Nimmo, Cecchini, Smith Among 49 Met Prospects Heading To PSL For Instructs

From September 24th to October 4th, the Mets will be running their instructional league down at the Spring Training complex in Port St. Lucie. There are 49 players attending for the next two weeks, including first-round picks Dominic Smith, Brandon Nimmo, and Gavin Cecchini.

In his first full season of professional ball (extended spring training and Brooklyn), Cecchini had a decent year despite missing a significant chunk of time with an ankle injury. He endured a slow start at the plate before he went on the disabled list, but rattled off a 16-game-hitting streak shortly after his return to the lineup. For a short period of time, his batting average crept over the .300 mark, but he cooled off to finish 2013, ending up with a .273/.319/.314 triple slash, including no homers, eight doubles, and 14 RBIs.

Unlike Cecchini, Brandon Nimmo got off to a quick start for the Sand Gnats in Savannah, hitting .322 in April. Injuries also hampered a significant chunk of his season, playing just four games in the month of May. It took him a while to get back to his April production, and his next time he hit over .250 in a month was August, when he hit .324. For the season, Nimmo hit .273/.397/.359 with two home runs, 16 doubles, and 40 RBIs. He helped Savannah capture their first SAL Championship since 1996.

Dominic Smith had a very successful first season in professional baseball, and Satish R. outlined it nicely in an article he wrote yesterday here on MMN. Upon finishing his year in the GCL with a .287/.364/.407 line, he earned a late-season promotion to experience the Appy League playoffs with Kingsport. He finished the regular season hitting .667 with four doubles in six at-bats.

Courtesy of Adam Rubin, here is a list of players at the instructional league in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

Pitchers
Gaby Almonte
Eucebio Arias
Martires Arias
Tyler Bashlor
Andrew Church
Chris Flexen
Dawrin Frias
Daniel Herrmann
Ricky Jacquez
Ricky Knapp
Kevin McGowan
Jose Medina
Casey Meisner
Craig Missigman
Marcos Molina
Yoryi Nuez
Darwin Ramos
Persio Reyes
Scarlyn Reyes
Ismael Tijerina
Rob Whalen
Ty Williams

Catchers
Adrian Abreu
Brandon Brosher
Jose Garcia
Colton Plaia
Dioni Rodriguez

Infielders
Gavin Cecchini
Phillip Evans
Luis Guillorme
Dilson Herrera
Branden Kaupe
L.J. Mazzilli
Jeff McNeil
Matt Oberste
Pedro Perez
Alfredo Reyes
Amed Rosario
Yeixon Ruiz
Dominic Smith
Jhoan Urena

Outfielders
Wuilmer Becerra
Michael Bernal
Jared King
Vicente Lupo
Brandon Nimmo
Hengelbert Rojas
Champ Stuart
Ivan Wilson

There is a ton of talent among this group of players with each one of them bringing something different to the table. Again, this list is for the Mets Instructional League in St. Lucie, which you can read more about right here, courtesy of Matt M. Games begin Tuesday and run through Oct 4. Here are a few notes on the roster.

A large chunk of the Mets ’13 draft picks will attend this league, with 18 total players from the 2013 class taking part. The 1st – 8th round picks (Smith, Church, Wilson, Meisner, Mazzilli, King, Stuart, Oberste, Knapp) are all attending. Bashlor (11th) and Meisner are two pitchers that I am relatively high on for the future, and Ivan Wilson always gets a ton of love from me.
Taking a general look at the outfielders on the list, it is good to see Wuilmer Becerra and Vicente Lupo get some extra work after underwhelming seasons. Both men harbor a lot of potential — as does Brandon Nimmo, who is joining them there.
Somewhere, my colleague Teddy Klein is jumping because Amed Rosario, the potential shortstop of the Mets future, is attending as well. There’s a nice crop of names in the infield bunch that includes the newly-acquired Dilson Herrera and Gavin Cecchini.
I am loving a lot of the names on the list of pitchers — especially a pair of right-handers from Kingsport: Chris Flexen and Rob Whalen. Frias is a guy that impressed me in person when I saw him in Brooklyn, by the way.