Alex Ramirez, Photo by Ed Delany of MMO

Alex Ramirez, one of the Mets top prospects, is off to a scorching start in St. Lucie along with the rest of the team. We’ll get into his week in a minute, but let’s talk about the rest of the Mets’ minor-league system from the past week first.

Weekly Recap

Triple-A Syracuse

The Triple-A Mets dropped four-of-six to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs this week as their record drops to 10-19.

Daniel Palka and Nick Dini each hit a pair of home runs in the series, with both of Dini’s coming in Sunday’s finale. Palka now has eight homers and a .972 OPS in 82 at-bats this season. Wyatt Young also kept up his red-hot start, going 7-for-20 with a pair of steals. The 22-year-old shortstop is now slashing .352/.446/.437 in 71 at-bats with Syracuse. Patrick Mazeika also had seven hits in 21 at-bats while Mark Vientos picked up his second home run of the season.

Pitching in Syracuse continues to struggle. The staff allowed 37 runs in the series as the team ERA climbed to 5.91, the highest in the International League.

David Peterson had the best start for the Mets this week while throwing five scoreless innings in the finale, allowing four hits and three walks while striking out eight. Jose Rodriguez and Thomas Szapucki each allowed three earned over four innings. Mike Montgomery allowed four runs over 5 2/3 innings while Connor Grey was tagged for six over 3.1 innings after he was called up from Binghamton.

Double-A Binghamton

The Rumble Ponies also dropped four-of-six in their series against the Hartford Yard Goats, scoring just 16 runs in the six-game series as they fall to 8-18.

It was a tough week for the Mets’ top prospects in Bingo. Francisco Álvarez went 3-for-21, Brett Baty was 5-for-23, and Ronny Mauricio went 4-for-25 with a couple of stolen bases. Jeremy Vasquez was the most productive batter for the Rumble Ponies. The 25-year-old first baseman went 4-for-14 with four RBIs, a double, and his second home run of the year.

On the pitching front, Jose Butto allowed just one run in 4.1 innings on three hits and a walk while striking out seven in the opener. However, he allowed two runs on a walk and a home run in just one inning in Sunday’s finale.

Jose Chacin went seven innings in his AA debut, allowing two runs on four hits dropping his ERA to 1.82 in 24.2 innings this season between Brooklyn and Binghamton. Nate Fisher and Josh Hejka each made a couple of scoreless appearances out of the bullpen. Fisher struck out six in four innings, allowing just a hit and two walks, while Hejka worked around three walks and two hits, striking out five.

High-A Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Cyclones dropped four-of-five to the Aberdeen IronBirds with one game postponed due to rain.

The bats were quiet in the series. Jose Peroza led the Cyclones with five hits, including a pair of doubles, in 15 at-bats. Flushing native Jaylen Palmer stole a pair of bases, bringing his total to six on the season, though he continues to struggle with a .133/.288/.167 slash line in 60 at-bats.

The Cyclones got some solid pitching against Aberdeen despite dropping the series.

Nick Zwack was solid in his Brooklyn debut, allowing a run on two hits and two walks over five innings while striking out four. The 17th-round-pick out of Xavier was 1-1 with a 4.97 ERA in 12.2 innings with St. Lucie. Junior Santos pitched five scoreless innings in the opener, allowing just two hits and two walks but took the loss in Sunday’s finale after letting up three runs (two earned) on four hits in 1 1/3 innings.

Oscar Rojas kept up his strong start with the Cyclones, allowing two runs (one earned) over five innings on three hits and a walk. Rojas now has an ERA of 1.82 with a 0.81 WHIP in 24.2 innings this season.

Low-A St. Lucie

The St. Lucie Mets have been the bright spot in the Mets’ system so far this year. Their record is now 18-9 after taking four of six from the Palm Beach Cardinals this week.

Alex Ramirez continued a red-hot start to the season with a 15-for-28 series including three doubles, two triples, and a home run. The 19-year-old outfielder is now slashing .385/.423/.606 with two home runs and two stolen bases.

Omar De Los Santos stole six bases to bring his total to 13 on the season, good for second in the Florida State League. Carlos Dominguez also added three home runs and he now leads the FSL with eight. Dominguez, signed in 2018 from the Dominican Republic, now has an OPS of .886 after slashing .262/.348/.531 last season in the Gulf Coast League with 10 home runs in 145 at-bats.

The Mets also got home runs from Shervyen Newton, Justin Guerrera, William Lugo, and Jose Rivera in the series. Newton was promoted to Brooklyn this week after his hot start.

Pitching in St. Lucie was more of a mixed bag.

Luis Moreno turned in 6.2 scoreless innings in his start, allowing five hits and a walk while striking out three. Mike Vasil was excellent as well in five innings, allowing a run on six hits and two walks while striking out six. An eighth-round pick out of Virginia, Vasil now has a 2.86 ERA through five starts. Carson Seymour also allowed just one run in five innings (the first he’s let up this year) on four hits and two walks while striking out four.

On the other side of the spectrum, Dominic Hamel struggled, allowing four runs on four hits and four walks in 4.1 innings. The third-round pick is now 1-1 with a 4.74 ERA. Calvin Ziegler struggled with command as well, allowing two runs while walking four in as-many innings.

Organizational Leaders

Batting

AVG – Alex Ramirez (SLU) – .385

OPS – Alex Ramirez – 1.1011

HR – Daniel Palka (SYR)/Carlos Dominguez (SLU) – 8

SB – Omar De Los Santos (SLU) – 13

Pitching (min. 20 innings)

ERA – Carson Seymour (SLU) – 0.45

SO – Jose Butto (BNG) – 33

WHIP – Oscar Rojas (BRK) – 0.81

Players of the Week

Offensive: Alex Ramirez – OF St. Lucie

If you haven’t taken notice of Alex Ramirez yet, now would be a good time to start.

The 19-year-old outfielder was named the FSL Player of the Week after his incredible series against the Palm Beach Cardinals. Ramirez was the Mets’ top international signing in 2019 and he’s lived up to the hype in his first two professional seasons. Last season he slashed a respectable .258/.326/.384 with five home runs and 16 steals with St. Lucie in 302 at-bats. Ramirez is on another level this year and currently ranks in the FSL in batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS.

Ramirez is the Mets’ sixth-ranked prospect according to Baseball America, and I’d expect him to continue to rise throughout the season. He appeared on Keith Law’s Top 100 prospects list to start the season, too, landing as the Mets’ fifth prospect on the list (behind Álvarez, Baty, Mauricio and Vientos).

He’s improved his approach at the plate this year, showcasing his advanced contact and power potential. Ramirez is truly a five-tool prospect and Mets fans are right to be excited about his upside. While he’s still young for Low-A, Ramirez has clearly shown that he’s ready for the next level and he should get his shot with Brooklyn this year.

Pitching: Jose Chacin – RHP Binghamton

Chacin was called up from Brooklyn to Binghamton prior to his start on Wednesday where he pitched seven innings of two-run ball, allowing just four hits and a walk. Prior to the promotion, Chacin had a 1.53 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP through 17.2 innings with the Cyclones.

The 25-year-old Chacin is not one of the bigger names in the Mets system, but he’s shown improvement throughout his minor league career. The right-hander won’t record many strikeouts, but he’s limited hard contact while demonstrating excellent command (2.98 BB/9 in his minor league career and 1.46 this season). Chacin could provide much-needed pitching depth in the Mets’ upper levels if he’s able to continue his success in Double-A.

Upcoming Schedule: May 10-15

Syracuse: @ Scranton/Wilkes-Barre

Binghamton: @ New Hampshire

Brooklyn: vs. Wilmington

St. Lucie: vs. Lakeland