Francisco Álvarez Ranked as No. 10 Prospect in Baseball

MLB Pipeline unveiled their updated midseason Top 100 prospect list.  In this edition of the rankings, the New York Mets have three of their own. On the list is catcher Francisco Alvarez, third baseman/outfielder Brett Baty, and shortstop Ronny Mauricio. The three check-in at 10th, 49th, and 58th respectively. 

As the rankings show, Alvarez (ranked 10th) is certainly the Mets’ best prospect, and one of the best in all of baseball. He has put on a show at both the Low-A and High-A levels this year. Before getting promoted, he slashed .417/.567/.646 in 48 at-bats. with St. Lucie (Low-A). Since being moved up, he has gotten 211 at-bats with Brooklyn (High-A) and already has 16 home runs and 47 runs batted in. His slash line sits at .246/.344/.540 which is good for a .884 OPS. 

His stellar performance this year has certainly not gone unrecognized. In addition to his No. 10 MLB Pipeline ranking, he ranks in the top-14, as high as fifth by Fangraphs, by other major prospect ranking outlets. Some examples being number 11 by Baseball America and number 14 by Baseball Prospectus. He has certainly been a terrific development for the Mets this season, and hopefully, the play continues as the 19-year old rises through the minor league ranks.

The second Met on the MLB Pipeline rankings is Baty. The 2019 first-round selection has also steadily risen up the rankings this season. In the preseason MLB Pipeline Top 100, he was ranked 94th, so he has jumped 45 spots to 49th in the new rankings.

He started the year with High-A Brooklyn before being promoted to Binghamton (Double-A) midway through the season. With Brooklyn, he slashed .309/.397/.514 and hit seven home runs, while driving in 34 runs. After an adjustment period in Binghamton, he has started to put it together as he has an OPS above 1.000 in August.  Worth noting, before this season Baty was strictly a third baseman, but the Mets have experimented with him playing some left field.

The last of the trio in the top 100 is Mauricio. He has spent the whole season in high-A Brooklyn, where he has displayed the most impressive power of his short professional career. He has 16 home runs and 52 runs batted over 334 at-bats.

His average has dipped though, as he is only hitting .234. Despite this, the terrific potential-loaded shortstop jumped from 67 at the beginning of the year to 58th in the rankings. It will be interesting to see how the Mets treat this rise throughout the team’s minor league system. 

MLB Pipeline also updated their Top 30 list solely for the Mets system. Right-handed pitchers Matt Allan and J.T. Ginn (2.56 ERA in eight Low-A starts) round out the top five. While the steadily rising teammates Mark Vientos (.281/.349/.603 in Double-A) and Carlos Cortes (.269/.329/.509 in Double-A) check in at sixth and 10th respectively. Others in the top-10 are outfielders Alex Ramirez (Low-A) and Khalil Lee (Triple-A) as well as right-handed pitcher Robert Dominguez (FCL).

This year’s second-rounder, right-handed pitcher Calvin Ziegler, ranks 12th, and the team’s third-rounder this year, right-handed pitcher Dominic Hamel, is 11th. Another 2021 draft pick, fourth-rounder JT Schwartz (Low-A), checks in at 17th.  

Another noticeable part of the updated rankings is the Mets have six players, outside the team’s top 10 ranked prospects, with an estimated time of arrival (ETA) to the big leagues of 2022. Note, these ETAs are not always correct, but just a baseline of what to expect.

The pitchers are right-hander Jose Butto (1.86 ERA in five double-A starts), left-hander Josh Walker (3.46 ERA in 88.1 innings-pitched across three-levels), right-hander Eric Orze (3.57 ERA in 40.1 relief innings across three-levels), and right-hander Michel Otanez (21 hits allowed in 30 2/3 High-A innings pitched). The position players are infielders Jaylen Palmer (.270 average across both levels of A-ball) and and shortstop Shervyen Newton. Also, catchers Hayden Senger (.281 average across 146 at-bats in Double-A) and Nick Meyer (.286 average in Triple-A). 

The top 100 rankings can be found here. While the New York Mets specific team top 30 rankings can be found here.