Mets Minors Weekly Report: Suarez Throws Perfect Outing, Iglesias Flashes Power

The beginning of May was kind to the Mets’ minor league affiliates, each of whom either tied or won their series. Syracuse and St. Lucie tied, while Binghamton and Brooklyn won. Meanwhile, the Florida Complex League is underway, and the FCL Mets went 1-1 in their first two games of the season.

There were plenty of notable performances this past week. The most impressive was from Joander Suarez, who had an outing of 6 1/3 perfect innings. For his effort, Suarez was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week. At the plate, Jose Iglesias had a fantastic week in Syracuse, and he finally looks like he’s heating up.

Let’s take a look at the rest of the performances from this past week around the Mets minor leagues.

Joander Suarez. Photos by Bronson Harris of Binghamton Rumble Ponies

Triple-A Syracuse

The Syracuse Mets and Rochester Red Wings tied their six-game series, with the two teams alternating wins and losses in each game. Following the split, the Mets sit at 17-14 in third place in the International League East division.

Jose Iglesias had a really strong week at the plate, recording eight hits including two home runs. Yolmer Sánchez also added two home runs in the series.

Ben Gamel continued his scorching start to the season with 14 at-bats in just three games played. He recorded six hits including a home run and two doubles. He now has a 1.066 OPS on the year through 86 at-bats.

Rylan Bannon also had a productive week offensively, recording six hits in 21 at-bats. Like Gamel, he recorded a home run and two doubles, and he also added a triple. Bannon also walked five times, striking out just four times. He has a .915 OPS through 84 at-bats this year.

Justin Jarvis made his 2024 Triple-A debut and had a successful outing after struggling at this level a year ago. In his first start with Syracuse this season, though, he threw four scoreless innings. He allowed seven baserunners and struck out just one batter, but it was still an impressive outing for the prospect.

Joey Lucchesi had yet another fantastic start for Syracuse against Rochester, allowing one run in six innings pitched. In six starts this year, Lucchesi has allowed two or fewer runs in each of them and currently holds a 2.25 ERA.

Out of the bullpen, Grant Hartwig and Tyler Jay each had multiple outings without giving up a run. Hartwig made three appearances and pitched 2 1/3 innings, while Jay made two appearances and pitched for 5 2/3 innings. Hartwig currently has a 3.18 ERA while Jay has a spectacular 1.15 ERA. They’ll both likely appear back in Queens at some point over the summer.

Double-A Binghamton

The Binghamton Rumble Ponies and Hartford Yard Goats only played five games this week due to inclement weather, and the Rumble Ponies were able to take the series 3-2. Binghamton actually dropped the first two games of the series before coming back to win the final three games. The Rumble Ponies are 13-12 and in third place in the Eastern League Northeast division.

Matt Rudick had the most productive week of any Rumble Ponies batter, and he was also the only one to hit a home run. He had seven total hits in five games, also walking twice and stealing a base. The outfielder has been heating up as of late and currently has an .828 OPS.

JT Schwartz and Wyatt Young also had good weeks at the plate, with both hitting over .300. Schwartz walked four times and stole a base, while Young walked once and stole a base. Otherwise, it was a very quiet week offensively for Binghamton despite the series win.

Blade Tidwell had his best start yet of the season, throwing eight scoreless innings and striking out nine. Tidwell allowed just seven baserunners to reach and lowered his ERA on the season to 1.23. He’s been nothing but sensational so far for Binghamton. Given how aggressive the Mets have been at promoting prospects this year, Tidwell will likely be in Triple-A soon if he turns in another solid performance or two.

Speaking of sensational, Joander Suarez had one of the best outings by any pitcher in the Mets system this year. He pitched 6 1/3 innings of relief in a single appearance and didn’t allow a single baserunner while striking out seven. His ERA on the season is now down to 2.60.

Cameron Foster also had an outing of note, throwing six scoreless innings in a start against Hartford. He allowed five hits, no walks, and struck out three batters. It was by far Foster’s best outing of the season, and he now has an ERA of 3.57.

Ryan Clifford, Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

High-A Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Cyclones defeated the Aberdeen IronBirds 4-2 this past week with the help of some good pitching. The IronBirds scored just 17 runs in the six games and were shutout twice. The Cyclones are now 15-12 and in fourth place in the South Atlantic League North division.

Nick Lorusso continues to be the best hitter in Brooklyn, and that remained the same this week. In five games, Lorusso had six hits including two doubles and a triple. He now has a .902 OPS on the year.

Ryan Clifford had a rough week at the plate, but his plate discipline still remains one of his strong suits. He went just 3-for-15 in five games but he walked six times, giving him a .429 on-base percentage on the week. Clifford has a .430 OBP this year despite just a .218 batting average.

Jonah Tong made his High-A debut this week and he continued his scoreless streak to start the season. He pitched five innings and allowed a run, though it was unearned. He also struck out seven batters in the outing. His ERA on the season still sits at 0.00.

Brandon Sproat also continued his really strong start to the season, matching Tong with five scoreless innings of his own. Sproat allowed just one hit, though he walked four batters and struck out eight. His ERA has now dipped below 1.00 and sits at 0.92. .

Nolan McLean decided to join Tong and Sproat with another five scoreless innings, giving Brooklyn three straight games in which their starters threw five scoreless. McLean also struck out eight batters and allowed just three hits and one walk. The two-way player now has a 2.84 ERA and an .834 OPS on the year.

The Mets’ pitching prospects are rolling this year

Brandon Sproat, Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Low-A St. Lucie

The St. Lucie Mets and Jupiter Hammerheads split their six-game series this week 3-3. The Mets grabbed the first three games of the series, outscoring Jupiter 27-5 in those three games. Jupiter, however, took the next three games and outscored St. Lucie 14-3 while shutting them out twice. The Mets sit at 12-15, last in the Florida State League East division.

Nick Morabito, who was named the FSL Player of the Month for April and promoted to Brooklyn this week, played in five games against Jupiter and looked great, as he has all season. He went 6-for-13 with three RBIs and also walked five times. He has a 1.043 OPS on the year. Christopher Suero joined Morabito in getting promoted to High-A.

Boston Baro had a really good week in what was his first action of the season. He went 4-for-15 with a triple, six RBIs, five walks, and two steals. The 19-year-old former eighth-round pick of the Mets is still relatively new to pro ball but is off to a terrific start.

Jesus Baez recorded eight hits in six games played against Jupiter this week, including a double and a home run. He also recorded two RBIs and a stolen base. He has just a .718 OPS on the year, but he’s currently riding a seven-game hitting streak.

Wyatt Hudepohl had two fantastic starts this week, combining for eight scoreless innings. In his two outings, he allowed just five hits and struck out 11. He currently has a 3.05 ERA on the year.

Austin Troesser also had a really impressive outing, recording nine strikeouts in 4 2/3 scoreless innings. His ERA through five appearances is 1.96.

In his first start of the season, Franklin Gomez threw five scoreless innings to lower his ERA on the season to 2.61. Prior to this start, Gomez made three appearances out of the bullpen and allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Florida Complex League Mets

The FCL Mets began their season this past week and went 1-1 in their first two games. Jeremy Rodriguez recorded two hits and two RBIs in the two games played. Jake Zitella added three hits in the first game against the FCL Cardinals and Branny De Oleo hit an inside-the-park home run in the second game against the FCL Nationals.

Organizational Leaders

Batting

AVG – Nick Morabito (STL) – .397

OPS – Ben Gamel (SYR) – 1.066

HR – Rylan Bannon (SYR), Ben Gamel (SYR), Mark Vientos (SYR) – 6

SB – Omar De Los Santos (BRK) – 17

Pitching

(Among Qualified Players)

ERA – Jonah Tong (STL/BRK) – 0.00

SO – Jonah Tong (STL/BRK) – 43

WHIP – Christian Scott (SYR) – 0.71

Players of the Week

Offense – Jose Iglesias, 2B/SS Syracuse

You could make the case that Rylan Bannon, Ben Gamel, or Nick Morabito deserved to be named player of the week. They certainly do, but we’ll give Jose Iglesias the nod. Iglesias hasn’t exactly been tearing it up at the plate this year, so it was great to see him record a two-homer game and three multi-hit games to raise his OPS to .835 on the year. There’s a very real possibility that Iglesias needs to be called up to the majors in case of injury, so it would be great to see him heat up at the plate.

Pitching – Joander Suarez, P Binghamton

It’s hard to go against someone in Blade Tidwell, who tossed eight scoreless innings. That doesn’t even mention the handful of other pitchers this week that made scoreless outings. But the most notable one was Joander Suarez, who threw 6 1/3 perfect innings. It’s been great to see Suarez succeed following his 2023 season in which he struggled in High-A but then finished the season on a really high note in Double-A.

Suarez has a 0.87 WHIP and has allowed just a .163 batting average against. Should he continue to pitch effectively, the 24-year-old could be an option to join Syracuse later this season.