A decade ago, the Mets had a bonafide leadoff hitter and one of the fastest shortstops in baseball, Jose Reyes.
Fast forward to 2017 and history has repeated itself. MLBPipeline’s No. 1 prospect in the game, Amed Rosario, is the fastest player at his position according to Statcast.
The average sprint speed across baseball is 27 feet per second in a player’s fastest one-second window, but Rosario is clocking a speed of 29.7 feet per second, which is best at his position, edging out Trea Turner‘s time of 29.2 ft/sec.
Across baseball, there are only three players that sprint at a faster pace: Byron Buxton (30.2 ft/sec), Billy Hamilton (30.1 ft/sec) and Bradley Zimmer (29.9 ft/sec). The 21-year-old sits tied for fourth with Dee Gordon, who is also sprinting at 29.7 feet per second.
The shortstop just recently qualified for the leaderboards, but has showed his legs since he made his major league debut last month. He hit two triples in his first three games.
MLB Pipeline has long commended his speed, giving him a very respectable grade of 65. Here’s what they had to say about the rookie:
“He has excellent speed and should continue to be a base-stealing threat. There is no question he’ll be a shortstop long-term, with the potential to be an elite-level defender thanks to his range, hands, footwork and plus arm.”
Since Jose Reyes departed after the 2011 season, the Mets haven’t had a perfect fit out of the leadoff spot. Curtis Granderson spent a lot of time hitting first for the Mets during his tenure in Queens and Michael Conforto got a good chunk of at-bats out of the one hole this season.
With Rosario’s elite speed fully recognized at this point, New York may finally have the leadoff hitter they have been waiting for.
