Minors Weekly Report: Jesus Baez Heats Up

There were several great performances in the Mets’ minor leagues this past week. One of the more notable and encouraging developments was a fantastic week from Jesus Baez, a prospect the Mets are high on, in High-A Brooklyn.

Baez was simply unconscious at the plate, recording 11 hits in 17 at-bats with two homers, a double, and 10 RBIs. If that’s not impressive enough, Baez also walked six times and didn’t strike out at all. With the dominant effort, Baez raised his season OPS to .816 after entering the week with a .621 OPS.

Jesus Baez. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Triple-A

The Syracuse Mets dropped four of six games against the Rochester Red Wings in their latest series, marking the team’s second consecutive series loss. The 2-4 record in the series gives the Mets a 22-29 record on the year.

Ronny Mauricio and Jon Singleton both led the team with two home runs each in the series. Mauricio especially looked great, going 8-for-14 and adding a double, while Singleton went 4-for-17 with a double and six walks. Singleton now has double-digit home runs on the year and an .826 OPS while Mauricio has a 1.515 OPS through five games in Syracuse.

Gilberto Celestino and Joey Meneses also looked great. Celestino tied Mauricio for the team lead with eight hits including a home run and two doubles, while Meneses also homered and hit three doubles. Celestino is now batting .302 with a .798 OPS while Meneses owns a .799 OPS.

Paul Blackburn made a phenomenal rehab start, tossing seven scoreless innings with just one hit allowed, striking out six. Blackburn is nearing his way back to the major league roster and has a 2.63 ERA in three starts in Syracuse.

In his third start in Syracuse, Nolan McLean looked great by tossing six innings, allowing two runs though both were unearned. He also struck out six batters. McLean has looked comfortable since his promotion to Triple-A as he owns a 2.00 ERA.

Double-A

The Binghamton Rumble Ponies had a great week, winning five of six games against the Richmond Flying Squirrels. Despite winning five games, it was an unusally quiet series with Binghamton outscoring Richmond 19-16. The Rumble Ponies are 27-17 and in first place of the Eastern League Northeast division.

Former top prospect Alex Ramírez hit the only long ball of the series for Binghamton and also led the team with nine RBIs, nearly half of the team’s total from the series. Ramírez had a fantastic series in what has been yet another down season, as he owns just a .595 OPS.

Under-the-radar prospect William Lugo led the team in hits, going 9-for-19 with three doubles and three walks. It was a good sign to see Lugo take three walks, as he has just six on the year as opposed to 36 strikeouts. His OPS sits at .730.

The Rumble Ponies received three excellent starts in this series: one from Zach Thornton and two from Jack Wenninger. Thornton’s start was particularly notable because he didn’t allow a single baserunner through 6 1/3 perfect innings. He struck out six in the outing as well. Thornton has looked phenomenal across two levels this year, owning a 1.76 ERA in nine starts.

As for Wenninger, the 2023 sixth-round pick allowed just one run and struck out 10 in 10 innings over two starts. Wenninger has been great all year for Binghamton, owning a 2.70 ERA in nine starts.

Jack Wenninger. Photo by Kylie RochelleIn

High-A

After recording a sweep two series ago, the Brooklyn Cyclones followed that up with another series win, taking four of six games from the Jersey Shore BlueClaws. The series win puts Brooklyn at 30-15 on the season.

In addition to Jesus Baez’s week at the plate, Carson Benge also continued his torrent start to the year, going 8-for-17 with three doubles and two triples. Benge recorded just one RBI, but he walked eight times, stole two bases, and scored eight runs of his own. The former first-rounder has been phenomenal this season as his OPS (.991) approaches 1.000.

Ronald Hernandez also provided some offense for the Cyclones, going 8-for-20 with a home run, two doubles, and a stolen base. Hernandez has not been off to a particularly great start to the year, but he’s seen his OPS creep up to .752.

It’s been a rough start to Jonathan Santucci‘s pro career, but the 2024 second-round pick had a solid start against the BlueClaws, allowing one run and striking out six over five innings. Santucci still owns a brutal 5.81 ERA through eight starts this year.

R.J. Gordon also looked solid, allowing one run in 4 2/3 innings while striking out seven. Gordon has been one of the better pitchers on Brooklyn’s staff this year, owning a 2.48 ERA in eight appearances.

Low-A

The St. Lucie Mets split their series against the Jupiter Hammerheads, going 3-3. The Mets still remain in first place of the Florida State League East division at 24-21.

Daiverson Gutierrez was the standout batter for the Mets, going 6-for-14 with a double and a home run. Gutierrez has, for the most part, not had much of an impact this year as he still owns just a .651 OPS.

Corey Collins and Trey Snyder, a pair of 2024 draft picks who have had slower starts to their pro careers, heated up against the Hammerheads. Collins went just 4-for-14 but he recorded two doubles and six walks while Snyder went 8-for-18 with three walks and five stolen bases. Collins owns an .862 OPS in 12 games with the Mets while Snyder has a .743 OPS in 39 games.

Will Watson delivered a pair of great starts, totaling 9 2/3 innings with just three runs allowed and nine strikeouts. Watson leads the St. Lucie Mets with 38 strikeouts and owns a 2.78 ERA in nine appearances.

Irving Cota and Edgar Moreta also impressed with a pair of scoreless performances. Cota tossed five innings, allowing just one hit and striking out six while Moreta went 4 2/3 innings and struck out two. Cota has thrived this year with a 1.57 ERA in nine appearances, his last one being his first start of the year. Moreta, meanwhile, has mostly struggled and has a 4.05 ERA through nine appearances.

FCL Mets

The FCL Mets went 2-2 this past week to bring their record on the year to 6-9. They remain one of the worst run differential teams in the FCL at -30.

Randy Guzman was the only player on the team to hit a home run and he also led the team with four RBIs. In total, he went 7-for-13 and also added two doubles. He has a 1.061 OPS through 12 games.

Edward Lantigua was tied for the second-most RBIs on the team during the week with three, and he also added a double and a triple. He owns a .782 OPS through 11 games.

On the mound, Daviel Hurtado looked great with five scoreless innings, striking out four. Hurtado has made three appearances and pitched 12 innings without allowing a run this season.

Jose Chirinos also had a great start, striking out six over four scoreless innings. He has also looked good this year, owning a 1.59 ERA in three appearances (two starts).

Organizational Leaders

Batting

AVG – A.J. Ewing (STL/BRK) – .373

OPS – Jacob Reimer (BRK) – 1.008

HR – Jon Singleton (SYR) – 10

SB – A.J. Ewing (STL/BRK) – 32

Pitching

ERA – Nolan McLean (BNG/SYR) – 1.62

SO – Jonah Tong (BNG) – 65

WHIP – Zach Thornton (BRK/BNG) – 0.739

Players of the Week

Offense – Jesus Baez, IF Brooklyn

Baez is newly 20 years old and has been solid, but not great, at every stop in his minor league career. Now with High-A Brooklyn, Baez has a chance to keep riding this momentum and turn in a really great season. He currently owns an .816 OPS in 32 games with Brooklyn, with a chance to turn in a season with an OPS above .800 for the first time in his career.

He stood out among an extremely stacked Brooklyn lineup this week.

Pitching – Zach Thornton, P Binghamton

When you go more than six innings without allowing a baserunner, you get recognized as the pitcher of the week. Thornton isn’t a name that’s as known as Brandon Sproat or Nolan McLean, especially after he had an ERA above 4.00 in 2024. Thornton, however, has been fantastic this season and has been particularly great at limiting baserunners which we saw in his latest outing.