Minors Weekly Report: Francisco Alvarez Goes on Homer Spree

Francisco Alvarez struggled mightily in his time with the major league club this year, but that is not the case in Triple-A Syracuse. This past week, Alvarez crushed four homers and 10 RBIs in just six games, reaching a total of eight home runs in just 64 at-bats since being sent down. His play helped secure the Syracuse Mets a series win in the final series before the All-Star break.

We’ll have more on Alvarez’s numbers in another article coming out later today.

Photo Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Triple-A

The Syracuse Mets took four of six games from the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, continuing their second-half tear. They are now 13-5 in the second half of the season and 44-49 overall.

Outside of Alvarez, Drew Gilbert led the way in what was another great week. Gilbert went 7-for-23 with three doubles, a triple, a home run, and six RBIs, second on the team behind Alvarez. Gilbert’s strong play of late, a .935 OPS in his last 29 games, has his season OPS up to .767 after a rough start.

Joey Meneses also shined, going 7-for-18 with a double and a home run, also adding four RBIs. Meneses still owns just a .744 OPS for the season, a fine number for MLB but not so great in Triple-A.

Nolan McLean delivered another impeccable start, a regularity since his promotion to Syracuse, but this may have been his best one yet. McLean twirled a gem of six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and three walks while striking out 10. McLean now owns a 2.52 ERA in 11 games in Triple-A.

Brandon Sproat also delivered his best start of the season, throwing seven scoreless innings with three hits allowed and four strikeouts. Sproat has been brilliant in his last three starts, not allowing a run in 18 innings in that span, and he’s lowered his ERA to 4.61.

Drew Gilbert. Photo Credit: James Farrance

Double-A

The Binghamton Rumble Ponies won their series against the Altoona Curve, taking the first four games of the series before dropping the last two. Binghamton is now 12-6 in the second half of the season and 57-28 overall.

Jett Williams had a scorching week at the plate, going 10-for-26 with four doubles, two home runs, three walks, and two stolen bases. He drove in five runs and scored five runs of his own. Williams has been electric this year, and he has his OPS up to .891 for the year.

Carson Benge also shined, going 5-for-10 with two doubles, a home run, and four walks. Like Williams, Benge also drove in five runs and scored five runs of his own. Benge looks more than comfortable in Double-A, owning a .956 OPS in 13 games since his promotion.

Kevin Parada had another great week in his bounceback campaign, going 8-for-16 with five doubles, two RBIs, and four runs scored. Parada has a .990 OPS in his last 30 games to put his OPS for the year at .739.

R.J. Gordon gave the best start of the week for the Rumble Ponies in his Double-A debut, allowing one run over seven innings while striking out eight. Gordon allowed just three hits and one walk in the effort. He now has a 2.89 ERA on the season between Brooklyn and Binghamton.

Jonathan Santucci had another fantastic start, also in his Double-A debut. He allowed two runs over six innings while striking out eight with two hits and one walk allowed. Santucci has completely erased his dreadful start to the season and has a 3.42 ERA between Brooklyn and Binghamton.

High-A

The Brooklyn Cyclones split their series with the Wilmington Blue Rocks to move to 11-10 in the second half of the season. Overall, Brooklyn has a 57-30 record.

Chris Suero had the best week at the plate for a Cyclone despite not having his best week. Suero went 3-for-16 with a double, a home run, five walks, and a stolen base. Suero added to his great season, improving his OPS to .837.

Diego Mosquera also had a good week, going 5-for-10 with five walks and two RBIs. Mosquera has not been great this year, owning just a .672 OPS.

Noah Hall delivered a brilliant start, tossing seven shutout innings with four strikeouts. Hall allowed just two hits and a walk. With the effort, he lowered his ERA to 2.41.

Brendan Girton also didn’t allow a run, going 4 1/3 innings with four strikeouts. Girton now has a 2.69 ERA in 16 games with the Cyclones.

Will Watson made a couple of starts and looked solid, combining for 7 1/3 innings with three runs allowed and eight strikeouts. Watson owns a 2.64 ERA in seven games since joining Brooklyn.

Christopher Suero. Photo by Ed Delany of Metmerized

Low-A

The St. Lucie Mets dominated the Bradenton Marauders, winning five of their six games in the series. St. Lucie is off to a fast start in the second half, owning a 14-6 record. For the whole year, St. Lucie is 48-37.

Yonatan Henriquez had a great week at the plate, going 9-for-26 with a home run, a walk, and a stolen base. Henriquez drove in seven runs and scored five. He raised his OPS on the year to .665.

Vincent Perozo also looked good, going 5-for-12 with two doubles, a home run, four walks, and four runs driven in. Perozo improved his OPS to .743.

Last year’s draft pick Nick Roselli had a solid week, going 6-for-16 with two doubles, two walks, and a stolen base. Roselli has really struggled this year, but his latest series has his OPS up to .641.

Franklin Gomez delivered the best start of the week for the Mets, tossing 4 2/3 scoreless innings. Gomez allowed one hit and three walks while striking out five. He’s been excellent this year, owning a 2.27 ERA with St. Lucie.

Wellington Aracena also continued his recent hot stretch, tossing four scoreless innings. He allowed two hits, a walk, and struck out four. Aracena now has a 2.56 ERA for the year and a 1.00 ERA over his last six games and 27 innings.

FCL Mets

The FCL Mets had a second consecutive good week, going 3-1 to improve on the year to 21-25. They remain in third place in the Florida Complex League East division.

Edward Lantigua was fantastic at the plate for the FCL Mets, going 5-for-13 with two doubles, a home run, and a team-leading seven RBIs. Lantigua raised his OPS to .745 with the effort.

Jonathan Jimenez had a good start on the mound, allowing two unearned runs in four innings. Jimenez allowed five hits and a walk while striking out three. Through 11 games, Jimenez is 0-5 with a 4.13 ERA.

DSL Mets

The DSL Mets Orange went 3-2 this past week to improve their record to 19-11. The DSL Mets Blue went 4-1, improving their record to 15-16.

Adolfo Miranda continued his strong season for the DSL Mets Orange by going 6-for-16 with three doubles and a triple, raising his OPS to 1.023. On the mound, Julio Gonzalez threw three hitless innings. He has a 2.08 ERA in six appearances.

For the DSL Mets Bue squad, Yorber Semprun went 13-for-23 with a home run and six RBIs, raising his OPS to 1.045. On the mound, Abner Meza tossed five scoreless innings. He has a 1.50 ERA in seven appearances and five starts.

Organizational Leaders

Batting

AVG – A.J. Ewing (STL/BRK) – .306

OPS – Carson Benge (BRK/BNG) – .907

HR – Ryan Clifford (BNG) – 17

SB – A.J. Ewing (STL/BRK) – 55

Pitching

ERA – Jonah Tong (BNG) – 1.83

SO – Jonah Tong (BNG) – 125

WHIP – Zach Thornton (BRK/BNG) – 0.812

Players of the Week

Offense – Francisco Alvarez, C Syracuse

Alvarez is certainly making his case to be called back up to the major league squad. He’s demonstrating ridiculous power and showing flashes of what made him the top prospect in all of baseball just a few years ago. Whether this reset will actually work for him remains to be seen, but it’s a good sign to see Alvarez thriving after looking lifeless for much of this season.

Pitching – Noah Hall, P Brooklyn

Hall is not in the upper echelon of Mets pitching prospects alongside Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong, and Brandon Sproat, but he’s been pitching himself right into that tier right below them. Hall is pitching in his first full season of pro ball and excelling, with his latest outing his best one so far. The 24-year-old is a name Mets fans should certainly keep an eye on.