Right fielder Cesar Puello hit two solo home runs, including the game-winner in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Binghamton Mets defeated the Trenton Thunder, 5-4, Thursday afternoon at NYSEG Stadium.
The red-hot Puello hit four home runs in the series and now has 12 on the season while batting .320/.401/.588 in 50 games this season.
In a Boom or Bust feature on Sunday, I wrote the following about Puello:
It seemed like Cesar Puello was left for dead after the 2012 season after appearing on many a Top 10 Mets Prospects list. He was a virtual no-show on every prospect list including ours at the start of 2013.
What many people forget is that Puello just turned 22 last month and yet here he is in Double-A Binghamton mixing it up with players 3-4 years older than him on average.
At 6’2 and 195 pounds he’s built for power, but it wasn’t until this season that he started to show himself to be the slugger many scouts thought he would be.
He’s having a solid season overall, but to me the most important number is that .506 slugging percentage given the desperate situation in Flushing.
Oh and don’t let his size fool you, this kid can run too and has racked up 95 stolen bases in the last four seasons. Look for him to be a part of the 2014 outfield equation by next season’s All Star Break.
His slugging has risen to .588 since I wrote that.
Puello is one of the players involved in the Biogenesis scandal although nobody has been officially named yet. But even if he were to be suspended, it won’t put a damper on his chances of making his MLB debut sometime in 2014.
(Photo Credit: Gordon Donovan)
