Brett Baty, Photo by Dan Fritz

With the calendar flipping from June to July and the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game quickly approaching, two outstanding prospects are heading to the Sirius XM Futures Game on July 11th at Coors Field in Colorado. While every player may not receive the prodigious honor, there were many stand-out stars in the New York Mets’ organization in June.

Triple-A Syracuse Mets 

On the final day of May, the Mets sent their number one outfield prospect, Khalil Lee, back to the Triple-A squad in Syracuse. Since being demoted from the big leagues, Lee has been very impressive in his pursuit to get back to the Majors.

The 23-year-old played in 26 games in June, hitting a solid .272/.423/.420 with an OPS a few ticks below .850. Things are certainly trending in the right direction for Lee as he came pretty close to doubling his Triple-A stat line from May (.147/.293./.206).

A massive reason for Lee’s improvement at the plate is his strike zone awareness. In May, he struck out 19 times throughout 34 at-bats and only walked five times. Here in June, he’s struck out 26 times over the course of 81 at-bats, while walking an incredible 20 times.

With Lee finally getting the pitches he wants to hit, his power has started to emerge, hitting his only two home runs of the season in the past 30 days. Khalil Lee still has more developing to do with the Syracuse squad, but with steady play and continued improvement, he can certainly turn out to be the steal of the three-team trade between the Mets, Royals, and Red Sox.

 

Pitching hasn’t been the strong suit for the Syracuse Mets in June; or for the entirety of the 2021 season, for that matter. With that being said, right-hander Tylor Megill was a bright spot for this struggling Triple-A squad when he was with the team.

The Mets’ number 21 prospect turned enough heads during the season to get the call to Queens on June 6th, where he led the Mets to a critical divisional win against the Atlanta Braves. Since then, he has been absolutely spectacular for the big league team.

While Megill was with Syracuse, he started in three games totaling an ERA of 3.77 and accumulating 17 strikeouts over 14.1 innings of work.

Megill’s solid stuff transitioned well to the big leagues as he earned himself a spot in the New York Mets rotation going forward. After just two starts at the Major League level, manager Luis Rojas was very impressed with the youngster, saying, “I can tell why this kid was putting up the numbers he did in Double-A and Triple-A.”

Megill has certainly been a surprise to many this season, but Mets fans should be excited for what he has to offer as he continues to perform on the big stage.  

 

Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies 

Mets’ number eight prospect, Mark Vientos, powered his way through the competition in June. The 21-year-old slugger averaged a home run every nine at-bats after recording nine round-trippers in 81 at-bats.

Vientos ended the month with an 11 game hitting streak and slashing .324/.407/.775 with an OPS of 1.182 and 20 RBI’s. He was awarded Minor League Baseball’s Northeast Player of the week after going 8-for-20 and hitting five home runs throughout five games against the Reading Fightin Phils.

Vientos seemed like a strikeout machine in May, going down on strikes 36 of his 78 times and only walking six times. He’s certainly made the necessary adjustments at the plate as he’s cut his K rate more than 40% and is starting to hunt the pitches he wants to hit.

If Vientos can continue to tap into his full potential, he could potentially be one of the best hitters in the New York Mets farm system. 

After being the primary catalyst for the Rumble Ponies’ first combined no-hitter in club history, Josh Walker couldn’t be touched in June. The 6’6″ lefty from the University of New Haven went 3-1 with an ERA of 3.42 over 23.2 innings pitched.

He, along with Vientos, earned Northeast League honors after tossing six no-hit innings against the Fightin Phils on June 22nd. After his great month, Walker improved his season record to 6-1 with a 3.15 ERA and a fantastic WHIP of .939.

He’s only allowed nine free passes and struck out 57 batters, holding his opponents to a .209 batting average on the season. Walker is undoubtedly opening eyes around the organization this season, but his age is a concerning factor with his door to the bigs slowly closing.

While he may not be considered a prospect, Walker has been one of the best pitchers in the Mets Minor League organization this season. 

 

High-A Brooklyn Cyclones  

Despite the onslaught of top prospects being held in Brooklyn, they still have difficulty finding the win column, going 9-and-21 in June. Despite the losing record, number four prospect Brett Baty continued to punish pitchers, slashing a fantastic .322/.413/.633 with an OPS of 1.047.

Baty found his power swing in June, totaling 15 extra-base hits with six going over the fence. Baty has been one of the clutch hitters for the Cyclones all year, going .375/.436/.583 with 26 RBIs when runners are in scoring position.

Not only does he come through with runners on, but he also sets the table nicely, going .343/.395/.486 in the first inning.

With Baty’s incredible season, he’s getting recognition from the Mets organization and Major League Baseball. He and number one prospect Francisco Alvarez have been elected to the Sirius XM Futures Game during All-Star Weekend in Colorado. This honor has been well earned for the two as they have seemingly bright futures with the New York Mets.

 

After his promotion to Brooklyn at the end of May, Justin Lasko has been nothing short of amazing on the mound. The 24-year-old’s 1-3 record may be an eyesore, but it doesn’t show how good he’s been in June.

Lasko accumulated 28.2 innings in five games, racking up 25 strikeouts and limiting his ERA to 3.77. Lasko’s fantastic attribute is limiting the walk; facing 219 batters this season, he only walked 10 of them, bringing his WHIP to an excellent 0.936.

Lasko is a pitch-to-contact type of guy who generates many ground balls with his A+ off-speed arsenal. With more work and improvement at the High-A level this season, Lasko can possibly crack the top 30 prospects list for the New York Mets. 

 

Low-A St. Lucie Mets

Warren Saunders may not be topping the ranks in the Mets farm system, but he certainly put on a show in June for the St. Lucie Mets. The 22-year-old from the Bahamas is slashing an incredible .325/.360/.450 with a .810 OPS and 10 RBIs.

Not much is known about Saunders and his capabilities as a professional ballplayer. Fans got a quick glimpse of what he has to offer in the Gulf Coast League back in 2019, where he slashed .323/.397/.386 throughout 33 games. With an OPS of .783 and only six extra-base hits, Saunders seemed to lack in the power department.

He appears to be tapping into his power with a more developed frame by having eight extra-base hits over 80 at-bats in June. Saunders still has many question marks surrounding his game but is trending in the right direction for the Mets organization.

 

St. Lucie’s best pitcher this month was undoubtedly Oscar Rojas. The 22-year-old from Guanajuato, Mexico, received two consecutive Mets Minors Player Of the Week Honors during June.

After a horrific month of May, Rojas has bounced back in a big way, tossing 27 and ⅔ innings and only allowing three runs over that time. During this time, Rojas was able to accumulate 25 strikeouts and bring his June ERA to 0.98, much better than his 11.08 May ERA.

Rojas has a lot more work to do at the Minor League level, but can potentially see a promotion to the High-A Brooklyn squad after being named the Low-A Southern Pitcher Of the Month.