Shervyen Newton, Photo by Ed Delany of MMO

This week in Mets minors land, the team’s top pitching prospects performed well in St. Lucie, and the top offensive prospects cooled off after a hot start to the season.

Week in Review

Triple-A Syracuse

Triple-A Syracuse dropped four of six against the Rochester Red Wings last week, allowing 40 runs in the series. Wyatt Young led the Mets offense with nine hits in 24 at-bats including a double and a home run.

A 15th-round pick in 2021 out of Pepperdine, Young was aggressively promoted to Triple-A in just his second professional season. So far he’s played up to the challenge, slashing .353/.459/.471 through 14 games. The 5-foot-7 Hawaiian-native has a profile reminiscent of Jeff McNeil. He likes to swing the bat and has a knack for making contact, though he likely won’t hit for much power or draw many walks. Carlos Rincon also had a nice week in Syracuse, going five-for-15 with a pair of home runs and four RBIs.

Acquired from the Dodgers for Billy McKinney last season, Rincon now has a .273/.314/.394 line on the season.

Despite the series loss, the Mets got a few solid starting pitching performances this week.

In another short outing, Thomas Szapucki struck out six while allowing a run on three hits and two walks over three innings. Conner Grey earned a win allowing two runs while striking out five over five innings. However, they also got a couple of blow-up outings from veterans Mike Montgomery and David Peterson who each let up seven earned in less than five innings.

Double-A Binghamton

Double-A Binghamton also dropped four of six in their series against the Erie SeaWolves. Johneshwy Fargas and Jake Magnum each picked up five hits and a pair of stolen bases atop the Rumble Ponies lineup. Ronny Mauricio had a solid week with four hits in 18 at-bats with a double, a home run, and a stolen base. He’s now slashing .294/.329/.544 through 17 games with three home runs and four stolen bases.

Meanwhile, Brett Baty and Francisco Álvarez both cooled off after red-hot starts to the season. Álvarez went 3-for-20 (though two of the three hits were doubles) with seven strikeouts. Baty went just 2-for-20 with nine strikeouts.

On the pitching front, Jose Butto had his worst start so far with Binghamton, allowing five earned on four hits and three walks over 4.1 innings while striking out six.

Binghamton’s best start came from 26-year-old Alec Kisena, who allowed just a hit while striking out eight over six scoreless innings. Bryce Montes de Oca also pitched well out of the bullpen picking up a save in two appearances, allowing a hit and two walks over three innings while striking out five. The 6-foot-7 right-hander has a fastball that can touch 100 and a strong slider but can struggle with command. He’s allowed just a run over 7 1/3 innings to start the year while striking out 14 and walking five.

High-A Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Cyclones split their six-game series with the Bowling Green Hot Rods.

Wilmer Reyes led the Cyclones with 11 hits in 25 at-bats, including three doubles and a home run while racking up eight RBI. Reyes missed most of the 2021 season with a knee injury after slashing .323/.350/.441 in 2019 and impressing in the 2020 instructional league. Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2016, Reyes offers modest offensive potential so it’s encouraging to see him hit the ground running in 2022. Catcher Jose Mena had a nice week as well, going 8-for-20 with five RBI.

The Cyclones got some solid starting pitching in the series. David Griffin led Brooklyn starters with nine strikeouts over six innings while allowing three runs. Garrison Bryant and Jose Chacin each allowed just a pair of runs over five innings. Oscar Rojas allowed one run over 5 2/3 innings while striking out six.

Low-A St. Lucie

The pitching in St. Lucie was excellent this week.

Carson Seymour and Mike Vasil, a pair of 2021 college draft picks, each went six innings without allowing an earned run while lefthander Nick Zwack struck out nine over four scoreless innings.

Calvin Ziegler, a second-round pick out of Florida’s TNXL academy by way of Kitchener, Ontario, also struck out nine over 4 1/3 scoreless innings while allowing just a single hit. The 19-year-old now has a 3.07 ERA in 14 2/3 innings this season, striking out 26 while walking nine. Ziegler is certainly the Mets’ most intriguing arm in the lower levels and he’s given the organization a lot to be excited about in his first four professional starts.

Organizational Leaders

AVG – Wyatt Young .353 (SYR)

OPS – Daniel Palka 1.031 (SYR)

HR – Daniel Palka 6 (SYR)

SB – Omar De Los Santos 7 (SLU)

Players of the Week

Offensive: Shervyen Newton – SS St. Lucie

Shervyen Newton continued a stellar start to the season improving his slash line to .303./373/.576 with three home runs and 14 RBIs. Born in the Netherlands, there was some hype around Newton when the Mets signed him out of Curacao in 2015. However, he’s seen his prospect stock drop after he slashed .209/.283/.330 in 2019 and .190/.312/.293 in 116 at-bats last season.

While Newton’s hot start has put him back on the organizational radar, he’ll need to cut down on strikeouts (20 so far in 66 at-bats this season) to maximize his plus-power potential. An improved approach could make Newton a very interesting prospect this season and a midseason call-up to Double-A is well within the realm of possibility.

Pitching: St. Lucie’s Rotation

Four of the Mets’ five starters this week combined to allow just one earned run, so it’d be unfair to give the honor to a single pitcher this week. Calvin Ziegler and Nick Zwack have both demonstrated high-end strikeout potential while Carson Seymour has yet to allow a run through 15 innings this season. While Ziegler’s pedigree makes him the most intriguing arm in St. Lucie, the performances from the rest of the staff are encouraging in a system that has lacked pitching depth.

St. Lucie currently ranks second in the Florida State League with a team ERA of 2.87.

Upcoming Schedule

Syracuse: vs. Lehigh Valley May 3-8

Binghamton: @ Hartford May 3-8

Brooklyn: @ Aberdeen May 3-8

St. Lucie: @ Palm Beach May 3-8