Mets Prospects That Improved Their Stock in 2022

The 2022 year was certainly a good one for a Mets farm system that jumped in every publication’s rankings including going from 18th preseason to fifth post-deadline according to ESPN.

As noted by ESPN, that high ranking is in part because of a good 2022 draft that included two first rounders and two second round picks. The Mets also didn’t trade any of their top 10 prospects in 2022 and had no significant graduations.

One key point to the Mets farm system getting better in 2022 was the development of players that didn’t start the year on any top 30 lists which gives the organization better depth. The Mets have four prospects in MLB’s top 100 according to most outlets with Álvarez in the top 10 and No. 1 according to MLB Pipeline, Brett Baty in the top 25, Kevin Parada in the top 50, and Alex Ramirez in the back-end of the top 100. In addition to that, the 2022 draft made their top 10 stronger, and the last couple of drafts and players in the lower levels developing have made their top 30 deeper as well.

It’s a Mets system that has pieces ready (or at least close to ready) to help at the big league in terms of production, but also gives the front office the pieces needed to make trades to improve the team. I also believe that the recent hires of Eric Jagers as director of pitching development and Jeff Albert as director of hitting development will give the organization much-needed stability and help them become better at producing consistent talent from the minor leagues.

Now let’s take a look at the Mets’ prospects that improved their stock with impressive 2022 seasons.

Francisco Álvarez – C

It would be nearly impossible to write an article about Mets prospects without mentioning the talented young catcher. The 21-year-old was ranked as low as 13th in the top 100 coming into the season and his productive season as 20 years old has improved his stock to arguably the best prospect in baseball. Álvarez hit .260/.374/.511 with 27 home runs and 78 RBIs in 112 games in the minors between Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A before receiving a promotion to the majors.

The presence of Omar Narvaez and Tomas Nido at the major league level allows the Mets to make sure Álvarez’s ankle fully heals after surgery and that there’s no rush to make him the everyday catcher in the big leagues. The Mets could decide to use Álvarez as the primary DH while working him in as a catcher, allowing him to work with a veteran pitching staff. Or they could simply send him to Triple-A to start the season to fine-tune his defense.

Mike Vasil – RHP

When you talked to Mets folks after the 2021 draft, one of the names they immediately wanted to discuss was Mike Vasil. They couldn’t believe they were able to get a pitcher with his upside in the eighth round. Vasil looked like he could go in the first round coming out of high school in 2018 before an arm injury changed that.

In his first full season in the minors this year, the right-hander had a 3.53 ERA, 3.11 FIP, 1.08 WHIP, and 85 strikeouts in 71 1/3 innings between Low-A St. Lucie and High-A Brooklyn. Vasil also kept the ball out of the air with only a 26.9 flyball percentage and his ground ball rate was 45.7%. He was successful getting swings and misses as well with his 14.8 swinging strike percentage, tying for second among Mets minor leaguers with at least 70 innings pitched.

The 6’5”, 244-pound Vasil has already added a few mph since the Mets drafted him with his fastball averaging around 94-95 mph and his top velo being 96-97 mph. Vasil’s arsenal includes a cutter (was previously more of a hard slider) at 89-91, curve at 81-84, and a changeup in the mid-80s. The Boston native had one game this season in which he had a total of 23 swings and misses including 10 on his cutter.

Before the season, Vasil was somewhere in the back end of the Mets top 30 prospects and following a strong showing in 2022, he’s creeping close to bursting into the top 10. Vasil is one of the key arms to watch in the Mets minor leagues for 2023 with the likelihood that he starts the year in Brooklyn but moves quickly from there.

Grant Hartwig – RHP

Grant Hartwig entered the 2022 season as a 24-year-old undrafted pitcher with only 11 2/3 professional innings under his belt. The 25-year-old started the season in Low-A St. Lucie and finished the year in Triple-A Syracuse posting a 1.75 ERA along the way. The right-hander struck out 83, allowed only 38 hits, and gave up just one home run in 56 2/3 combined innings between the four stops.

Hartwig led Mets minor league pitchers in multiple categories including his 35.5 K%, .184 opponents average, 13 saves, and 1.75 ERA. His 56.3 percent groundball rate was also among the leaders and completely dominated left-handed hitters holding them to a .444 OPS.

The 6’5”, 235-pounder is primarily a fastball and slider pitcher that will occasionally mix in a changeup. His fastball sits 93-95 mph with a sharp, late arm-side run. The low-80s slider was a big-time swing and miss pitch for Hartwig this season. The former starter also showed he can pitch multiple innings having 12 outings of getting six outs and two in which he got nine outs.

Bryce Montes De Oca – RHP

The hard-throwing Bryce Montes de Oca was left unprotected by the Mets going into the 2021 Rule 5 Draft but luckily for them the drawn-out labor negotiations had the draft ultimately canceled. The Mets 2018 draft pick finally made his pro debut in May of 2021, and while he struck out 47 batters in 34 innings, he also walked 27 and posted a 4.50 ERA.

Finally, in 2022, Montes de Oca was able to have a normal spring camp, and that certainly paid dividends for the 6’7”, 265-pound Kansas native. He started the season in Double-A Binghamton where he worked as a high-leverage reliever. The right-hander struck out 24 and walked a whopping 14 in 17 1/3 innings before his promotion to Triple-A Syracuse.

Walks were still an issue for Montes de Oca in Triple-A, though he did lower his walk rate from 18.2% in Double-A to 15.6% with Syracuse and also saw his strikeout rate go from 31.2% to 36.4%. Bryce was effective (3.33 ERA) with a relatively high WHIP of 1.42 because he held opponents to a .553 OPS with runners on. Montes de Oca was one of 10 minor league pitchers to throw at least 50 innings and not allow a home run in 2022.

In early September, only 16 months after making his pro debut, Byrce Montes de Oca made his major league debut with the Mets. He averaged 99.9 mph on his fastball and hit 102.4 mph in his short time in the majors. He also showed off a mid-90s cutter and a slider in the upper 80s.

Stanley Consuegra – OF

The biggest thing for the talented Stanley Consuegra this year was simply staying healthy. Since making his pro debut playing 64 games in rookie league ball in 2018, Consuegra had played only 20 games coming into this season. Consuegra played 122 games this year and had the third most plate appearances among Mets minor leaguers with 536.

After impressing in spring camp, the 22-year-old went to full-season ball for the first time and posted a 114 wRC+ in 66 games for Low-A St. Lucie. He started strong in High-A Brooklyn, however, he seemed to hit a wall in August when he posted a .553 OPS. For the season, Consuegra hit .246/.318/.413 with 27 doubles, six triples, and 13 home runs.

Consuegra’s swing can get long at times as you can see with 144 strikeouts this season, but he carries some of the best raw power in the Mets system, and was among their leaders in max exit velocity and average exit velocity.

On the defensive side, Consuegra has above-average speed that allows him to play all three outfield spots. He possesses a cannon for an arm that produced multiple throws over 95 mph this season that resulted in a whopping 18 outfield assists in 113 games played in the field.

Other names that went from virtually unknown and/or impressed in their pro debuts and be featured in the MMO top 30 prospects list coming soon include RHP Layonel Ovalles, RHP Jawilme Ramirez, SS Jesus Baez, and INF William Lugo.