Mets Minors Heat Sheet: Week of May 15

The Mets’ minor league season is in full swing, and prospects are performing at both high, and low, levels. The outlook of the Mets’ system is on the up swing, and that is thanks to some strong performances from hot prospects, some known well and others trying to build up their status. But as the season goes, prospects catch fire and can cool off just as quickly. The first installment of the Mets Minors Heat Sheet: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not looks to point out who is and isn’t putting up strong numbers.

Who’s Hot?

RHP SP Mike Vasil (Double-A Binghamton)

The Mets’ 8th round pick in 2021, Mike Vasil has come out of the gates on fire in 2023. Vasil is limiting the walks, striking out a ton of hitters, and not letting runners on base. Entering his start on the 11th against the Hartford Yard Goats, Vasil had a 3.27 ERA and a WHIP under 1.00. So what did he do? Vasil went eight innings of one run baseball, striking out seven, walking none, and only allowing four hits.

Vasil now owns a 2.70 ERA in six starts on the season. His WHIP sits at a cool 0.70, he’s walked just four batters in 30 innings of work, and could be the next pitching prospect to make an impact on the big league team. The longer Vasil dominates in the Eastern League, the more he looks ready for the big leagues. His dominant start against Hartford lands him the top-spot on the first edition of the Mets Minors Heat Sheet.

OF Stanley Consuegrea (High-A Brooklyn)

Finally healthy, Stanley Consuegra is putting on a show in Brooklyn for the Cyclones. Through the 14th, Consuegra has put up a slash line of .255/.322/.491 with 5 homers. Mostly playing right field, Consuegra has handled the field strongly, while also putting up .813 OPS through 28 games. The righty has cut his strikeout rate by a few percent, and is putting the ball in play more.

After a brief 11 game home run drought, Consuegra put one out of the yard on the 12th to break the drought. Consuegra missed all of 2019 due to injury, then the 2020 campaign to Covid canceling the minor league season that year, and then only appeared in 20 games in 2021. As things currently stand, the 6’2, 205 LB out fielder is one of the two best outfield prospects the Mets have stateside, slotting in behind teammate Alex Ramirez. Conseugra is likely closer to being big-league ready than Ramirez, and has more pop in his bat. If Consuegra keeps this performance up, it would not be shocking to see him in Binghamton before too long

LHP RP Daniel Juarez (High-A Brooklyn)

Daniel Juarez has had one of the best campaigns for any reliever in the Mets’ minor league system. Juarez has gone 11.2 innings of work for Brooklyn and has not allowed a run. The 22 year-old rightly has posted a WHIP of 0.69 and 13.1 strikeouts per nine innings. Juarez dazzled in 2022 to the tune of a 1.66 ERA over 43.1 innings, all while striking out around 12 batters every nine. Juarez, building off a strong 2022, is positioning himself to be one of, if not the, best relief prospect the Mets have.

The lefty could be first in line for a promotion to Double-A Binghamton in the near future as he continues his success in Brooklyn. Based on his current track from St. Lucie to Brooklyn, Juarez could be in line for a promotion around the 30-to-40 inning mark, which he would hit sometime around late June or early July.

Who’s Not?

1B JT Schwartz (Double-A Binghamton)

The Mets took JT Schwartz in the fourth round of the 2022 draft out of UCLA, but the polished collegiate product has struggled to produce in a pivotal 2023 season. So far for Binghamton, Schwartz is hitting .240/.301/.375 with just two home runs in 27 games. In his age 23 season, Schwartz is regressing roughly from a solid 2022, in which he put up a .756 OPS with only 6 homers. Schwartz’s calling card as a prospect has been his ability to draw walks (13.0 BB% in 2021, 10.1% in 2022), but he has walked just above 6% of the time so far in 2023, while maintaining a strikeout rate around the 19% mark.

Schwartz came out of UCLA as a solid bat that had the ability to grow into more power, but would be limited to first base or duties as a DH. While nothing on the defensive profile has changed, Schwartz’s struggles at the plate and inability to grow into power (eight homers over his last 136 games) has also limited his movement as a prospect. He has stayed on schedule with promotions and moving through the system, while also staying on the field with good durability. However, his stock as a prospect has not grown much, and the clock continues to tick for the 23 year-old.

RHP SP Junior Santos (Double-A Binghamton)

In his sixth season with the Mets, RHP Junior Santos is struggling off the bat with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies. Santos has posted a 1.72 WHIP, a 6.07 ERA, and a career low 6.1 K/9. Santos has been on the Mets prospect radar for some time now, and had a promising start to his career in 2018. After a struggle in 2019 and no season in 2020, Santos has yet to post an ERA under 4.40 since 2021. Additionally, virtually every split of Santos’ has climbed. He has seen an increase in hits per 9 innings, walks per 9 innings, and homers per 9 innings.

If there is one thing working in Santos’ favor, it would be that the righty is still just 21 years-old, and is about 3.5 years younger than the average player in Double-A this year. While being that young won’t always be in his corner, it definitely buys him some extra time before he loses any form of prospect stock. However, until Santos can find some form of sustainability in his outings, the future looks more and more bleak for the righty by the outing.

LHP SP Javier Atencio (Low-A St. Lucie)

A bit of a surprise to be struggling this badly, LHP Javier Atencio is off to a rough start in 2023. The St. Lucie starter was strong in 2022, and completed his first season stateside as part of a strong group of arms that helped lead the team to a FSL title. In 18 innings, Atencio has allowed 20 earned runs, is walking the house, and has lose three strikeouts per nine off his post from last year. Just 21, Atencio has more than enough time to work out from the early struggled, and his track record suggests that this is not the pitcher he is, but arguably no notable Met prospect is off to a worse start than Atencio.

Atencio has appeared in six games for St. Lucie, and pas posted a 10.00 ERA. His WHIP sits at 2.17, his BB/9 is at 7.5, while his K/9 is at 8.5. Of the 96 batters that Atencio has faced, he’s wither walked or hit 20 0f them. The growing struggles for Atencio make his first prolonged slump, something he will have to learn to work out of. He posted a 2.27 ERA over 43.2 innings last year in St. Lucie, but he has already allowed twice as many earned runs this year as he did last. A strong Atencio is a good prospect for the Mets to have, and definitely one that would be much welcomed after the Tommy John procedure that sidelined Joel Diaz, his fellow ace on the 2022 St. Lucie staff, for at minimum the duration of the 2023 season.