Mets Minors Weekly Report: Jett Williams Shines, Awards Abound in Binghamton

The prospects came to play this week, and there were encouraging performances at nearly every level of the Mets’ minor league system. Here are the biggest developments, including yet another superb week from Jett Williams and a clean sweep of Eastern League awards from Binghamton’s Tyler Stuart and Agustin Ruiz.

Jett Williams, Photos by Matthew Kipp of Brooklyn Cyclones

Triple-A Syracuse

The Syracuse Mets split their six-game series at home against the Buffalo Bisons. Syracuse has a 52-71 record on the year.

Ronny Mauricio went 10-for-23 with two home runs, one triple, two doubles, three stolen bases, and seven runs scored. Mauricio had two different three-hit games this week and had at least one hit in each of the first five games of the series. He also drew five walks. It’s his best week in a long time.

Brett Baty went 4-for-23 with two home runs and five RBI. He has five homers in 15 games since being sent down to Syracuse.

Brandon McIlwain hit two homers and four doubles over the final three games of the series, including a two-homer game on Friday. He has a .989 OPS in 21 games for Syracuse.

Mike Vasil pitched six innings of one-run ball and struck out four batters in his start on Saturday. He has a 2.79 ERA in five August starts.

Double-A Binghamton

The Rumble Ponies won four of five games away at the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Binghamton has a 61-57 record this season.

Drew Gilbert went 6-for-19 with two homers, one double, and five RBI. Gilbert had at least one hit and one RBI in each of the five games of the series, and he has a .963 OPS in 20 games with the Rumble Ponies.

Luisangel Acuña went 8-for-21 with four runs scored, three RBI, and two stolen bases. Acuña has just two extra-base hits in 22 games since joining Binghamton, both doubles, but he continues to wreak havoc on the basepaths with 10 steals in that span.

Jeremiah Jackson went 7-for-21 with three homers and five RBI. He had a home run in each of the first three games of the series and has hit 20 homers on the year, including five in just 21 games with Binghamton.

Agustin Ruiz went 8-for-16 with three homers, one double, eight RBI, seven runs scored, and six walks. Ruiz was named the Eastern League Player of the Week for his incredible performance in the series, and he is up to 17 homers on the year.

Blade Tidwell pitched five scoreless innings and racked up six strikeouts in his start on Tuesday. It was by far Tidwell’s best start for the Rumble Ponies, and he has a 4.87 ERA through his first four Double-A starts.

Tyler Stuart allowed just two hits across six scoreless innings in his start on Wednesday, striking out six batters. Stuart was named the Eastern League Player of the Week for his efforts, and he has a 2.20 ERA this season through 21 starts at the High-A and Double-A levels.

Dominic Hamel allowed three runs across five innings of work on Friday. He continues to lead all Mets farmhands with 136 strikeouts on the year.

High-A Brooklyn

The Cyclones won four of six games away at the Asheville Tourists. Brooklyn has a 60-59 record on the year and has been the best team in the South Atlantic League North division in the second half with a 32-22 record.

Jett Williams went 9-for-25 with two home runs, one double, two stolen bases, six walks, eight RBI, and seven runs scored. Williams had multi-hit efforts in each of the first four games of the series, and he is hitting .326 with an astounding 1.061 OPS in 24 games since being called up to Brooklyn.

Kevin Parada went 5-for-24 with one home run, two doubles, and five RBI in his return to the Cyclones lineup following his IL stint. He played in all but one game in the series, catching three of them.

Ryan Clifford went 5-for-23 with two home runs and five RBI. He has four homers in 21 games since joining Brooklyn and showed much better plate discipline with five walks in the series, but he is still hitting just .185 with a .665 OPS in 24 games with the Cyclones.

Stanley Consuegra homered in each of the first three games of the series and drove in seven runs across the six games. He has 19 homers on the year, which matches his career total entering the season.

Jordany Ventura allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings of work on Tuesday. He has a 4.04 ERA through his first seven starts for Brooklyn.

Joander Suarez allowed just one hit across six scoreless innings in his start on Friday. He has a 5.08 ERA on the year with 118 strikeouts in 90 1/3 innings on the mound.

Low-A St. Lucie

The St. Lucie Mets lost five of six games away at the Dunedin Blue Jays. St. Lucie has a 40-79 record on the year.

Marco Vargas and Ronald Hernandez were both promoted to St. Lucie over the weekend and played their first two games of Low-A ball on Saturday and Sunday. Hernandez went 4-for-9 with one double and two RBI. Vargas went 3-for-11 with three runs scored and a stolen base.

Nick Morabito went 5-for-19 with one double, two stolen bases, and four runs scored. He is hitting .267 with a .713 OPS in 19 games with St. Lucie.

Wilfredo Lara went 6-for-18 with one double, three stolen bases, three RBI, and three runs scored. He has an .823 OPS this season with 13 homers and 13 stolen bases.

Layonel Ovalles pitched five innings of one-run ball and struck out six batters in his start on Friday. He has a 4.73 ERA on the year with 84 strikeouts in 83 2/3 innings.

Florida Complex League Mets

The FCL Mets lost in the semifinal of the postseason on Thursday, ending their season. In that game, Marco Vargas and Ronald Hernandez each recorded one hit and Colin Houck recorded two. Vargas and Hernandez both got promoted to Low-A St. Lucie afterward.

Organizational Leaders

Batting

AVG – Luisangel Acuña (BNG) – .302

OPS – Jett Williams (BRK) – .888

HR – Luke Ritter (SYR) – 27

SB – Luisangel Acuña – 52

Pitching

(Among qualified players)

ERA – Tyler Stuart (BNG) – 2.20

SO – Dominic Hamel (BNG) – 136

WHIP – Christian Scott (BNG) – 0.86

Players of the Week

Offense – Jett Williams, SS/CF Brooklyn

It’s more than reasonable to expect a prospect to struggle initially upon making the jump to a higher level of play, especially a prospect like Jett Williams who is still a teenager. However, Williams has done the exact opposite and has excelled since being promoted to Brooklyn. He showcased every one of his tools this past week, reaching base 15 times (nine hits and six walks), slugging two homers, driving in eight runs, and picking up two stolen bases. Williams’ season OPS is nearing .900, he has drawn 91 walks in 103 games, and he is within reach of having a 50-steal season.

Williams has demonstrated great power at the plate with Brooklyn, logging 13 extra-base hits through his first 24 games. There really does not appear to be many weaknesses in his game, and one would imagine that he will only continue to improve as he gets more experience against professional pitching under his belt. Williams may not be the most high-profile prospect that the Mets have, but he has surely been the most electric.

The honorable mentions list is rather long this week, an encouraging sight for sure. Ronny Mauricio reached base 15 times in Syracuse’s series and collected five extra-base hits. Drew Gilbert continued his tear by crushing two homers and driving in a run in all five games he played. Jeremiah Jackson and Stanley Consuegra each hit three homers this week, while Agustin Ruiz earned Eastern League Player of the Week honors after posting a 1.761 OPS in Binghamton’s series with three homers of his own.

Pitching – Tyler Stuart, P Binghamton

Stuart was coming off two of his worst starts of the season entering his turn on the mound on Wednesday, and he managed to turn in one of his most dominant performances of the year. He allowed just two baserunners across six innings of work, striking out six batters and issuing no walks. He was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week as a result, the first weekly award he has received in his career.

As he has done most of the season, Stuart is leading all qualified minor league pitchers with a 2.20 ERA. His stuff is not super overpowering (112 strikeouts in 110 2/3 innings), but he has been exceptional at working around baserunners and limiting damage. He has allowed more than two earned runs in just three of his 21 starts this season and has had five scoreless starts of at least four innings. Stuart has rocketed up prospect rankings this season and has shown no signs of slowing down what has been a meteoric rise for the 2022 sixth-round pick.

Honorable mentions go to Mike Vasil for continuing a strong run of form in August with another great outing, as well as to Blade Tidwell for recording his first scoreless outing at the Double-A level.