How The Mets Prospects Performed in The Arizona Fall League

With the final games of the Arizona Fall League behind, the Mets affiliate team, the Glendale Desert Dogs, finished the season in last place. However, some prospects faired better than others. Below is a final look at how all the Mets’ prospects performed this fall.

Hitters

Kevin Parada – In 18 games over 75 plate appearances, Parada slashed .186/.240/.371 with three home runs and nine RBI for a .611 OPS. Parada struck out 29 times, continuing his trend towards more swing-and-miss. On the defensive side, Parada allowed 36 stolen bases to five caught stealing for a 12% caught stealing rate. It’s worth noting that Parada played 120 games, almost doubling his career high. Jonathan Mayo of MLB Pipeline had this to say about Parada:

Parada is really focused on his defense, and the Mets were pleased with the progress he’s shown to date, but he’ll be a serviceable catcher at best. If the bat develops as one hopes, he still has a good chance to be an offensive-minded starting backstop in the big leagues.

D’Andre Smith – In 15 games over 55 plate appearances, Smith slashed .235/.291/.353 with one home run and six RBI’s for a .644 OPS. Smith exclusively played second base, and while the numbers weren’t eye-popping, they could have been much worse. Smith, despite a nearly 25% strikeout rate, showed the ability to put the bat on the ball.

JT Schwartz – The strongest offensive stat line by a Mets hitter, in 20 games and 83 plate appearances, Schwartz slashed .247/.325/.411 with two home runs and 13 RBI for a .736 OPS. 33% of his hits went for extra bases, but at the cost of his plate discipline, he ran a 6/20 BB/K ratio. If Schwartz can tap into his power, he can become a viable MLB player because he has shown he can hit for average.

Rowdey Jordan – Jordan just continued to hit over his 15 games and 60 plate appearances. He had 13 hits – six of them doubles and slashed .255/.367/.373 for a .740 OPS. Jordan doesn’t offer a lot of power, but displayed his versatility yet again, playing games in left field, right field and third base. While Jordan stole 30 bases over the season, he stole one base and was caught twice in Arizona.

Pitchers

Trey McLoughlin – In nine games, McLoughlin had a 0.00 ERA over 8 2/3 innings pitched, striking out eight and walking four while allowing four hits and earning one save. McLoughlin has shown the ability to miss bats and not walk too many hitters, possibly making him a depth piece in the Mets bullpen in the future.

Nolan Clenney – In nine games, Clenney had a 1.00 ERA, running a 13 K/9. Clenney misses a lot of bats but gives up nearly a hit an inning, as he did in Arizona. At 27 years old, the leash on his continued growth will be shorter as he hasn’t shown much success in Triple-A thus far.

Tyler Thomas – In nine games, Thomas notched a 3.72 ERA with a 12 K/9. One could copy and paste the statement written about Clenney here. The older prospect, with no better track record in Syracuse than Clenney, strikes out batters but walks them and gives up hits too.

Jordan Geber – In five starts, Geber ran a 6.00 ERA. He struck out 15 batters and walked three, but allowed 22 hits, four of which were home runs over 18 innings. Geber doesn’t get a lot of strikeouts but doesn’t walk many batters.

Brendan Hardy – In seven appearances, Hardy put up a 6.35 ERA over 5 2/3 innings, striking out four, walking five, and allowing five hits. Hardy had a strong 2023 season across three levels, striking out 54 over 35 innings, so maybe his AZFL performance can be attributed to fatigue – especially since over those 35 innings in the regular season, he walked 13 batters.