#10 Marcos Molina
Preseason: #9
Age: 20 – May 8th, 1995
Signed: January 11th, 2012
Bats/Throws: Right/Right
It has been a whirlwind year for the young starting pitcher who the Mets decided to be aggressive with pushing him right past Savannah to the St. Lucie Mets to start 2015. This after completely dominating in the New York-Penn League for the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2014 winning the pitching triple crown with his seven wins, 91 strikeouts, and a 1.77 ERA. He was also the Mets Sterling Award winner for the NYPL and was named the best prospect in the league.
Marcos was 1-3 with a 3.33 ERA while striking out 28 in 27 innings in his first five starts of the season. On May 13th he struggled giving up six runs on eleven hits while showing diminished velocity with his fastball. He was shutdown and placed on the disabled list with a strained right elbow the following day. Most thought that he was headed for Tommy John Surgery until it was reported he was going to try and rehab the injury.
He returned to the mound on August 5th for the Gulf Coast League Mets throwing 3 perfect innings with three strikeouts. He was then moved back to St. Lucie where he went 4.2 scoreless in his second start back. On August 17th he made his third start returning from injury and what is sure to be his last start this year allowing five runs in four innings.
Most pundits still have Molina as the Mets best pitching prospect (assuming Steven Matz graduates soon) and definitely has the most potential of any pitcher left in the farm system. He has already shown a plus fastball in the 94/95 range, a slider that has shown glimpses of being an above average pitch, and a solid changeup up that he has good strike zone control of.
He has the ideal frame for a pitcher, scouts love his athleticism, and everyone raves about the mound presence he has already at 20 years old. The big caution with Molina is his extremely short arm path that can lead to injury and in this case might have already. Some have said that his mechanics look more of that from a high effort reliever. The three pitch arsenal gives Molina top of rotation starter potential while his mechanics could limit his long-term outlook. Here is a GIF of him pitching last year.
#9 Desmond Lindsay
Age: 18 – January 15th, 1997
Drafted: 2nd round 2015
Bats/Throws: Right/Right
The Mets took Desmond 59th overall in this year’s draft from the Out-Of-Door Academy in Florida and signed him for $1,142,700. He played first and third base in high school but was drafted by the Mets with the intention of playing in the outfield to take advantage of his above average speed.
He played in only 7 games during his senior league because of a hamstring injury that paused his the start of his Mets career as well. After spending some time in Port St. Lucie rehabbing the injury he joined the GCL Mets on July 24th going 1-3 with a walk in his pro debut.
Desmond impressed in 21 games in the Gulf Coast League hitting .304/.400/.464 with four doubles, two triples, homerun, six RBI, three stolen bases, and a 11/21 BB/SO. He was promoted to the Brooklyn Cyclones last week and has hit .258/.343/.355 with six RBI in 31 at bats. He has played all 25 of his defensive games in center field.
Strikeouts have been a problem for him this year notching 34 of them in 31 games but not unexpected given his age and lack of at bats this season. Desmond has the potential to be a five-tool player while playing one of the best important defensive positions on the field. There is a lot to like with his kid and I am very anxious to see him show off his speed/power combo in a complete season. Video of Desmond hitting before draft this year.
#8 Robert Gsellman
Preseason: Unranked
Age: 22 – July 18th, 1993
Drafted: 13th round 2011
Bats/Throws: Right/Right
Robert has gone from being rarely talked about to potentially being one of the best pitching prospects in the Mets farm system in just a year. He started off the season dominating the Florida State League for St. Lucie going 6-0 with a 1.76 ERA and 0.941 WHIP. He allowed 37 hits and one homerun in 51 innings. He was named the FSL pitcher of the week for May 11th and was a midseason All-Star.
Since being promoted to Binghamton he has gone 7-6 with a 3.06 ERA, 1.155 WHIP, and has allowed only four homeruns in 88.1 innings. His numbers are even better if you don’t include his first outing for the B’Mets when he struggled in four innings giving up six runs. His ERA in the 84.1 innings after that day is 2.56 with the league hitting only .221 against him.
One concerning issue from his move to AA from A ball is that his walks have gone up slightly (1.9 to 2.3 BB/9) and his strikeouts have gone down (6.5 to 4.8 SO/9). Overall for the season he is 13-6 with a 2.58 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and a 1.39 GO/AO ratio.
The bread and butter for Gsellman is his heavy two-seam sinker that nearly impossible for opposing hitters to get any kind of lift on. His fastball sits in the 91/92 MPH range topping out at 94 with solid and simple mechanics that allow him to repeat his delivery. His best secondary pitch is his curveball which has shown improved command and tight 12-6 break. Changeup has good velocity at 83/84 but rarely gets any downward plane movement and command is inconsistent.
He is athletic with a perfect pitchers frame at 6’4 and 200 pounds. Also a very smart pitcher who keeps the ball low in the zone and has an above average pick-off move. I think Robert has the ceiling of a #2/3 starter with the floor of a #4/5 and I have him this high because I think he is a virtual lock at this point to have a solid MLB career. Video of him pitching for Savannah last year.
#7 Wuilmer Becerra
Preseason: #18
Age: 20 – October 1st, 1994
Trade: December 17, 2012 from Toronto
Bats/Throws: Right/Right
Becerra had been labeled the “non-elite prospect” in the R.A. Dickey trade with the Blue Jays though he has proved to be anything but that with his offensive potential. In a trade that featured two of the Blue Jays top prospects (Noah Syndergaard and Travis d’Arnaud) Wuilmer became an afterthought only a year and a half after signing a $1.3 million bonus on July 3rd, 2011.
His Blue Jays career lasted 11 games when he was hit in the face by a pitch while playing in the Gulf Coast League. His jaw was broken, wired shut, and his first season in pro ball cut short after hitting .259/.359/.375. He actually fared worse in his first season in Mets system hitting .243/.351/.296 with the GCL Mets in 2013.
Finally some power came in 2014 for Wuilmer when he hit .300/.351/.469 with ten doubles, two triples, seven homeruns, and seven stolen bases in 58 games for the Kingsport Mets. He was named the player of the week in the Appalachian League on July 21st and chosen as a postseason All-Star too.
The breakout continued this year with Becerra hitting .295/.348/.432 with 27 doubles, three triples, nine homeruns, 67 runs scored, 62 RBI, and 15 stolen bases in 115 games for the Savannah Sand Gnats. That includes hitting .316/.362/.444 at Grayson Stadium which is a notorious pitchers park and being at least a year younger than a majority of the South Atlantic League. He was snubbed for the All-Star game but was named a postseason All-Star earlier this week.
Wuilmer is a big, strong, athletic and fast player who’s mold fits right field perfectly with his above average arm. He has shown off his great raw power this year although his swing does get long at times which contributed to his 92 strikeouts. He is still far away (should start 2016 in St. Lucie), however the sky is the limit for him if he can refine his approach and learn when to shorten his stroke. Video of a double he hit this year.
#6 Brandon Nimmo
Age: 22 – March 27th, 1993
Preseason: #4
Drafted: 1st round (13th overall) 2011
Bats/Throws: Left/Right
It has been a disappointing season for Nimmo caused by injury and under performance despite reaching AAA for the first time. He has continued to walk at the AAA level proof by his .233/.374/.349 slash line in 31 games for Las Vegas. Looks like Nimmo knee is finally healthy as well given that he has stolen five bases for the 51’s after not swiping a single bag in 68 games for Binghamton.
Nimmo started the year back in Binghamton where he finished 2014 and did not progress like most were hoping seeing his BB% and slugging drop. He did see his average jump from .238 to .279 this year albeit with an unsustainable .343 BABIP. Brandon had his season derailed on May 15th when he went down with a knee injury, he was hitting .297/.368/.420 at that time.
He missed a month and returned to the B’Mets on June 18th but didn’t seem like he was the same player. He wasn’t driving the ball even in batting practice and seemed like he was very tentative with everything he did. Possible that he could have rushed back before he was fully healthy. In his next 34 games with Binghamton he would have only six extra base hits before being promoted on July 28th.
Things started off good for Brandon in AAA hitting .304/.431/.435 with four stolen bases and a 10/7 walk to strike out ratio. He then sat two of the next four games with the 51’s in a pennant race and a lefty on the mound. He also took a ball of the face in batting practice last week that has limited his playing time recently. Overall this year he has hit .261/.357/.356 with 15 doubles, four triples, four homeruns and scored 45 runs in 103 games.
He has played all three outfield positions this year 67 games in center field, 27 in right, and three in left. Although in Las Vegas a majority of his games (17 of 30) have been in right field. Nimmo has the range to play center field and the arm to play right. Depending on the status of Juan Lagares and Yoenis Cespedes I think we most likely see in him CF with the Mets. He was named to his third straight midseason All-Star game this year and his second Futures Game in three years.
When I talked to scouts this year at Binghamton games the majority of them said they had hoped for Nimmo to take a bigger step this year than he had. Also said they he was still young, played good defense, loved his swing, and believed he could take longer than most for his overall game to develop. MLB Pipeline still has him as the #76th best prospect in MLB and 3rd in the Mets system. I think he still has the potential to have a Nick Markakis type career when all is said and done. Video of homerun hit last night.
Mets Midseason Prospects 25-21
Mets Midseason Prospects 20-16
Mets Midseason Prospects 15-11
