Six Prospects That Could Make MLB Debut in 2018

The New York Mets had 12 players that made their major league debut during the 2017 season. I don’t believe they will have that many in 2018 on what looks like a team that will at least contend for a Wild Card.

Of course, the two most important players in the short-term and long-term of the Mets franchise to debut last season were Amed Rosario and Dominic Smith. Rosario will be the Mets starting shortstop in 2018 while Smith is going to battle veteran Adrian Gonzalez for first base.

Paul Sewald was another player that debuted in 2017 and was a solid contributor with a 4.55 ERA, 3.74 FIP, 1.21 WHIP and 69 strikeouts in 65.1 innings.

Here are six players I think will make their major league debut in 2018:

1. Marcos Molina, RHP – At one time Molina was though of as one of the best arms in the best farm system but he has been set back by Tommy John surgery that made him miss the entire 2016 regular season (did pitch 16 innings in AFL). Molina pitched to a 3.63 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 3.31 SO/W over 106.2 innings last season combined between St. Lucie and Double-A Binghamton.

The good news for Molina is that he allowed only six home runs and 94 hits last season. Bad news is that the reports on his stuff were not kind with his fastbal hovering around 90 MPH most of the time when he was more of a mid-90’s guy pre-surgery. Slider is still a plus pitch for him but he could end up in the pen if he doesn’t finish cleaning up his mechanics (short stride and arm action). He’s on the 40-man roster and could begin season in Vegas making him a likely callup at some point in 2018.

2. Corey Oswalt, RHP – His name has already been mentioned by pitching coach Dave Eiland as a possible call-up this spring. The 24-year-old was the Mets recipient for the Sterling Award for Pitcher of the Year and also the Eastern League Pitcher of the Year. He went 12-5 with a league best 2.28 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 8.0 K/9 in 134.1 innings for the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies.

Oswalt gets good sinking movement on his fastball which allows him to limit the long ball (only nine in 134 innings last season) though I don’t see any of his three other pitchers (slider, curveball, changeup) as consistently above average right now. He was added to the Mets 40-man roster this offseason and definitely starts in the Vegas rotation. Could be first call up when Mets need a starter from Triple-A.

3. Tyler Bashlor, RHP – The hard-throwing reliever is in major league camp after being added to the 40-man roster this offseason and is my dark horse candidate to break camp with the Mets. Bashlor has a heavy fastball in mid-90’s that hits as high as 98/99 at times. He also has a slider that flashes plus at times and tightened up (previously more slurvy) as the season went on.

Bashlor comes with late-inning reliever mentality and has said he loves the pressure of closing. His 15.22 K.9 led all of minor league baseball last season. He combined to pitch with St. Lucie and Binghamton with a 3.44 ERA, 1.31 ERA and allowed only one home run in 49.2 innings. He finished his season strong in Double-A with 23 strikeouts, four walks, seven hits and didn’t allow a single run in 14.2 innings.

4. Luis Guillorme, SS/2B – By now everyone has heard the name because of his ridiculous bat catch last spring or the highlight reel plays defensively he seemingly makes on a daily basis. The defensive wizard at short has played 132 games at second base over the last two seasons and even played a few games at third base to increase versatility.

The left-handed hitting Guillorme has always got on base at a high clip with a .361 minor league OBP and it was .376 for Binghamton last season. The glaring issue for him is his .328 SLG with only two home runs and two triples in 1774 at-bats. Guillorme is another player that has been added to the 40-man roster and should start the season in Vegas. He also the only guy outside of Rosario on the 40 that is an asset defensively up the middle.

5. P.J. Conlon, LHP – Here is my long shot of the group though it would be more likely if the Mets finish the offseason without adding another left-handed reliever. Right now the Mets have one left-handed reliever (Jerry Blevins) on the 40-man roster with only Conlon and Matt Purke (currently battling the flu) as the non-roster invites to major league camp.

Conlon has pitched in 69 minor league games with 24 of them coming from the pen including his last six appearances of 2017 in Binghamton. He pitched to a 3.38 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 2.84 SO/W in 136 innings last season. He’s a soft tossing lefty that doesn’t make it into the 90’s with a good breaking ball and changeup. He has control of all three pitches and hides the ball pretty well. Held lefties to a .631 OPS last year with 36 strikeouts compared to only five walks.

6. Drew Smith, RHP – Acquired in the trade that sent Lucas Duda to the Tampa Bay Rays last year and a former third round pick of the Detroit Tigers. In 60 innings last year he had a 1.65 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 6.0 H/9, 2.1 BB/9 and saved seven games. He has allowed only two home runs in his pro career spanning 139 innings.

The 24-year-old throws a fastball in the mid-90s that has flashed upper 90s with a sharp curveball that can be plus pitch at times. He minimized a previous issue for him with only 14 walks last season in his 60 innings. He showed off his potential plus combo of fastball-curve August 21 for Binghamton when he struck out seven consecutive batters. He’s not on the 40-man roster but is in big league camp.

Certainly a chance we see quite a few arms make their major league debut in 2018 with Mickey Callaway mentioning that he will be aggressive with his use of the bottom of the bullpen and switching guys out.

I had both Kevin Kaczmarski and Zach Borenstein on my list to be included in this until the Mets signed Matt den Dekker who clearly leap frogs them on the depth chart. Outfield depth chart is still weak though so it’s definitely possible we see either of those guys at some point in 2018.

Kyle Regnault and David Roseboom are two lefties that I considered in the conversation for a lefty reliever though neither of them got the invite to big league camp which is why I gave Conlon the edge.

If the Mets are looking for guys that can play all over then Jeff McNeil and Jhoan Urena are two options I could see them discussing though the Mets will have Phillip Evans and Ty Kelly in Triple-A as options.

The last player I want to talk about is the electric Gerson Bautista. He came to the Mets when they traded Addison Reed (yes, they got some real prospects) and was lights out for St. Lucie. In his 14.1 innings he allowed only two runs on ten hits, three walks and 20 strikeouts. Bautista hit 101 MPH last year and had another outing when he threw 11 pitches with the slowest one being 98 MPH.

Two of the biggest weaknesses for Bautista (former starter) when the Mets acquired him was control and lack of second pitch. He showed great control for St. Lucie but his slider is way too inconsistent right now. He is on the 40-man roster though I think the Mets led him stay in Double-A for the season to fine tune his mechanics and slider.