Mets Minors Peak Performers: McNeil Rakes and Water Is Wet

In what is a new and hopefully long running feature for MMO, we are going to look at the top minor league performances at each level for over the past week.

In doing so, we hope to provide insight as to which minor leaguers are improving and making strong cases for promotion. Ideally, we hope to shed light on some of the minor leaguers who are doing great things to bring them to the forefront. Mainly, in what has been a lost season, it is nice to look down in the minor leagues and see hope for the future.  Fortunately, we had that this week:

Las Vegas: Jeff McNeil, INF

Age: 26
Week Stats: .353/.333/.588, 2B, HR, 3 RBI
Season Stats: .346/.412/.632, 25 2B, 4 3B, 19 HR, 67 RBI, 5 SB

What made news this past week was McNeil playing a position other than second base. In fact, we would see him play second, third, and left field in what has been part of a plan he was been working with manager Tony DeFrancesco designed to help him improve at positions he has already played to make him a more versatile player.

Improvement is the theme to McNeil’s season, and this past week is the latest example. With him finally having some health luck, McNeil is showing just how well he can hit.  In fact, he’s probably a better hitter with a higher ceiling than many expected.  Just to put in perspective, McNeil’s SLG dropped in a week he slugged .588.

Binghamton: Levi Michael, INF

Age: 27
Week Stats: .529/.600/.647, 2 2B, SB
Season Stats: .297/.383/.463, 21 2B, 2 3B, 9 HR, 26 RBI, 9 SB, 3 CS

The Mets signed the former Twins 2011 first round draft pick as a minor league free agent on the eve of the 2018 season. When signing him, they probably never expected the first round bust to develop into an Eastern League All Star who is in the top 10 in doubles, OBP,and OPS.

This past week, Michael had another dominating stretch where he got on base at a very high clip, and he drove the ball. In essence, he showed once again why the Twins once believed he was a first round talent.

St. Lucie: Anthony Kay, LHP

Age: 23
Week Stats: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.833 WHIP, 10.5 K/9
Season Stats: 6-5, 3.96 ERA, 1.320 WHIP, 9.5 K/9

Shortly after being drafted in the first round, Kay would undergo Tommy John surgery making this his first season as a professional. While he had an uneven performance in Columbia, he showed his velocity has returned, and he was getting better command of his pitches. As a result, he earned a promotion to St. Lucie.

As seen this past week with him having six shutout innings allowing no runs on just two hits, Kay is continuing to put it all together. In fact, despite the higher level of competition, he has gone from a 4.54 ERA in Columbia to a 1.86 ERA in St. Lucie.  His strike outs have also climbed from 7.4 to 10.1.

Columbia: Zach Rheams, OF

Age: 22
Week Stats: .286/.583/.571, 2 2B, RBI
Season Stats: .226/.368/.290, 2 2B, 2 RBI

While officially listed as a shortstop when he was drafted by the Mets, the team moved him to the outfield, which is a position where a player really has an opportunity to distinguish themselves. After getting promoted to Columbia, this year’s 27th round draft pick has done just that.

Rheams has reached base in all three games he has played with Columbia. Given his play, he is going to give the organization an excuse to give him a longer look not just in the outfield but also at a higher level than you probably would’ve expected a 27th round draft pick to be playing at this point in his career.

Brooklyn: Chase Chambers, 1B

Age: 22
Week Stats: .375/.412/.625, 4 2B, 3 RBI, SB
Season Stats: .326/.404/.435, 7 2B, HR, 13 RBI, SB

This year’s 18th round draft pick has been making an impression with his ability to get on base and more recently his starting to hit for more power.

With last week’s power surge, Chambers is now fourth in the New-York Penn League in doubles, and he entered into the top 10 in slugging. The power surge has not come at the expense of reaching base.

Chambers has drawn the most walks on the Brooklyn roster, and he is sixth in the league in OBP. With him hitting for power and getting on base, he is now seventh in the league in OPS and rising.

Kingsport: Jarred Kelenic, OF

Age: 19
Week Stats: .286/.423/.667, 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 SB
Season Stats: .373/.442/.627, 2 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR, 17 RBI, 6 SB

At this point, we have run out of superlatives to describe the sixth overall pick from this year’s draft. Kelenic has been better than anyone could have reasonably expected. It’s why he was promoted to Kingsport much sooner than Brandon Nimmo and Dominic Smith, two other Mets first round picks from high school, were.

With the way he has begun dominating yet another level, it is easy to forget Kelenic is 2.3 years younger than league average. Seeing how his professional career has begun, it is mind-blowing to contemplate how good he is going to be when he starts maturing physically and begins improving his overall game.

Gulf Coast: Ronny Mauricio, SS

Age: 17
Week Stats: .278/.300/.556, 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI, CS
Season Stats: .344/.340/.527, 7 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 20 RBI, 1 SB, 3 CS

As noted in an MMO article from last week, Mauricio began his professional career not just with a 20 game hitting streak, but he was also producing at a level at or near Kelenic.

Mauricio’s hitting streak was snapped at 20, and he responded by going 3-for-4 in his next game with a run, double, and RBI. Overall, he has played in 23 games, and he has reached safely in 22 of them. Like with Kelenic, even with his having high expectations, he has been much better than anyone could have ever expected.

Dominican Summer League: Andres Regnault, C

Age: 19
Week Stats: .400/.455/.500, 2B, 2 RBI, CS
Season Stats: .342/.413/.613, 10 2B, 3B, 6 HR, 22 RBI, SB, 2 CS

Regnault has made significant strides in every aspect of his game this year leading him to be one of three Mets prospects who will represent the organization in the DSL All-Star Game. While some will note his repeating the level again, his dominant play should not be discounted as catchers tend to develop later, and in addition to his hitting, he has done quite well behind the dish as well with his not having one passed ball all season.