We continue our top 30 prospects with #’s 20-16. When these were written over at MetsMinors.net, the prospects were given their own posts, but we’ve decided to display all of them together in order to save some time. In these five, Jacob Resnick did three, and I did two. Without further ado, here are numbers 20 to 16:
No. 20 Akeel Morris, RHP
Age: 11/14/1992 (23)
2015 Level: New York Mets, Double-A Binghamton, Hi-A St. Lucie
Stats: 47 G, 61.1 IP, 13 SV, 2.05 ERA, 0.929 WHIP, .137 BAA, 81/29 K/BB
It’s the situation that every aspiring baseball player dreams of being thrust into. Unfortunately for Akeel Morris, he simply wasn’t ready for the spotlight.
Because of a burned-out bullpen, the Mets promoted Morris to the major leagues straight from Hi-A St. Lucie on June 15. Terry Collins vowed to only use him in case of an emergency, but neither Collins nor Morris could have predicted the circumstances under which the rookie would step onto a major league field for the first time. Morris relieved Jon Niese to begin the eighth inning of the June 17 contest in Toronto, trying to limit the damage in a manageable three-run ballgame. He would walk the first two batters, get a forceout at second base, then yield three consecutive hits, the last of which left the ballpark with three runners crossing home plate. Jack Leathersich was needed to finish the inning.
And that was it for Akeel Morris. Later that night, the Mets demoted him to Double-A Binghamton, to make room for Logan Verrett on the active roster. His final line as a major leaguer: 1 G, 0.2 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 1 HR, 3 BB. Aside from one poor big league outing, Morris enjoyed a stellar 2015 season, his sixth in the organization. He was named a mid-season all-star with St. Lucie.
Morris was born and raised in St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where he attended Charlotte Amalie High School, the foremost sports school on the island. In December of 2009, he pitched a perfect game against a rival school, striking out all 15 batters he faced. According to the Virgin Island Daily News, opposing hitters managed to make contact with a mere four pitches, all resulting in foul balls.
Fast-forward to 2013, when Morris dominated the New York-Penn League with the Brooklyn Cyclones, allowing only five earned runs over 45 innings pitched, to go along with 60 strikeouts, the most in the league by a primary reliever. He was one year removed from a season with the Kingsport Mets where he finished 0-6 with a 7.98 earned run average.
“What changed for me is to really try to attack the strike zone and be aggressive with every pitch I throw, and I really work my off-speed off of my fastball,” he told Newsday after a game with the Cyclones.
Last year, with St Lucie, Morris couldn’t be touched for periods of time. He had a 14 inning scoreless streak from May 2 to June 5, and had strikeouts in his first 13 appearances of the season. After the promotion by demotion to Binghamton, he continued his strong play, allowing only one run from July 23 through the end of the minor league season. The B-Mets made a quick exit in the Eastern League playoffs, losing to Reading in a first round sweep, but Morris was one of the team’s most dominant and electric arms out of the bullpen throughout, finishing with the fifth lowest Binghamton earned run average.
Mechanically, Morris pitches out of the stretch with a violent motion. He sets up on the first base side of the rubber, swings his leg up high, and rears back before unleashing from over the top. He sports a fastball that sits in the mid-90s and a changeup that was dubbed “excellent” by Matt Eddy of Baseball America. I’ve read that his breaking ball still needs work, but at 23 years of age, he’s nowhere close t0 being done in terms of development. He’ll be exciting to watch going forward, as an impact flamethrower in the late innings.
According to the traditional minor league promotion structure, he would be headed to Las Vegas to begin 2016, but a glut of veteran pitchers that are virtually guaranteed to be left off the major league roster come April could change Morris’ initial assignment. Buddy Carlyle, Stolmy Pimentel, Jim Henderson, and Duane Below among others are certain to be placed in Triple-A, along with various older prospects, like Chasen Bradford, Paul Sewald, and Jeff Walters. The advantage Morris does own, is that he is currently on the major league 40-man roster, so the early looks for mid season bullpen help could very possibly go his way. – Jacob Resnick
No. 19 Milton Ramos, SS
Age: 10/26/1995 (20)
2015 Level: Rookie Kingsport Mets, Rookie Gulf Coast League Mets
Stats: 218 PA, 200 AB, 12 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 27 RBI, 8/39 BB/K, 4 SB, .295/.326/.380
It’s no secret that the Mets’ minor league system is oozing with shortstops. Take a peek up and down the organizational depth chart from last season, and you’re sure to find a promising prospect at nearly every level.
Reynolds in Vegas. Cecchini at Binghamton. Rosario with St. Lucie. Guillorme down in Savannah. But don’t stop there. If you keep going down, all the way to Kingsport, you’ll come across two names. You’d see Luis Carpio and Milton Ramos. Carpio is a top prospect in his own right (and will have his moment later in the countdown), but Ramos is certainly an intriguing young ballplayer.
The 2014 draft will forever be known among Mets fans as the one in which Michael Conforto joined the organization to embark on a prosperous career. However, the front office did not fail to pick more talent. With their next selection, in the third round, they nabbed Ramos, a scrawny high school shortstop from south Florida.
The initial draft reports on Ramos were clear. Elite defender with minimal bat potential. Many draft experts touted him as the best defensive infielder in the entire draft, and to pick such a player where he fell would certainly be a steal. The questions surrounding him as a hitter were worrisome to say the least.
Nevertheless, Ramos officially signed with the Mets fairly quickly, and garnered a $750,000 bonus, which was around $98,000 over the slot value. He headed to the Gulf Coast League in late June of 2014 to begin his professional career, and understandably got off to a slow start, ultimately hitting .241 in 166 at bats. The more important stat to note, though, is Ramos’ innings in the field. Of the 386 frames he played in Port St. Lucie, a strong 146.1 were spent manning second base, a smart move by the organization to test his versatility. He handled the position just as cleanly as his natural spot.
In 2015, Ramos came out of extended spring training with Kingsport (R). He got off to a hot start, hitting .341 through his first 11 games, but spent some time back in the GCL for a couple of weeks in July. After returning, Ramos had stellar games at the plate here and there, like his four-hit effort against Elizabethon on August 28, but failed to recapture the on-base presence he had displayed earlier in the season.
The fact that Ramos did have stretches of excellence with the bat is a promising sign of his development. If you look at his pre-draft swing here, it’s easy to see some of the hiccups in his mechanics. First, he brings his front foot from the far edge of the batters box all the way to the other side. That creates a high leg kick, slowing down his overall process, although his arms are strong enough that he’s able to get around quickly and with force. He also moves his hands around before beginning the motion to the ball, which could be hard to get consistent with.
I’m sure the Mets staff is hard at work developing this kid as a hitter, because his potential as a defender is obvious. It’s clear that the team likes him and thinks he has a shot to be a player who can help a team perfectly in the field where it’s needed most. They’ll likely send him to Brooklyn (SS-A) to start 2016, and if he’s making strides at the plate, Columbia (A) will be in the near future.
They say pitching and defense wins championships, and while Milton Ramos will likely never go near a pitching rubber for the rest of his career, he’s got one helluva glove, and he’s not afraid to show it. – Jacob Resnick
No. 18 Max Wotell, LHP
Age: 9/13/1996 (19)
2015 Level: Rookie Gulf Coast League Mets
Statistics: 10.2 IP, 0-1 W-L, 2.53 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, .057 BAA, 16/9 K/BB, 1 HR
Whitey Herzog, the Hall of Fame manager with the Royals and Cardinals in the late 1970s and 1980s, once said that his teams only needed three types of pitching: left handed, right handed, and relief. It’s unfortunate that Max Wotell wasn’t a member of Herzog’s great teams, because he falls into not one, but two of those categories.
After selecting Desmond Lindsay with their first selection of the 2015 draft, the Mets stayed within the prep pool, taking Wotell, a wiry southpaw from Marvin, North Carolina, with the 13th pick in the third round. As a senior, he went 14-0 with a 0.52 earned run average and 145 strikeouts over 81.1 innings pitched. Wotell was also recorded as firing fastballs at 92 miles per hour with the Mavericks of Martin Ridge High School.
Wotell wasn’t the only high school lefty taken by the Mets in the first few rounds of the draft. They also went and grabbed Thomas Szapucki in the fifth round, and Jake Simon in the 11th round. You can read about them on Mets Minors’ Top 5 left handed pitcher list here.
Wotell received a $775,000 signing bonus nine days after the draft, and headed to the Gulf Coast League to begin his professional career as a reliever. He was dominant from the get go, tossing perfect frames in his first three appearances with a combined six strikeouts. Of the 45 batters Wotell faced in 2015, only two managed to reach base on a hit. Of course there’s a catch. He struggled with his control at times walking nine and hitting one batter. Wotell had three outings where he issued two free passes, including his final game of the season where he allowed three runs (one earned) in an inning and a third.
The 19-year old has a bit of a funky motion, where he moves his feet back and forth on the rubber, before arching his back and raising his arms so his face is nearly covered, at which point he hitches and slings the ball. It’s certainly a deceptive motion, and one that generates a lot of force and power, but it may need some tweaking if he’s going to become the most effective pitcher he can be as a professional. Considering he was the team’s third round draft pick a year ago, the Mets likely have their staff constantly working with Wotell on mechanics.
Armed with his low-90s fastball, a bending breaking ball, and a changeup, Wotell could move quickly through the minors, and his debut in the Gulf Coast League was a good sign. I don’t think you could expect any more than a Kingsport (R) assignment to begin 2016, so we will learn soon enough how he preforms in front of crowds and in a more competitive setting. The K-Port bullpen is sure to be full of left handed 2015 draftees, with guys like Wotell, Szapucki, Simon, and Sixto Torres. – Jacob Resnick
No. 17 Chris Flexen, RHP
Age: 7/1/1994 (20)
2015 Level: Gulf Coast League, Short-Season A, & A-Ball
Stats: 12 G, 9 GS, 2.42 ERA, 52 IP, 45 H, 16 BB, 51K .232 BAA
Since Sandy Alderson has become general manager of the Mets, there has been a slew of young projectable pitchers in the mid-rounds of the draft such as John Gant, Robert Whalen, Rob Gsellman, Corey Oswalt, Matt Bowman, and Paul Sewald. In the 14th round of the 2012 draft, Chris Flexen joined that club for an over slot bonus of $374,000 after a dominating high school season with Newark Memorial High School in California. He went 9-2 with a 0.44 ERA, with 125 strikeouts in 80 innings.
At first he struggled, giving up too many hits, and struggling with control in his first time as a pro, and had a 5.62 ERA. The next year, repeating the level he improved drastically, and dominated the Appalachian league. In 2014 he struggled at Savannah before succumbing to Tommy John Surgery in July. In June 24th of last season, Flexen returned and dazzled in 19 games with a 2.42 ERA in 52 innings pitched.
In his pre-draft report, Flexen was a young arm that could reach up to 93 employing a high leg kick to garner velocity. However, recent reports have him sitting in the low to mid 90’s and at times hitting higher such as 96/97 when he truly reaches back. As well, he has the potential for a plus slider, and above average changeup with time to hone them as he climbs the minor league level as a finally healthy pitcher. However, he has to be able to pitch more innings in a season than 68. You should expect him in High-A St. Lucie for the 2016 season.
No. 16 Luis Guillorme, SS
Age: 9/27/1994
2015 Level: A-Ball
Stats: 523 PA, 446 AB, 142 H, 16 2B, 18 SB, 8 CS, 54 BB, 70 K, .318/.391/.354
This shortstop has done everything and more to play above the tools that were projected of him when he was drafted in the 10th round of the 2013 draft out of the Coral Springs Charter High School in Florida. At the time he was drafted, Luis Guillorme was called the best defensive shortstop in the draft, with a glove way ahead of his bat despite hitting .570/.640/.770 in his senior year.
When he was drafted, he then was assigned to Rookie-Ball Kingsport and hit .258/.337/.283, and then repeated the level in 2014 hitting .282/.337/.324, earning a few games at A-ball Savannah. When he joined Savannah in 2015, everything clicked, where he hit .318/.391/.354 out of the leadoff spot and won a well-earned player of the year.
Touted as an excellent shortstop, he fits the bill pretty well. He has excellent hands and receives and sets up well. He makes all the plays, including the highlight reel ones. His arm is average, but he has a quick release that makes up for it. As well, his speed is just average, but he plays it up with incredible instincts and quick jumps. In short, he often makes the difficult plays look routine and the seemingly impossible plays just happen.
As for offensive capability, Luis will not excite you with any kind of thump. In fact, he does not hit for any power whatsoever, and likely never will hit more than 1-2 home runs in a season (and has not hit one in his professional career to date). He instead will line all over the field, with above-average bat speed and the ability to line all over the diamond. He is learning to hit for more doubles as well, hitting 11 out of his 16 doubles in the second half, and if he can get stronger could hit possibly 25 doubles.
In addition to good bat-to-ball skills, including a 13% K-rate, he does not get cheated at the plate and has a good eye, including two games where he walked 4 times in a game last year and 10 multiple walk games in total. He can also perform drag bunts very well. While getting down the line he is average in speed and he reads pitchers very well allowing him to steal 18 bases last year.
Next year the MVP will take his unique skills to St. Lucie, and we’ll see how he does as he progresses up the ladder. Fortune usually doesn’t favor guys who have no power, but Luis isn’t like most players so we’ll see what happens.
If you would like to see the rest of our series, please tune into MetsMinors.net, where we covered the Top 80 Mets Prospects. As for the rest of Mets minor league news during the season as well as analysis and recaps, please come see us during the minor league season, we have a lot planned.
