Francisco Alvarez, Photo by Rick Nelson

Francisco Álvarez blasted out of his slump with four home runs this week. Here’s a deeper dive into what Álvarez and other Mets prospects did this week.

Triple-A Syracuse

Syracuse dropped five of six to the Rochester Red Wings as they fall to 15-31 on the year.

Despite a tough week, the Mets did get some encouraging offensive performances. Jake Mangum hit the ground running in Triple-A going 9-for-25 with two doubles and two stolen bases. Mark Vientos also kept up his hot streak with six hits, including two home runs, in 16 at-bats. Vientos is now slashing .234/.319/.476 with seven home runs.

Khalil Lee had a strong week as well following a slow start to the season. Lee went 7-for-22 in the series with two doubles, a home run, and three stolen bases.

Connor Grey picked up the lone win for Syracuse, throwing six scoreless innings while allowing only four hits and striking out two. The 28-year-old right-hander hasn’t allowed a run in his last three starts (17.2 innings). Grey now has a 4.03 ERA on the season with a 1.32 WHIP.

Double-A Binghamton

The Rumble Ponies took four of six from the Reading Fightin’ Phils to improve to 16-28 on the season.

Francisco Álvarez busted out of a prolonged slump with four home runs in an 11-for-30 week. The young backstop is now slashing .269/.346/.487 with eight home runs. With a two-homer game Thursday night, Alvarez snapped a streak of 29-straight games without a longball.

Carlos Cortes had a strong week following his demotion from Triple-A. The former third-round pick had seven hits, including three doubles and a home run, in 24 at-bats.

Jose Chacin turned in 6 2/3 innings in his start, allowing three runs on five hits and a walk while striking out three. The 25-year-old right-hander now has a 2.55 ERA with a 1.02 WHIP in 42 1/3 innings between Brooklyn and Binghamton this season.

Jose Butto was a bit shaky in his start, allowing three runs on six hits and four walks over five innings while striking out 6. Butto now has a 4.00 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP on the season though still boasts an impressive 11.75 K/9.

High-A Brooklyn

The Cyclones dropped four of six to the Bowling Green Hot Rods despite scoring 43 runs in the series. Brooklyn is now 19-23 on the year.

Brandon McIlwain led Brooklyn with nine hits, including a pair of home runs, in 18 at-bats. The 23-year-old outfielder signed with the Mets following the abbreviated 2020 draft and slashed .255/.362/.397 last season with St. Lucie.

McIlwain was a two-sport athlete in college, playing quarterback at South Carolina and Cal before focusing on baseball as a senior.  While lauded for his athleticism, there was doubt around his hit tool so it’s encouraging to see him get off to a strong start in Brooklyn. He’s now slashing .286/.370/.438 through 105 at-bats with three home runs and eight stolen bases.

Branden Fryman, a 2019 pick, had a strong week as well with two home runs and two steals. Rowdey Jordan also picked up seven hits, including his first home run of the season, in 22 at-bats.

Carson Seymour turned in a solid High-A debut, allowing three runs (two earned) in five innings on four hits and two walks while striking out two. Mike Vasil‘s debut was more of a mixed bag as he allowed four runs while striking out seven in just four innings.

Low-A St. Lucie

St. Lucie split their series with the Dunedin Blue Jays. The Mets are now 29-16 on the year.

Omar De Los Santos continued to turn heads with a 7-for-22 week with three doubles, a triple, and two home runs. He also swiped another two bases to give him 23 on the season (in 25 attempts). The 22-year-old outfielder is slashing .288/.323/.514 with six homers.

Junior Tilien‘s three-homer game Sunday highlighted the week in St. Lucie. The 19-year-old shortstop is now slashing .255/.296/.588 through 51 at-bats.

Stanley Consuegra and Carlos Dominguez each went 6-for-19 in the series with a home run. Meanwhile, Alex Ramirez seems to have fallen into his first slump of the season, going 2-for-20 with eight strikeouts.

Joel Diaz made his stateside debut in St. Lucie. He allowed four runs on three hits and two walks over four innings. All of the runs against Diaz came in the first inning and he settled in to retire the final 10 batters he faced.

Luis Moreno earned a win allowing just two unearned runs over six innings on four hits and three walks while striking out three. Dominic Hamel looked impressive in his start, striking out nine in 5.1 innings but he was victimized by a couple of home runs. He ultimately allowed four runs on four hits and a walk. Hamel, the Mets’ third-round pick in 2021, now has a 4.78 ERA with a 1.47 WHIP and a 9.84 K/9.

Organizational Leaders

Batting

AVG – Alex Ramirez (SLU) – .324

OPS – Alex Ramirez – .840

HR – Daniel Palka (SYR)/Carlos Dominguez (SLU) – 10

SB – Omar De Los Santos (SLU) – 23

Pitching (min. 20 innings)

ERA – Carson Seymour (SLU/BRK) – 1.53

SO – Calvin Ziegler (SLU) – 48

WHIP – Calvin Ziegler – 1.00

Players of the Week

Offensive: Francisco Álvarez – C Binghamton

Álvarez needed a week like this one. Coming into the series against Reading, he was slashing .239/.317/.268 in May with a 25.6 K%. Álvarez would end the month on a much better note with six extra-base hits in the series including four home runs boosting his OPS to .833 on the season.

Álvarez has certainly been streaky this year and it’s worth noting his still very young (20) for Double-A.  Also of note are defensive improvements he’s made so far in Binghamton. Alvarez has allowed just one passed ball so far this year while throwing out 25% of would-be base stealers compared to 22% (19 of 88) last season with St. Lucie.

Pitching: Connor Grey – RHP Syracuse

There weren’t many dominant outings from Mets pitching this week but Connor Grey stood out with another six scoreless innings.

After five up-and-down starts to begin the season, Grey hasn’t allowed a run in his last three outings while sporting a 0.91 WHIP over that span. Grey, a 20th-round pick in 2016 out of St. Bonaventure, was released by the Diamondbacks before the canceled 2020 minor league season and signed with the Mets in June of 2021 after pitching for the Chicago Dogs of the independent American Association of Professional Baseball. He pitched to a 4.00 ERA with a solid 1.13 WHIP in 54 innings last season between Brooklyn and Binghamton.

At 28-years-old, Grey isn’t likely to generate much excitement as a prospect. However, he’s had a solid track record throughout his minor league career and could prove to be an arm capable of providing major league innings in the short term. The current state of the Mets’ rotation makes someone like Grey a lot more interesting.

Transactions

Upcoming Schedule: May 30-June 5

Syracuse: @ Worcester

Binghamton: vs. Somerset

Brooklyn: @ Jersey Shore

St. Lucie: vs. Daytona