Mets Minors Report: Alonso Heating Up for St. Lucie

WEEK IN REVIEW

The Las Vegas 51s (30-50, fourth in the Pacific Coast League Pacific Southern division) season long struggles have continued, as unreliable pitching rarely gives them a chance to be competitive in ballgames.

The Binghamton Rumble Ponies (41-33, third in the Eastern League Eastern division) have benefited from stellar season-long performances from Chris Flexen and Corey Oswalt, but the offense only decides to show up from time to time.

The St. Lucie Mets (34-41, sixth in the Florida State League South division) are only 1-6 in the second half, after struggling mightily in the first half of the season. Maybe the Tebow effect will kick in soon?

The Columbia Fireflies (43-33, first in the South Atlantic League Southern division) sport the second-best record in the league, but they have gotten out to a lackluster start in the second-half.

The Brooklyn Cyclones (2-7, fourth in the New York-Penn League McNamara division) are beginning to show trends of recent years, as they own the league’s third-worst average (.203), and are one of only three teams with a single home runs thus far.

The Kingsport Mets (3-4, fourth in the Appalachian League West division) scored 33 runs over their first three games, but now find themselves mired in a four-game skid.

The GCL Mets (1-3, fourth in the Gulf Coast League East division) were gifted their first victory on a walk-off single from the rehabbing Anthony Dimino, who is no longer with the team. Once the 2017 draft picks begin pitching in games for them, the Mets should see some more success.

The DSL Mets1 (13-10, second in the Dominican Summer League South division) have been anchored by 17-year-old Jean Carlos Soto, who leads the team with a .318 average and is second with ten runs driven in.

The DSL Mets2 (15-8, first in the Dominican Summer League San Pedro division) own one of the best pitchers in the circuit, as Luis Santana‘s 0.46 ERA in five games (four starts) is among the league leaders.

METS MINORS NEWS & BUZZ

The upper minors named their all-star teams this week, as Amed Rosario was selected to the Triple-A All-Star Game, while a quintet of Rumble Ponies (P.J. Conlon, Luis Guillorme, Tomas Nido, Corey Oswalt, and Kevin Taylor) were named Eastern League all-stars.

Rosario and Nido were also elected to the 2017 Futures Game, which will be played in Miami. Read more here.

12 of the Mets’ selections in the 2017 draft have made their professional debuts in the past week, with Quinn Brodey, Trey Cobb, Dylan Snypes, Carl Stajduhar, and Matt Winaker playing for Brooklyn, and Aaron Ford, Gavin Garay, Mac Lozer, Billy Oxford, Ryan Selmer, Jeremy Vasquez and Stephen Villines getting into games for Kingsport.

A number of injured minor leaguers have resurfaced in the Gulf Coast League on rehab assignments, including Ricardo Cespedes, Anthony Dimino, Mike Gibbons, Chase Ingram, and Colby Woodmansee. Dimino, who last played with St. Lucie in early May before succumbing to an undisclosed injury, went 2-5 with a walk off single in Wednesday’s GCL contest.

Three Mets prospects, Peter Alonso, Thomas Szapucki, and Jhoan Urena were named to MLB Pipeline’s Team of the Week for the week of June 19. Read more here.

The Mets released minor league infield prospect Alejandro Diaz on Thursday. The 21-year-old hit .201 over four seasons in the Dominican Summer League.

Outfielder Tim Tebow was promoted to St. Lucie from Columbia on Monday and began his Florida State League career with a bang, homering in his third at-bat with the team. Read more here.

ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERS

AVG – Dominic Smith .325 (LVG), Amed Rosario .314 (LVG), Kevin Taylor .307 (BNG), Jhoan Urena .299 (STL), Luis Guillorme .294 (BNG), Patrick Mazeika .294 (STL)

OPS – Travis Taijeron .860 (LVG), Dominic Smith .849 (LVG), Michael Paez .849 (STL/COL), Jhoan Urena .845 (STL), Patrick Mazeika .827 (STL)

HR – Travis Taijeron 14 (LVG), Dash Winningham 11 (COL), Josh Rodriguez 9 (LVG), Michael Paez 8 (STL/COL), Dominic Smith 8 (LVG)

RBI – Amed Rosario 49 (LVG), Dash Winningham 49 (LVG), Dominic Smith 46 (LVG), Michael Paez 45 (STL/COL), Travis Taijeron 44 (LVG)

SB – Champ Stuart 21 (BNG), Patrick Biondi 15 (BNG), Amed Rosario 13 (LVG), J.C. Rodriguez 11 (BNG/STL), John Mora 10 (STL), Jhoan Urena 10 (STL)

STARTER ERA – Merandy Gonzalez 1.55 (STL/COL), Jordan Humphreys 1.95 (STL/COL), Tyler Pill 1.95 (LVG/BNG), Corey Oswalt 2.04 (BNG), Marcos Molina 2.45 (BNG/STL)

RELIEVER ERA – Kyle Regnault 0.90 (LVG/BNG), Adonis Uceta 1.60 (COL), Austin McGeorge 1.82 (STL/COL), Max Kuhns 2.10 (COL), Matt Blackham 2.70 (COL)

SV – Chase Bradford 9 (LVG), Tyler Bashlor 7 (STL), Cory Burns 7 (LVG/BNG), Adonis Uceta 7 (COL), Alberto Baldonado 6 (LVG/BNG), Johnny Magliozzi 6 (STL)

WHIP – Jordan Humphreys 0.855 (STL/COL), Merandy Gonzalez 0.885 (STL/COL), Marcos Molina 1.028 (BNG/STL), Kevin Canelon 1.147 (STL), Nabil Crismatt 1.154 (STL)

PROSPECT PULSE

(Jacob Resnick/Mets Minors)

After a 12 year career in professional baseball that included stops in three major league cities (and two boroughs of New York City), the Mets brought on Royce Ring as their pitching coach in the Gulf Coast League in 2014. Ring, who appeared in 99 games with the Mets, Padres, Braves, and Yankees, spent two years mentoring pitchers in Florida before being promoted to Kingsport in 2016, and finally to Brooklyn before the 2017 season.

Royce joined MMN for a Q&A.

On how he got the job initially with the Mets…

“After my arm injury in 2012, I spent the next year rehabbing my elbow and trying to get back, and it just didn’t work out. My agent actually heard of the job opening with the Mets, and I figured it was an easy fit because they remembered me and I was part of the organization at one time, so it just kind of worked out like that. It was more timing than anything. Once we got that hammered out and I showed up, it’s been great because there are still a handful of people that are still here from when I was last here.”

On changing his motion in 2006…

“I backed up from big league camp that year — I was coming off a bad year in AAA with Norfolk, so I came back and I felt good and strong, velocity was back, everything was good — then I get to the last week of spring training on the minor league side, and Rick Peterson basically stops over where I was, I think Steve Trachsel was making a start on the minor league side, and he comes up to me and says ‘you’ve been throwing the ball well, you know what, I think you should drop down.’ At that time, I think Pedro Feliciano was over in Japan, and they needed a guy that could fill that role as a lefty-lefty guy. So I made the decision to convert to a sidearm guy, and the amazing thing was that I did it for a week in spring training, I did four weeks in Norfolk, and then I was in the big leagues, so it was like a five week tutorial to throwing sidearm.”

On his goals as the pitching coach in 2017…

“At this level, we’re still developing routines, we’re still developing consistency. For some guys it’s a little more basic, as far as what we’re doing, to get them more comfortable around the game, but then also with these new draft guys coming in, we’re doing the same thing, we’re trying to get them comfortable in the pro ball setting, and so they can understand what the Mets want from them. It’s really just creating those habits that they need to have to be consistent at higher levels.”

On pitchers to watch in Brooklyn…

“I think Jake Simon, who is a guy I’ve had in years past, is just a great work ethic guy, strong, physical kid, good off the field too, he just goes about his business the right way. I just expect good things out of him. Chris Viall is a high velocity guy, we’re just trying to get him to a place where he can stay on the field and be healthy. We’re trying to stretch him out to be a starter, but we’re going to take our time and make sure we do it the right way so he can stay healthy. When he’s throwing the ball right, he’s pretty special. Darwin Ramos is another guy who will help out in the rotation, he’s got pretty good stuff, so we’ve got a handful of guys who I expect to do good things.”

On what he has learned about himself through coaching…

“I think it’s just trying to deal with each personality. Having the patience at the lower levels is crucial, you can’t expect these guys to do big league things right away. That’s not how it works. So I have to slow myself down and remember when I was 18, 19 years old, if I hadn’t gone to college I wouldn’t have been anywhere near where I ended up. So those first few years when they get here is about maturing, it’s about learning, developing those routines and getting confident, really just understanding what it means to be a professional baseball player.”

On his career in baseball as a whole…

“Nine teams in twelve seasons. I’ve been pretty much everywhere in the country playing, internationally as well, Venezuela, Japan, and for Team USA, so the game has taken me just about everywhere, this is just another stop. I tell people I’ve done everything except make a lot of money and make the Hall of Fame.”

TRANSACTION REPORT

6/23

Gavin Cecchini optioned to Las Vegas from New York….Aneury Olivo transferred to St. Lucie from GCL….Dylan Snypes assigned to Brooklyn.

6/24

Wilfredo Boscan placed on Las Vegas’ temporarily inactive list….L.J. Mazzilli activated from Binghamton’s disabled list….Carl Stajduhar assigned to Brooklyn.

6/25

Aneury Olivo transferred to GCL from St. Lucie….Yeizo Campos transferred to GCL from Brooklyn….Quinn Brodey assigned to Brooklyn….Matt Winaker assigned to Brooklyn….Luis Mateo transferred to GCL from Kingsport….Miguel Gutierrez transferred to GCL from Kingsport.

6/26

Thomas McIlraith transferred to Columbia from St. Lucie….Anthony Dimino assigned to GCL on a rehab assignment….Tim Tebow transferred to St. Lucie from Columbia….Vinny Siena transferred to Columbia from St. Lucie….Trey Cobb assigned to Brooklyn….Joshua Walker assigned to GCL….Robby Kidwell assigned to GCL….Hansel Moreno transferred to GCL from Extended Spring Training….Colby Woodmansee assigned to GCL on a rehab assignment….Mark Vientos assigned to GCL….Alejandro Diaz transferred to GCL from Extended Spring Training….Gregory Guerrero transferred to GCL from Extended Spring Training….Edinson Valdez transferred to GCL from Extended Spring Training….Guillermo Granadillo transferred to GCL from Extended Spring Training….Domingo Martinez transferred to GCL from Extended Spring Training….Yom Felipe transferred to GCL from Extended Spring Training….Luis Lebron transferred to GCL from Extended Spring Training….Briam Campusano transferred to GCL from Extended Spring Training….Matthew Foley assigned to GCL….Placido Torres assigned to GCL from Extended Spring Training….Liam McCall assigned to GCL….Dedniel Nunez assigned to GCL from Extended Spring Training….Nate Peden assigned to GCL….Jaison Vilera assigned to GCL from Extended Spring Training….Noah Nunez assigned to GCL….Jose Sierra assigned to GCL.

6/27

Chase Ingram assigned to GCL on a rehab assignment.

6/28

Wilfredo Boscan activated from Las Vegas’ temporarily inactive list….Matt Reynolds recalled to New York from Las Vegas….Mike Gibbons assigned to GCL on a rehab assignment.

6/29

Ricardo Cespedes assigned to GCL on a rehab assignment….Alejandro Diaz released from GCL….Eudor Garcia released from St. Lucie….Anthony Dimino activated from St. Lucie’s disabled list.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

After two freak injuries that cost him the final month of his first season and two months of his second, Peter Alonso has rekindled the success he found when he first debuted with the Brooklyn Cyclones. Over the last seven days, the former Florida Gator hit .348/.407/.696 with a home run, eight runs batted in, and only two strikeouts. It’s a night and day difference from his performance in April and May, where, albeit in 11 games, Alonso hit .125 with two home runs and only four driven in. For his efforts this week, Alonso was named the Florida State League player of the week.

Going forward, Alonso should be able to carry this success, to some extent, through the rest of the season. He was one of the only bright spots on last season’s Cyclones team, and now, after an agressive, but warranted promotion to St. Lucie, Alonso is proving that his first season was not a fluke.