Jett Williams, photos by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

The St. Lucie Mets on Friday announced their “initial” 2023 Opening Day roster. St. Lucie is the Low-A affiliate of the Mets and is based out of the Mets’ spring training home of Clover Park in Port St. Lucie, FL.

St. Lucie’s roster will be an exciting one to watch as it features five of the Mets’ 30 top prospects and three 2022 draftees.

Here’s who you will see if you head out to Clover Park this summer:

Manager – Gilbert Gomez

First-year manager Gilbert Gomez will lead the Mets in 2023. Gomez spent the 2022 season as St. Lucie’s bench coach. He is no stranger to Port St. Lucie as he spent parts of 2011-2014 as a St. Lucie Mets outfielder.

Development Coach – Regan Saulnier

Regan Saulnier is another notable addition to St. Lucie’s 2023 roster. She will represent the first female coach in St. Lucie history as women continue to break the barrier and become more prominent in professional sports.

PITCHERS

CATCHERS

INFIELDERS

OUTFIELDERS

TOP PROSPECTS

As mentioned above, when you analyze the Mets’ 2023 Opening Day roster, it features five Top 30 prospects:

  • #5 – SS Jett Williams
  • #16 – RHP Layonel Ovalles
  • #17 – 3B Jacob Reimer
  • #20 – RHP Jordany Ventura
  • #25 – LHP Javier Atencio

#5 – Jett Williams

Williams was one of the Mets’ First Round Draft picks in the 2022 MLB Draft. He went at No. 14 overall out of Rockwall-Heath High School in Texas and now finds himself as the Mets’ No. 5 overall top prospect.

Williams spent his first season as a Met with the rookie-level Florida Coast League (FCL) Mets. He batted .250/.366/.438, with one double, one triple, one home run, and drove in six RBIs in 2022.

#16 – Layonel Ovalles

Ovalles split the 2022 season between the FCL Mets and the St. Lucie Mets.  He played 11 games with the FCL and five with St. Lucie. He combined for a 4.05 ERA in 46 2/3 innings pitched combined. He gave up just 21 earned runs on 41 hits and 17 walks. He struck out 66 over the course of those two seasons.

#17 – Jacob Reimer

Reimer, a 2022 draftee and now No. 17 overall Mets top prospect, was drafted in the Fourth Round of the 2022 MLB Draft as the No. 119 overall pick out of Yucaipa High School in Yucaipa, CA.

The 19-year old third baseman spent the 2022 season solely with rookie-level FCL. In his first season in the Mets organization, he batted .261/ .414/ .478, with a .892 OPS. He hit one triple, one home run, and drove in seven RBI’s in seven games played for the FCL in 2022.

#20 – Jordany Ventura

Ventura, like Ovalles, also split his 2022 season between the FCL and the St. Lucie Mets. He combined for a 4.15 ERA. He pitched just one game for the FCL Mets and three for the St. Lucie Mets in 2022. Over the course of 8 2/3 innings pitched, he gave up four earned runs on seven hits and struck out 13. He walked just two batters.

#25 – Javier Atencio

Atencio was another pitcher who split the 2022 season between the FCL Mets and Low-A St. Lucie. He pitched three games for the FCL before being promoted to St. Lucie where he pitched 10 games.

Atencio combined for a 2.06 ERA in 2022. Over the course of 43 2/3 innings pitched he gave up just 10 earned runs on 34 hits. He walked 25, but struck out an impressive 56 batters in 2022.

The St. Lucie Mets, led by Gomez at the helm, will take the field to open their season against the Daytona Tortugas on Friday, April 7 at 6:10 p.m. at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie.