Mets Minors: Mitch Voit Caps Off Strong June

The Mets minor leagues end June with some very interesting through lines. Many hitters including Mitch Voit, Nick Morabito, and Chris Suero had strong months and the main thing they have in common is that they began pulling the ball in the air more. Pitchers like Jonathan Santucci and Daviel Hurtado had strong months and looked to take a step forward.

The final day of the month seemed to be a bit of the reverse of what has happened throughout the season with the only two winning teams being Binghamton and Brooklyn as both offenses scored five runs.

Triple-A

Worcester (38-40) 15, Syracuse (42-40) 5

Box Score

CF Luis Robert Jr. 1-for-2, BB
DH Jorge Polanco: 0-for-3
1B Ryan Clifford: 0-for-4, 3 K
RF Nick Morabito: 3-for-5, 2B
PH/DH MJ Melendez: 1-for-2, HR, R, 2 RBI

Luis Robert Jr. got a hit on his first rehab at bat, worked a walk, and had a hard hit fly out. He was busy in center field early in the game, making all three outs in the second inning. He looked good in the outfield. Jorge Polanco did not record a hit, but he put the ball in play three times. Ryan Clifford continues to struggle heavily but Nick Morabito is quickly approaching an .800 OPS. His biggest change in June? Pulling the ball in the air more.

RHP Daniel Duarte: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K (L)
RHP Jack Weisenburger: 3.2 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
RHP Adbert Alzolay: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
RHP Ofreidy Gómez: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
LHP Dylan Ross: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
RHP Matt Turner: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

The only positive of the pitching this game was that Matt Turner did not give up any runs. They tried using Daniel Duarte as an opener and it did not work. Everyone else gave up runs including four home runs. There were no real positives from this pitching performance.

Double-A

Binghamton (28-47) 5, Chesapeake (31-42) 3

Box Score

C Chris Suero: 2-for-4, 2B, SB

Chris Suero is officially over the mendoza line! His season average is now at .205. He overall had a strong June, slashing .237/.363/.487/.850. You will notice this as a trend in June when I discuss Brooklyn success stories, but Chris Suero, in addition to hitting the ball hard, pulls the ball in the air at high rate. His 78.8% zone contact in June was also the highest of any month of his this season. It is still 38th percentile, but that is an improvement from 70.7% (5th percentile).

LHP Jonathan Santucci: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
RHP Jordan Gerber: 0.0 IP, 0 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 0 K
LHP Danis Correa: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (H)
LHP Gabriel Rodriguez: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (H)
RHP Saul Garcia: 1.0 IP. 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (S)

Jonathan Santucci was dealing when the game was stopped for rain and unfortunately he was unable to come back in when the game resumed due to the long delay. The bullpen held the lead with Saul Garcia locking down the save.

Santucci followed his strong May with an even stronger June pitching to a 3.15 ERA across four starts. Maybe a trip to Syracuse could be in his near future, and from there he is only a short trip away from the majors. Lance Brozdowski recently has Santucci as one of his top forty pitching prospects, praising his “devastating” slider. On Santucci he wrote, “If it wasn’t already clear, the Mets are very good at pitching development. They nailed the Santucci pick in the 2024 draft, targeting a name that underperformed that year and immediately changing a few things to make him a pitcher that actually has a shot to be an MLB arm as opposed to one that was largely a project built on performance from multiple years ago.”

Mitch Voit. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

High-A

Brooklyn (31-44) 5, Frederick (46-28) 3

Box Score

SS Mitch Voit: 2-for-5, HR, R, 2 RBI
1B Ronald Hernandez: 1-for-4, HR, R, RBI
C Daiverson Gutierrez: 1-for-4

Mitch Voit has looked incredible in June slashing .299/.427/.442/.869. This does not seem to be pure luck. In June he is running an 86.3% zone contact rate (86th percentile), 19.6% whiff rate (92nd percentile), 23.5% chase rate (72nd percentile). He also hit seven extra base hits and has gotten to more power by pulling the ball in the air at a higher rate.

Ronald Hernandez, who the Mets acquired in 2023 from the Marlins when they traded David Robertson, has quietly had a strong two months. In May he slashed .263/.371/.461/.832 and in June he slashed .273/.401/.409/.818. He is right around league average in zone contact, whiff, and strikeout rate, but he pulls the ball in the air a ton and gets his walks. Hernandez was a catcher when the mets acquired him but they have been trying him at first base recently.

Daiverson Gutierrez also had a strong June slashing .270/.341/.459/.800. His contact profile is incredible and in June his 90.6% zone contact rate was in the 99th percentile. He has struggled to tap into his power at all, but his nine extra base hits in June and has begun to pull the ball in the air at an incredible rate – 25.8% in June!

LHP Daviel Hurtado: 6.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K (W)
LHP Gregori Louis: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
RHP Parker Carlson: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (H)
RHP Ryan Dollar: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (S)

Daviel Hurtado is having a great season in Brooklyn, pitching to a 1.57 ERA and 0.55 WHIP across seven starts. He pounds the zone and while he does not run very high whiff or strikeout rates, he is elite at generating ground balls and limiting walks. He throws two fastball shapes and uses them for contact suppression. His velocity has been ticking up making it more of a weapon. His bullet slider is his best pitch and he tunnels it well with his curveball. He commands all of his pitches very well.

Single-A

Tampa (42-34) 6, St. Lucie (35-39) 0

Box Score

SS Elian Peña: 0-for-4, K
3B Antonio Jimenez: 1-for-4, 2 R
2B Trey Snyder: 0-for-4

The St. Lucie Mets offense struggled amassing only three hits, zero walks, and scoring zero runs. Trey Snyder has struggled as of late but has begun to work in second base in addition to the outfield. Elian Peña had a rough June hitting .206 while Antonio Jimenez has looked better the second half of June.

RHP Emilio Obispo: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (L)
RHP Zack Mack: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
RHP Tyler McLoughlin: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
RHP Luis Alvarez: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Emilio Obispo struggled while the defense failed Zack Mack. The offense was unable to put up a fight but that did not matter when the first two pitchers gave up six runs. Tyler McLoughlin has struggled this year but has strong stuff. He throws from a weird five degree arm angle with an interesting movement profile and two good breaking pitches.

DSL Mets Orange

DSL Angels (17-5) 4, DSL Mets Orange (13-9) 0

Box Score

SS Cleiner Ramirez: 0-for-3
CF Jhonael Cuello: 0-for-2, BB

The offense struggled even with five walks. They only got two hits and scored zero runs.

RHP Henderson Hernandez: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

The defense did not help the pitching who gave up four total runs across seven innings pitched. Olmedo Barria gave up a run but looked good in his three innings attacking the zone and running a 61.1% whiff rate.