No pun intended, but here’s a minor note for those of you who were interested in Mets players ticketed for the Arizona Fall League. The Mets official website notes that three players are headed to the AFL once the Minor League seasons end: Jeff McNeil, Beck Wheeler, and Mickey Jannis.
The Mets will name four additional players at a later date.
McNeil is a 23-year old infielder who has spent the majority of his time playing second and third base and has even thrown in some time at shortstop for good measure. He owns a .317/.376/.765 slash line in A+ ball (St. Lucie), and leads the FSL in runs scored with 78. His 146 hits on the year are second-best in the league. This is his third season in the Mets organization after being drafted in the 12th round of the 2013 draft.
A 26-year old reliever, Wheeler is in his fifth year with the Mets organization, and has spent the entirety of the 2015 season in AA with the B-Mets. So far, he has appeared in 40 games and posted a 3.69 ERA in 53.2 innings. Over his last ten appearances in Binghamton, Wheeler has only allowed one earned run.
Mickey Jannis* is the owner of a really interesting backstory that involves being drafted by the Rays, pitching for an Australian team in Brisbane, and then pitching for the Long Island Ducks. The Mets plucked him out of the Atlantic League earlier this year, and the 27-year old made seven starts for St. Lucie to the tune of a 2.98 ERA. He recently made his first start in Binghamton. Jannis’ best pitch happens to be a hard knuckleball, and he cites Tim Wakefield and more recently, R.A. Dickey as inspirations for his use of the pitch.
Also worth mentioning is that Marc Valdes, the Binghamton Mets pitching coach, will perform the same duties for the Salt River Rafters. The Rafters are composed of players from the Mets, Blue Jays, Nationals, Rockies, and Diamondbacks. The Rafters play their first game on October 13th.
*The Mets release has Jannis’ first name listed as Ricky, but I believe that is incorrect.
