The first half of the year was a bit of a roller coaster for St. Lucie, finding most of their first half success at the end of May, end of June, and made a big push to end the first half in July when they took five of six from the Bradenton Marauders to end the first half of the season and clinch their spot in the postseason as first half champions of the FSL East.

Coming out of the All-Star break, St. Lucie got off to a very hot start to the second half, winning nine of their first 11 games.. In August, they either tied or won every series. Their success in the second half was enough to also win the division title again in the FSL East after claiming it in the first half.

Unfortunately, after a strong 77-53 season (.592 win percentage), St. Lucie’s luck ran out in the first round of the postseason as the Daytona Tortugas, who had their number most of the regular season, once again dominated the Divisional Series. The Mets took game one 4-2, but the Tortugas took advantage of the Mets’ offense going quiet to claim the last two games of the series, eliminating the Mets in heartbreaking fashion.

St. Lucie’s leaders at the plate (minimum 60 games played) were right fielder, Yohairo Cuevas (.278/.440/.369/.809, 12 doubles, two home runs, 11 RBIs, 50 BB, 11 SB, 41 R, 63 games); first baseman, Trace Willhoite (.265/.382/.470/.852, 13 doubles, two triples, 14 home runs, 66 RBIs, 47 BB, 14 SB, 59 R, 85 games); center fielder, Yonatan Henriquez (.264/.354/.395/.749, 18 doubles, two triples, eight home runs, 50 RBIs, 51 BB, 33 SB, 59 R, 104 games); and third baseman, Colin Houck (.252/.351/.461/.812, 14 doubles, five triples, eight home runs, 38 RBIs, 33 BB, 11 SB, 43 R, 62 games). All four players had been promoted prior to the 2025 FSL divisional round of playoffs.

Offensively, the Mets had a .245 team average and 79 home runs. They combined for 282 stolen bases and had a single-game franchise record 13 stolen bases during the season as well.

The Mets’ pitchers moved around quite a bit in 2025, but it was Wellington Aracena (1-1, 2.38 ERA, 84 SO, 64 1/3 innings), Irving Cota (5-6, 4.36 ERA, 72 SO, 84 2/3 innings), and Channing Austin (2-4, 4.31 ERA, 66 SO, 71 innings) that led the Mets’ pitching staff.

Jose Chirinos was also a leader on the mound for St. Lucie. Through 56 1/3 innings, he was 5-2 with 51 strikeouts. He was on the mound for St. Lucie in game one of the playoffs, throwing five scoreless innings, giving up just two hits and striking out four.

Mets pitching in total had 633 strikeouts, with a 3.59 ERA, which was best in the Florida State League. By the end of 2025, 29 players were promoted from St. Lucie to Brooklyn.

The post Low-A St. Lucie Season Recap: Mets Crowned First and Second Half Champions appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Photo by Ed Delany of MMO

The St. Lucie Mets had one of the best seasons in the club’s history and posted the best first-half and overall record in the Florida State League along their way to earning the title of Florida State League Champions in 2022.

The Mets finished the first half with a 40-25 record, which earned them their first playoff appearance since 2016. They finished five and a half games ahead of the Jupiter Hammerheads to claim the first-half Eastern Division title for the second straight year in a row. Impressively, St. Lucie won 23 of their first 29 home games.

St. Lucie finished the second half of the season with a 33-31 record, coming in second at four games behind the Palm Beach Cardinals. Though they came up in second in the second half, they were the only club to finish with a winning record in both the first and second halves of the season and finished with an overall 73-56 record, the best in the league, and five and a half games up on the Palm Beach Cardinals for the overall record.

After a successful regular season, the Mets went on to sweep the playoffs, going 4-0 en route to the title. They first swept the Palm Beach Cardinals in the FSL Eastern Divisional Series and then swept the Dunedin Blue Jays at Clover Park in the Championship series to claim the title of Florida State League Champions for the first time since 2006 and the sixth time in the club’s history.

The Mets’ roster was star-studded on both the mound and at the They were led by outfielders Alex Ramirez (promoted to Brooklyn in July), Omar De Los Santos, Carlos Dominguez, Stanley Consuegra, infielders William Lugo and Junior Tilien, and utility player Raul Beracierta. 

Ramirez, just 19 years of age, finished the 2021 season in St. Lucie and began the 2022 season with the club as well. He batted .284/.359/.443, with a .802 OPS (fifth place in the FSL in the first half) with the Mets. He hit 13 doubles, six triples, six home runs, had 37 RBIs, and was walked 28 times. His speed also claimed him 17 stolen bases in 2022 with St. Lucie. His success at the Low-A level earned him a promotion to the Brooklyn Cyclones in July.

Omar De Los Santos, Photo by Ed Delany of MMO

De Los Santos, 21, finished the 2021 season and St. Lucie and spent the full 2022 season with the club as well. He batted .271/.339/.459, with a .798 OPS during the 2022 season. He had 23 doubles, five triples, 16 home runs (third in the league), 62 RBIs, and 75 runs scored. He led the league with 70 stolen bases and that was tied for third among all minor leaguers.

Dominguez, 23, also finished 2021 and spent 2022 in St. Lucie. He batted .233/.324/.426, with a .750 OPS. He had 54 runs scored and 65 RBIs, hit 15 doubles, a league-leading 20 home runs, walked 37 times, and stole 22 bases. Dominguez ranked in the top ten in the league in many areas offensively, he had the fourth-most doubles in the league, and the second-most runs scored.

Both De Los Santos and Dominguez struggled with strikeouts though with 151 and 173 respectively. That ranked them first and third in the FSL for strikeouts.

Consuegra 22, was another player who spent the first half of the season in St. Lucie before getting his promotion to High-A Brooklyn in July. During the first half of the season with St. Lucie, Consuegra was a big contributor, hitting .251/.324/.431, with a .755 OPS. He had 38 runs scored, 14 doubles four triples, eight home runs, and 32 RBIs. He walked 26 times.

Lugo, 20, was another big bat for the Mets. He hit .261/.347/.427, with a .774 OPS. He had 47 runs scored, 18 doubles, two triples, 10 home runs (tenth in the league), and drove in 45 RBIs. At the end of the 2022 season, Lugo ranked sixth in the league in OPS, fourth in SLG, seventh in OBP, and had the eighth-best average in the league as well.

Tilien, 20, showed off impressive power with the Mets as he blasted 12 home runs in just 84 games including a three-homer game. The athletic youngster played a majority of his games at third, but also got starts at second and third base.

Beracierta, 23, slashed .300/.352/.467 with 13 home runs in 93 games while playing first base, catcher, and both corner outfield spots.

St. Lucie’s pitching also contributed heavily to the team’s 2022 success. In the first half of the season, their pitching ranked third in the league in ERA and second in strikeouts. Opponents had a .221 batting average against the Mets, which also ranked second for the Mets.

Carson Seymour was 4-0, with a 1.19 ERA before being traded to San Francisco as part of the Darin Ruf trade. Dominic Hamel (5-2, 3.84 ERA) and Keyshawn Askew (4-0, 1.93 ERA) were both huge for the Mets in the first half before being promoted to Brooklyn during the second half of the season.

Calvin Ziegler, Photo by Ed Delany of MMO

Calvin Ziegler’s overall numbers won’t show you how well the 19-year-old started the season. He was 0-6 with a 4.44 ERA over the course of 16 games appeared in, but over the course of 46 2/3 innings pitched he struck out 70 and only allowed 26 hits. The Mets’ 2021 second-round pick had a 3.57 ERA and was holding opponents to a .480 OPS before he went on the injured list for almost two months.

Fellow 2021 draft picks Mike Vasil (2.19 ERA),  Christian Scott (12.5 K/9), Nathan Lavender (0.48 ERA) all impressed to start the season in St. Lucie before receiving promotions to Brooklyn.

The Mets’ second half was led on the mound by 2022 second-round draft pick Blade Tidwell out of the University of Tennessee. Tidwell acclimated to Minor League Baseball very well. Tidwell had a 1.93 and struck out 11 over the course of 9 1/3 innings pitched and gave up just two runs on four hits in the regular season First-year manager Robbie Robinson called Tidwell’s repertoire of pitches and effectiveness on the mound “super elite.”

In the final game of the FSL Championship, Tidwell struck out seven over five scoreless innings and he finished the playoffs with 9 2/3 scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts.

Another starting pitching prospect to note due to a playoff performance is 18-year-old Joel Diaz. The overall 5.86 ERA in 16 regular season appearances looks ugly, however, he didn’t allow more than two more in any of his last seven starts. The big moment for the youngster came in the win that sent the Mets to FSL Championship when he threw six scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts.

Young lefty Javier Atencio had a 2.27 ERA in eight starts and two relief appearances for St. Lucie. The 20-year-old struck out 48 in 39 2/3 innings for the Mets.

The St. Lucie relief core was led by 100 mph arm Raimon Gomez (3.78 ERA), lefty Daniel Juarez (1.85 ERA), and versatile Jeffrey Colon (3.23 ERA).

Tidwell wasn’t the only 2022 draft pick to be a key factor in the Mets’ 2022 Florida State League Title. First-round draft pick Kevin Parada out of Georgia Tech was also a big factor in the Mets’ late-regular season playoff push, as well as the 2022 MiLB Florida State League postseason. Parada played in just 10 games with St. Lucie in 2022 (six regular season matchups, as well as four postseason games). He batted .275/.463/.414, with a .877 OPS. He hit one double, one home run, drove in five RBIs, five runs scored, and walked 10 times.

Coaching Staff

Manager – Robbie Robinson
Bench Coach – Gilbert Gomez
Hitting Coach – Victor Burgos
Pitching Coach – Victor Ramos
Development Coach – Bryce Wheary
Performance Coach: Kory Wan
Athletic Trainer – Kiyoshi Tada

MMN Top 30 Prospects

3 – Kevin Parada, C
4 – Alex Ramirez, CF
8 – Calvin Ziegler, RHP
9 – Blade Tidwell, RHP
11 – Joel Diaz, RHP
13 – Mike Vasil, RHP
14 – Dominic Hamel, RHP
16 – Javier Atencio, LHP
17 – Stanley Consuegra, OF
22 – William Lugo, INF
23 – Christian Scott, RHP
28 – Vincent Perozo, C
29 – Raimon Gomez, RHP
30 – Omar De Los Santos, OF

Team Batting Leaders (league ranking in parentheses)

G: Omar De Los Santos 111 (T 4^th)
AB: Omar De Los Santos 431 (2^nd)
R: Omar De Los Santos 75 (2^nd)
H: Omar De Los Santos 117 (1^st)
2B: Omar De Los Santos 23 (4^th)
3B: Alex Ramirez 6 (T 2^nd)
HR: Carlos Dominguez 20 (1^st)
RBI: Carlos Dominguez 65 (2^nd)
SB: Omar De Los Santos 70 (1^st)
TB: Omar De Los Santos 198 (1^st)
BB: Justin Guerra 41 (T 15^th)
OBP: William Lugo .347 (7^th)
SLG: .Omar De Los Santos .459 (2^nd)
OPS: Omar De Los Santos .798 (4^th)

Team Pitching Leaders

W: Dominic Hamel 5 (T 25^th)
ERA: Nathan Lavender 0.48 (1^st)
SV: Trey McLoughlin 4 (17^th)
G: Joshua Cornielly 31 (16^th)
GS: Dominic Hamel 13 (22^nd)
IP: Dominic Hamel 63.1 (26^th)
K: Dominic Hamel 71 (25^th)
WHIP: Keyshawn Askew 1.007 (8^th)

The 2022 St. Lucie Mets had a season to remember. Even with a total of 24 players being promoted throughout the season to high-A Brooklyn. And the fact that St. Lucie won the first half with those players and then Brooklyn came back to win their second half to make the New York-Penn League playoffs tells you just how talented that class of players is.

With those 24 players being promoted, the Mets still came in second place in the second half and ultimately went on to be crowned Florida State League Champions. The talented group featured half of the Mets’ top 30 prospects during the season and a large majority have them performed well.

The post St. Lucie Mets Season Recap: Young Team Wins FSL Title appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

The St. Lucie Mets won their first championship since 2006 on Tuesday night when they beat Dunedin 6-3. The big night was led by two of the Mets’ top draft picks this year in Kevin Parada (three hits, two RBI) and Blade Tidwell (five scoreless innings).

The Syracuse Mets are the only other Mets affiliate still playing and the highlights from that game are all Francisco Álvarez. The 20-year-old had three hits in the game including his 27th home run of the season.

AAA: Worcester (72-69) 3, Syracuse (59-83) 2, F/6 Box Score

• C Francisco Álvarez 3-for-3, HR (27th), 2B, 2 RBI, R, .217/.357/.449 (AAA stats)
• 1B Dominic Smith 1-for-3, 283/.364/.475
• DH Daniel Palka 1-for-1, 2 BB, .264/.345/.508

Álvarez is now hitting .370/.433/.741 with three home runs and nine RBIs in seven games since returning from his ankle injury. His 27th home run breaks a tie with Daniel Palka and Ronny Mauricio for the most in the Mets minor leagues this season.

Dom has a .907 OPS in September with five home runs and 14 RBIs.

• RHP Jordan Yamamoto (8.27 ERA) 3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
• LHP Alex Claudio (4.20 ERA) 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 K
• RHP Bryce Montes de Oca (3.77 ERA) 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K

Kevin Parada, Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Low-A: St. Lucie Mets (2-0) 6, Dunedin (0-2) 3 Box Score

• C Kevin Parada 3-for-4, 2 RBI, R, .400/.471/.467 (playoff stats)
• DH Oscar Campos 2-for-4, RBI, 2B, R
• 1B Brad Malm 1-for-4, HR (1st pro), 1.375 playoff OPS
• SS Kevin Villavicencio 1-for-3, SB, R

Parada, the Mets first pick in the 2022 draft, was a force for St. Lucie in their perfect 4-0 playoffs. The 21-year-old had six hits, two walks, and five runs batted in the four playoff games.

Malm, an undrafted free agent from Stony Brook, picked a pretty good time for his first pro home run.

Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

• RHP Blade Tidwell 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, Win
• LHP Javier Atencio 0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• RHP Paul Gervase 3,1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, Save

Tidwell, Mets 2022 second rounder, pitched in two of the Mets four playoff wins and didn’t allow a single run. Going back to the regular season, the 21-year-old has thrown 15 straight scoreless innings. Tidwell was up to 98 mph with his fastball on Tuesday and got 7 whiffs on 13 swings vs his slider.

Gervase, the Mets 12th rounder this year, finished out the game with 3 1/3 scoreless innings to pick up the save. Gervase had his fastball up to 96 mph and he got 8 whiffs on 17 swings against the pitch.

Manager Robbie Robinson was in his first season with the St. Lucie Mets and just his second in the Mets organization. In his first season, he led the FCL Mets to a first place record.

The post Mets Minors Recap: Álvarez Homers Again, St. Lucie Mets Win FSL Title appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Baseball America ranked Steven Matz the No. 7 prospect in the Florida State League, with Dilson Herrera coming in at No. 12 and Brandon Nimmo at No. 17 in their Top 20.

7. Steve Matz, lhp, St. Lucie

Matz impresses scouts and managers with both his stuff and his mound demeanor, where he shows toughness and confidence. He missed two seasons after having Tommy John surgery, but he has developed into a three-pitch, power lefthander with No. 2 or No. 3 starter potential.

Matz starts with a fastball that can reach 98 mph and works better at 93-96, because he can throw more consistent strikes at that speed. His fastball has some natural sink, helping him keep the ball in the park, and his above-average changeup features good depth. His curveball was inconsistent in the FSL, but scouts who saw him report significant progress with it at Double-A.

12. Dilson Herrera, 2b/ss, St. Lucie

Acquired by the Mets for Marlon Byrd in 2013 from the Pirates, Herrera spent all of 2013 in low Class A but finished 2014 in the major leagues with the Mets. One of the league’s younger regulars, he impressed managers with both his physical tools and maturity.

Herrera is an offensive player whose power was muted in the bigger ballparks and heavy air of the FSL, but he hit 10 homers after a promotion to Double-A Binghamton. He features a compact, short swing with pull-side power and a knack for the barrel. He’s adept driving the ball to the gaps, runs well and has athleticism to spare, even if his body thickens up a bit going forward. He’s an average defender at second base with first-step quickness, good range, the savvy to read hitters and scouting reports and enough arm for the position.

17. Brandon Nimmo, of, St. Lucie

Nimmo was Double-A-ready thanks to a patient batting eye and ability to attack pitchers who tried to take advantage of that by sneaking in a first-pitch fastball. He has the power to handle those, and now that he’s added 20 pounds of strength since signing, he has the power to punish those mistakes, rather than just serving them to the gaps. Scouts still are projecting, though, to get Nimmo to above-average power.

Nimmo’s has improved his jumps in center field, working on his first-step quickness and taking his pre-game shagging routine seriously, which scouts noticed. He has fringy arm strength but has added greater accuracy with more coaching. His bat likely would fit better in center field if he can handle the defensive assignment.

In 24 starts across two levels, Matz was consistently dominant all year long. He began the season with a 2.21 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in 69.1 innings pitched for Advanced-A St. Lucie. The hard-throwing lefty was then promoted to Double-A Binghamton where he pitched even better, posting a a 2.27 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in 71.1 innings with a 8.7 K/9 and a 1.8 BB/9.

Herrera opened the season with Advanced-A St. Lucie as well, where he slashed at .307/.355/.410 in 288 at-bats with 48 runs scored and 14 stolen bases. He also took it up a notch after a promotion to Binghamton, batting .340/.406/.560 with 10 home runs, 17 doubles, three triples, 47 RBI, and 48 runs scored in 61 games.

Nimmo tore it up in the FSL, batting .322/.448/.458 while driving in 25 runs and scoring 59 in 62 games. He collected four home runs and nine doubles in 279 plate appearances. After a late promotion to Binghamton, Nimmo slashed at .238/.339/.396 in 65 games, but started performing better once he got acclimated toward the end of the season.

After getting snubbed in the SAL Top 20, glad to see this. Great seasons by all three who each took huge steps forward and in the case of Herrera – made his major league debut.

The post Baseball America: Matz, Herrera, Nimmo Make FSL Top 20 appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The Florida State League and the South Atlantic League announced the rosters for their respective All Star games and the Mets are well represented in each game.

In the FSL, the St. Lucie Mets will send infielders T.J. Rivera and Dilson Herrera, outfielder Brandon Nimmo, catcher Cam Maron, and pitchers Randy Fontanez, Matt Koch, and Steven Matz.

The South will face the North in the All Star Game at McKechnie Field in Bradenton, Fla., on Saturday, June 14 at 7:05 p.m.

In the SAL, the Savannah Sand Gnats will be represented by infielders Jeff McNeil and Gavin Cecchini and pitchers Dario Alvarez, Robert Coles, Miller Diaz, Kevin McGowan and Akeel Morris.

Also, Sand Gnats manager Luis Rojas will join the mix and lead the SAL Southern Division all star team.

The SAL All-Star Game will be held on Monday, June 16 at L.P. Frans Stadium in Hickory, N.C.,- the home of the Hickory Crawdads.

The post Nimmo, Matz, Cecchini Among 14 Mets Prospects Selected To FSL & SAL All Star Teams appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Top Pitching prospect Steven Matz has been as consistent or better than anyone in the St. Lucie rotation and even though his record is only 3-3, he hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any of his ten starts.

In his last two starts he is 1-1, and while tossing 12.2 innings, he has allowed eight hits, no earned runs, four walks, seven strikeouts, and opponents are batting only .195 against him. On the season, the left handed pitcher is also in the top five with his 1.73 ERA and top ten with 51 strikeouts in the Florida State League.

You can chalk up his .500 record, to some tough luck games, especially since St. Lucie’s potent lineup leads the FSL in multiple offensive categories.

With the 6-0 shutout on Sunday, June looks to be the start of some better luck for Matz. Either way you can’t ask for anything better than what he has shown so far this season with St. Lucie.

(Photo by: MetsMerizedOnline))

The post Steven Matz Is In A Groove With St. Lucie appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Brandon Nimmo’s high school in Cheyenne, Wyoming didn’t even have a varsity baseball team. The Mets’ top prospect played American Legion baseball and had to concentrate on performing at amateur showcases across the country in the hopes of being taken in the MLB draft.

Nimmo did end up being taken in the 1st round of the 2011 draft, 13th overall by the New York Mets and he went on to sign, passing on the opportunity to play at the University of Arkansas.

Many people questioned the risky pick, citing that Nimmo didn’t have the high school baseball experience and was such a young and raw talent.  But he has been promising in his short time in professional ball. Last season was no exception, as he played in 110 games for the Sand Gnats and played a key role in helping the team to capture the South Atlantic League championship.

Nimmo’s journey has now taken him to the Florida State League while playing for Class A Advanced St. Lucie Mets and he has shined ever since opening day.

The top prospect has played to a .364/.440/.481 clip over his first 20 games. He has 28 hits, 19 walks and 19 strikeouts this season thus far, with three doubles, a triple, a home run and 11 RBI’s. He has also been leading the FSL in runs scored so far this season.

While spending most of his time in the two-hole, Nimmo’s ability to get on base and drive in runs has been a pleasant site to those in the Mets organization who believed that he was worth the risk to draft.

While it is highly unlikely that he keeps up this incredible production throughout the entire season, Nimmo is confident with his play thus far which he noted in an interview with Adam MacDonald of Milb.com.

“It’s been nice to get off to a hot start,” he tells MacDonald. “There are going to be ups and downs throughout the season but I think I’ve played well.”

Nimmo has grown quite a bit since being drafted in 2011, where he weighed in at 180 lbs. After implementing an aggressive off-season workout regime two years ago, he has increased to 205 lbs., while adding muscle to his sturdy frame.

Nimmo’s early success has to have Mets executives questioning whether he might be ready for Double-A Binghamton at some point this season. The 21-year old’s performance in a league with large stadiums and humid weather, conditions that make it tough to hit in, surely speaks more than just the numbers themselves.

In his interview with MacDonald, Nimmo noted that he was warned of the pitchers league that was the FSL. “They said it’s a pitchers league, nobody hits in that league.” He continues. “Everybody was preparing me for not being able to hit too much.”

The Mets hope that Brandon Nimmo can continue to flourish now that he has filled out his frame and added muscle. Nimmo will likely advance to Double-A this season, and continue on his path to becoming the Mets center fielder of the future.

The post Brandon Nimmo Is Thrilled About His Sizzling Hot Start appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Congratulations to both Chris Flexen and Miller Diaz; they’ve been selected as the pitcher of the week in their respective leagues! Not to be outdone, Dustin Lawley was named the FSL offensive player of the week, as well.

First, let’s start with the stellar week that Flexen had for the K-Mets. After struggling to a 5.63 ERA in 32 innings pitched last season for Kingsport, the 19-year-old has shown a marked improvement in 2013. That improvement was on display this past week, which saw him throw 14 innings of shutout baseball, earning two wins. He allowed seven hits, three walks, and 20 strikeouts during that span, also collecting a complete game shutout. The young right-hander is now 3-1 with a 1.93 ERA. He’s struck out 31 hitters and walked eight in 28 innings pitched.

Diaz put together his best overall start of the young NYPL season this week for the Brooklyn Cyclones. In his only start, he allowed just two hits, one walk, and nine strikeouts in five innings pitched. He earned the victory from that performance on July 20th against Batavia. Diaz’s success has been on display in his last three starts; he’s allowed one run on six hits and 24 strikeouts in his last 16 innings pitched. Batters have hit only .186 off him this season, and he’s third in the league with 39 punch outs.

Lawley just continues to hit, and hit for power. He hit .444 over the last week (8-for-18), and put together a .722 slugging percentage. He hit one home run and two doubles while collecting six RBIs, two runs, one walk, and two stolen bases. His big week ended with him on top of the FSL leader board with 20 home runs and 73 RBIs. His 27 doubles and .540 slugging percentage also rank second in the league. After a tough start to the season, Lawley is now hitting .270/.318/.540 on the season, including a .365/.389/.663 line in 27 games since the All-Star break.

Congratulations to all three of these players on this honor; they’re all well deserved!

The post Flexen, Diaz and Lawley Each Earn Player of the Week Honors appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The Eastern League named Cesar Puello of @bmets the player of the month for June #mets

— Mets Farm Report (@MetsFarmReport) July 8, 2013

Cesar Puello, who was already having a solid year heading into the month of June, went into another gear before the calendar flipped to July. Last Monday, I talked about the type of month he had for the B-Mets, but every time I look at his June numbers, I have to pick my jaw up off the floor.

The outfielder was limited to just 17 games and 68 at-bats due to a finger injury, but that didn’t slow his production. Actually, he accumulated more home runs (eight) and RBIs (24) in June than he had in either of the previous two months. Combine that with a .441/.465/.897 line, and he had a pretty special month. That line yielded him an OPS of 1.362. And no, that’s not a typo.

The only knock on his game last month was the amount of walks he drew. He only collected two free passes, which were by far his lowest monthly total. Puello hasn’t drawn a walk since June 7th. I’ll get into this more in the afternoon, but I’m not very worried about his lack of walks. Plus, if he’s hitting .441 and slugging .897, I want the man to swing the bat!

Congratulations to Cesar on being named the EAS player of the month for June. I can safely assume that most of us saw this honor coming his way.

By the way, here’s a second look at some of the fantastic original content that was produced by our Mets Minors staff this week:

Pitcher of the Week: Jacob deGrom

Player of the Week: Jayce Boyd

Top Ten Prospect Tracker: Week 13

Meet the Mets: Jack Leathersich

What Will Become of Mejia?

Prospect Time Machine: Lastings Milledge

Boom or Bust: Matt den Dekker

My First Professional Game as a Sports Writer

Lucie Logistics: Plawecki and Boyd Adjusting Well to Life in FSL, Bowman on his Game

Allan Dykstra: From First Round Bust to EAS All Star

As always, we appreciate you coming along for the ride with us… Here’s to another fantastic week of Mets Minor League baseball!

(Photo credit: Gordon Donovan)

The post Puello Named Eastern League Player of the Month appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Jayce Boyd finally got that long waited promotion to Advanced-A, right after the SAL All Star Game as I had speculated. But don’t think for a moment that the better class of pitching has slowed him down any… It hasn’t.

The right-handed first-bagger has a four game hitting streak and has nine hits in his first 17 FSL at-bats with a home run on Sunday and five RBIs in his first week.

Before his promotion to Advanced-A St. Lucie, Boyd was among the top ten in many offensive categories the South Atlantic League:

• .361 Batting Average (1st)
• .441 On-Base Percentage (1st)
• 46 RBIs (9th)
• 123 Total Bases (9th)
• 35 Walks (8th)

Matt Musico, the executive editor for Mets.Minors.net, wrote the following about Boyd last week shortly before his promotion:

Jayce Boyd was a sixth-round draft pick by the New York Mets in last year’s MLB Draft, and has certainly made people within the organization take notice with his performance with the Savannah Sand Gnats through 62 games this season.

After signing with New York, the Florida State University product joined the Cyclones in Brooklyn for 54 games and 201 at-bats. He put together decent numbers in his first professional season (.239/.320/.368), but certainly nothing eye-popping. In 2013, he’s turned into a force at the plate, with last night’s 4-for-4 performance (including a triple, home run, and three RBIs) against Greenville as the team’s cleanup hitter as another reminder.

His patience at the plate has been the most notable part of his approach since joining the Mets organization. In Brooklyn, he walked 25 times compared to 30 strikeouts. The same trend is appearing this year with Savannah, as he’s drawn 35 free passes, compared to only 32 strikeouts.

While Boyd is hitting well in just about every scenario thrown his way this season, he’s especially killing southpaws when they take the mound. Only 36 of his 240 at-bats have come against left-handers, but he’s put together a ridiculous .472/.568/.611 line, good for a 1.179 OPS.

I’ve said this before and I will continue saying it until he proves me wrong, but Boyd could end up being the first baseman of the future for the Mets.

I still believe that if they can rebuild Ike Davis‘ value, he will be shopped and likely traded this offseason.

As most of the readers here know, I said the same thing last year and yet they brought him back and gave him a huge raise while avoiding arbitration. I suspect they strongly regret that now and I’d bet that won’t happen again this Winter.

The post Jayce Boyd Is Now Menacing Florida State League Pitching appeared first on Metsmerized Online.