When a team is struggling like the Mets are right now, fans always ask whether they have any options in the minor leagues that can help right the ship. After their 13-6 loss at home vs the Rockies on Sunday the Mets have fallen to 17-18 on the season. They are tied with the Marlins in second place (7 games behind Braves) and only one game ahead of Phillies for fourth place.

The Mets have already promoted their top two prospects from Triple-A to the big leagues, third baseman Brett Baty and catcher Francisco Álvarez. Baty has shown he belongs with a 123 wRC+ in 17 games. Álvarez, still only 21, has settled into his role by hitting .296/.367/.482 over his last 11 games. Álvarez is also tied for third with two catcher framing runs according to Baseball Savant. Both young players have been productive recently despite the Mets overall team struggles.

So what else do the Mets have in terms of players at Triple-A that might help?

Hitting Reinforcements

1B/3B Mark Vientos

His 10 home runs lead the Mets minor leagues and are tied for third in the International League. Jo Adell and Vientos are the only two players in all of minor league baseball with at least 10 doubles and 10 home runs. The 23-year-old’s 175 wRC+ ranks third in the league and his 1.121 OPS (.339/.424/.696) is second. The most impressive part of the 2023 season for Vientos is the strong walk rate (12.1 %) and significantly improved strikeout rate (21.2%).

Defensively, Vientos has played more third since Baty got the call to the big leagues, but he continues to be below average there. He’s mostly a 1B/DH type at this point, which limits how he can fit on the Mets roster right now. Daniel Vogelbach has actually been one of the Mets’ best hitters this season ranking second on the team with his 135 wRC+. And while he doesn’t have the prototypical power of a DH, he’s been quite productive as an offensive player since the Mets acquired him. That said, Mark Canha (91 wRC+) and Tommy Pham (97 wRC+) have combined to DH 12 games this season and both have been below average offensively.

Vientos would certainly give the Mets some much-needed power, whether it’s platooning at DH or coming off the bench. Typically you wouldn’t want an offensive player to be in a part-time role in the big leagues, however, Vientos has now played 143 games at the Triple-A level and is simply not being challenged anymore by the pitching in that league. Vientos is also destined likely destined for a DH/part-time role if he stays in the Mets organization given the presence of Pete Alonso.

SS/2B Ronny Mauricio

Mets fans have been thinking about Ronny Mauricio going back to winter ball in the offseason when he was the MVP. He then showed off his power this spring in major league camp and that has carried over into the season as well. The 22-year-old has 10 doubles, two triples, six home runs, 19 RBIs, and six stolen bases (3 CS) in 138 plate appearances this year. The switch-hitter is slashing .333/370/.581 and his 135 wRC+ ranks third among Mets minor leaguers. He’s also only striking out 18.1% of the time.

The downside with Mauricio’s offense is that he is still not walking very much at all. His very low 4.3% walk rate is almost identical to his 4.4% rate last season in Double-A. He has walked just twice in his last 23 games. He’s only hitting the ball on the ground 52.4% of the time with a large number of those being rolled-over pitches to the pull side. There’s no doubt that Mauricio has some of the best raw power in the Mets system, though his glaring weakness continues to be swing decisions. `

With Mauricio getting close to the majors and shortstop being locked up for a long time, the Mets recently decided to get the youngster reps at second base for the first time in affiliated ball. Mauricio has played 12 of his last 13 games defensively at second after being exclusively a shortstop in the minors. Mauricio certainly has the skillset—despite not being the prototypical size of 6’3”, 222 pounds—to be okay at least at second. He also played a handful of games at third base in winter ball as well.

While the power from Mauricio has been impressive, it would probably be wise for the Mets to let him continue to learn a new position and get him to make better swing decisions that would translate into more walks/fewer weak ground balls.

Best of the Rest

Outside of the four prospects we’ve talked about that started the year in Syracuse, the best hitters have been 1B/OF DJ Stewart and outfielder Lorenzo Cedrola. Both players joined the Mets during the offseason on minor league deals. Stewart looked great in spring training for the Mets with a 1.195 OPS and tied Vientos for the team lead with 11 RBIs.

Stewart started the season slow, hit the injured list, and has been tearing the cover off the ball since his return. In 11 games since getting activated, Stewart has six home runs and 10 walks. During those 11 games, the 29-year-old was the DH four times, four games in right field, two at first base, and one in left field. Stewart is hitting .208/.344/.556 for the season.

Unlike Mauricio and Vientos though, Stewart is not on the 40-man roster. The left-handed hitter has 26 career major league home runs in 527 at-bats.

The speedy Cedrola is hitting .304/.407/.493 with four doubles, three home runs, and a perfect 10-for-10 stealing bases in 23 games this season. The 25-year-old has played a majority of his games in center field with one start in left and four in right field as well. The right-handed hitter has an impressive eight-walk-to-nine strikeout ratio to begin the season.

Besides Mauricio and Vientos, Danny Mendick is the only other position player in Triple-A that’s on the 40-man roster. The 29-year-old has a .746 OPS this year while playing five different positions.

Starting Pitching 

David Peterson/José Butto/Denyi Reyes

Both Peterson and Butto have already made starts in a Mets rotation that has been one of the worst in baseball to start the year. Peterson returned to the Triple-A mound last week and fared much as he has in the majors (7.34 ERA) this year, allowing four runs in five innings.

Butto has pitched to a 3.00 big league ERA in three appearances this year despite an ugly 11 walk-to-five strikeout ratio.

Reyes gave up five runs in one inning of work in his only major league start of the season for the Mets

Avert Your Eyes

The rest of the starters down in Triple-A Syracuse has been rough to watch. Tony Dibrell (9.97 ERA), Dylan Bundy (12.71 ERA), and Humberto Mejia (5.91 ERA) have combined to make 16 starts for Syracuse.

Bullpen Arms

Finally Some Relief

This is where the Mets could find a little bit of help from Syracuse with a couple of pitchers they have called up yet having good seasons. Left-handers T.J. McFarland (1.69 ERA) and Joshua Walker (0.87 ERA) have fared well despite 5.4 BB/9 and 4.4 BB/9 walk rates respectively. The veteran McFarland has struck out 22 batters in 16 innings, but has also walked 10 during that span. McFarland has yet to allow a home run and has a whopping 67.2 ground ball % against him. Walker is all about the strikeout this year, with his 34.1 K% leading all pitchers at Syracuse with at least 10 innings pitched.

Another lefty to keep an eye on is recently promoted Nathan Lavender. The 2021 draft pick pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in his Triple-A debut on Friday. He has an overall ERA of 1.54 this season in 11 2/3 innings and has struck out 42% of the batters he’s faced.

The Syracuse Mets have only four saves on the season and right-hander Grant Hartwig has three of them. Hartwig pitched well in spring training this year before heading to Syracuse where he has a 1.35 ERA over 13 1/3 innings. The walks are a bit of an issue (8), though the strikeouts (16) are high.

Another arm that was recently promoted to Triple-A Syracuse to watch is righty Dedniel Núñez. It’s been a long road for Núñez to finally get to Triple-A following being taken in the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft in 2020, having Tommy John surgery the next year, and then getting returned to the Mets after missing the entire 2021 season. The 26-year-old has thrown 5 1/3 scoreless innings for Syracuse. In that span, he has struck out seven and walked six.

None of these bullpen options are currently on the Mets 40-man roster.