option, so if he sticks with the team through spring, there’s a good chance he gets to don orange and blue this season.

At the dish, Smith doesn’t hit for much power as he has clubbed just 13 long balls in his entire career, though he does have excellent speed, ranking in the 96th percentile by Statcast in 2019, as well as in the 96th percentile in outs above average and in the 90th percentile in outfielder jump.

In the past, players like Smith including Jake Marisnick and Billy Hamilton, who have upside but are also flawed, have been acquired for minor league prospects. However, a move like Smith on a minor league deal is exactly the kind of a move a front office should make for this caliber of a player.

He will likely start the year as the starting center fielder for the Syracuse Mets, but could see some time in Queens, and perhaps even have some moderate success like he did just a few years ago with the Tampa Bay Rays when he put up 3.5 fWAR in 2018.

Honorable mentions

Apart from the guys above, there are a few other interesting players to keep an eye on, such as right-hander Harol Gonzalez, who could make some starts at the big league level this year, former Atlanta Braves closer Arodys Vizcaino if he can still throw a high velocity heater, and Johneshwy Fargas, who like Mallex Smith, also has some wheels. Oh, and who could forget longtime Mets LOOGY Jerry Blevins who is back in the New York groove for his second tour of duty with the team!