Mets Minors Weekly Report: Williams, Stuart Maintain Excellence

It was an abbreviated week as teams returned to action following the All-Star break, headlined by several high-profile prospects making debuts following recent promotions. Here are the biggest developments throughout the organization, including star turns for Jett Williams and Tyler Stuart.

Jett Williams. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Triple-A Syracuse

The Syracuse Mets won two of three games at home against the Rochester Red Wings. The Mets currently sit with a 37-51 record.

Ronny Mauricio went 3-for-13 with two home runs and five RBI. Mauricio is up to 14 homers on the season and is hitting .299 with a .856 OPS. Mark Vientos went 5-for-13 with two doubles and two runs scored. He recorded at least one hit in all three games and has a 1.022 OPS at the Triple-A level this year.

Abraham Almonte clubbed three homers in the three games, including two on Saturday. He has 10 hits in 11 games with Syracuse, and seven of those hits are home runs.

Mike Vasil had his best start for Syracuse on Sunday. He picked up a win by allowing two runs over six strong innings, striking out five batters. Vasil has a 6.75 ERA through his first five Triple-A starts.

Double-A Binghamton

The Rumble Ponies lost two of three games at home against the Somerset Patriots. Binghamton continue their slide in July and have a 39-44 record on the season.

Rowdey Jordan went 3-for-8 with three steals and three runs scored. José Peroza went 2-for-9 with two RBI and a run scored. The offense failed to hit any homers across the three games.

Tyler Stuart fired off six strong innings of one-run ball in his Double-A debut on Saturday. His 1.54 ERA continues to lead all qualified minor-league pitchers, and he has been at the top of that leaderboard for well over a month.

Dominic Hamel allowed three runs across 3 1/3 innings in his start on Friday, striking out six batters but also issuing four walks. He has a 5.07 ERA this season.

High-A Brooklyn

The Cyclones won two of three games at home against the Greensboro Grasshoppers. Brooklyn is nearly back to a .500 record, sitting at 41-42.

Kevin Parada had a two-homer game on Saturday and went 4-for-13 in the series. He is up to 10 homers on the year and is hitting .270 with a .816 OPS.

Alex Ramírez went 2-for-10 with one double, two RBI, two runs scored, and a stolen base. Ramírez continues to disappoint this season with a .226 average and a .655 OPS.

Blade Tidwell picked up his sixth win of the year in his start on Friday. He allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings of work, striking out six batters. He has a 3.45 ERA through 15 starts and has 103 strikeouts in just 70 1/3 innings on the mound.

Jordany Ventura pitched two scoreless innings in his High-A debut on Saturday. He did not allow a hit, but he issued three walks and also hit a batter.

Low-A St. Lucie

The St. Lucie Mets won three of four games at home against the Jupiter Hammerheads. St. Lucie rebounded after a dismal series prior to the All-Star break, although they still are just 30-53 on the season.

Jett Williams went 7-for-12 with two doubles, three runs scored, and three steals. He had three multi-hit games, drew five walks, and raised his season OPS up to .795.

Yeral Martinez played in just the first two games of the series but had a monster stat line. He went 6-for-8 with one home run, two triples, one double, four RBI, and five runs scored. The triples were his first two of the year.

Douglas Orellana allowed four runs on four hits across four innings of work on Friday. He has a 4.15 ERA through 14 appearances.

Florida Complex League Mets

The FCL Mets played just two games this week, with two others being suspended due to rain. They won both, improving to 16-9.

Jesus Baez collected a hit in both games, while Willy Fanas hit his sixth double of the season in the one game he played. Simon Juan went 0-for-4 in his one game, striking out twice.

Organizational Leaders

Batting

AVG – Mark Vientos (SYR) – .315

OPS – Mark Vientos – 1.022

HR – Luke Ritter (SYR) – 21

SB – Omar De Los Santos (BRK) – 32

Pitching

(Among qualified players)

ERA – Tyler Stuart (BNG) – 1.55

SO – Blade Tidwell (BRK) – 103

WHIP – Christian Scott (BNG) – 0.91

Players of the Week

Offense – Jett Williams, SS/CF St. Lucie

Williams has had a few series like this throughout the season that demonstrate how complete of a prospect he really is. He reached base 12 times in four games, recording three multi-hit efforts while also showing off his speed with three steals. He is also up to 28 steals on the year with a 40-steal season seemingly in the cards.

Williams’ greatest asset continues to be his incredible eye at the plate, as he drew five walks across the four games and improved his on-base percentage to .419. That ability to draw walks is the sort of skill that is going to take him very far in his professional career. The one thing that is lacking at the moment is power, but that too should come in time as the 19-year-old continues to get experience at the plate.

Honorable mentions go to Kevin Parada for a multi-homer game, Abraham Almonte for his three-homer series, and Yeral Martinez for collecting six hits over a two-game span.

Pitching – Tyler Stuart, P Binghamton

Stuart has been a breakout star in the 2023 season, and his first career Double-A start went about as well as it could have. He allowed just one run in six innings of work and struck out five batters, lowering his season ERA to a minor league-leading 1.54 mark.

The towering 6’9” righty was not on many Top 30 prospect lists during the offseason, but he has emerged as one of the organization’s top pitching prospects in the span of just half a season. He does an excellent job of both limiting baserunners and limiting hard contact, a recipe for success that has made his 2023 season quite a memorable one so far.

Honorable mentions go to Mike Vasil for putting together the best start of his young Triple-A career, as well as to Jordany Ventura for posting a scoreless outing in his first career High-A appearance.