With Spring Training games quickly approaching us, the Mets have reported to camp and are beginning to warm up and get back into the daily grind of baseball.
Back in January, the Mets announced this year’s non-roster Spring Training invitees, consisting of minor leaguers looking to prove they belong in big league camp.
Among the highlights are left-handed pitching prospects David Peterson and Kevin Smith. Peterson, the Mets’ first round pick in 2017, posted a 4.19 ERA and 9.5 K/9 last year for Double-A Binghamton. He is certainly an intriguing name to watch as at age 24, he could certainly be one of the first in line to fill a spot in the rotation if someone goes down, especially considering the Mets’ crippling rotation depth.
Unless he gets injured or drastically underperforms, it would be surprising if Peterson didn’t make his major league debut this season. Peterson is ranked as the Mets’ seventh best prospect by MLB.com.
Smith, a crafty lefty who until last season has largely fallen under the radar, was the Mets Minor League Pitcher of the Year last year after posting a 3.15 ERA and 10.0 K/9 between St. Lucie and Binghamton. He is ranked 11th in the Mets’ system by MLB.com.
Another intriguing name invited to big league camp is right-handed reliever Ryley Gilliam. Ranked 16th by MLB.com, Gilliam showed potential for Brooklyn in 2018 when he struck out 31 batters in only 17.1 innings.
While he started off strong for St. Lucie in 2019, he was met with mixed results in Binghamton before getting crushed in Syracuse. He definitely has the stuff to be a major league reliever though, and if he can find some more consistency at the upper levels of the minor leagues, he could certainly become an asset in the major league bullpen.
Catcher Patrick Mazeika is another name to keep an eye on, though his stock has stagnated over the last couple seasons. Ranked as the 27th best Mets prospect by MLB.com, Mazeika has spent the last two years in Binghamton with mixed results, and is 26 years old already.
He has made some strides defensively though, so if he can translate his impressive results from the lower levels up to the higher levels, it’s possible he could become a serviceable backup catcher. This spring is certainly going to be very important for him to start off a crucial season on the right track.
Then of course, there’s also Tim Tebow, who has virtually no chance of making the major league roster but will still draw fans’ attention regardless. Tebow struggled badly in Triple-A last year and at age 32, will need to figure something out soon if he wants to stay in the Mets organization.
