Mets’ Prospect Groups to Watch in 2023

This was written and scheduled before Francisco Alvarez was added to the Mets’ major league roster. 

While the Syracuse Mets season is currently underway, the rest of the Mets minor league affiliates will get underway over the next couple of days. Binghamton will start their year in Portland on Thursday while Brooklyn and St. Lucie will have their season openers at home on Friday.

Let’s take a look at a position group at each affiliate that you should be keeping an eye on at the ballpark or on MILB.TV (free with MLB TV) to begin the season:

Syracuse Mets

When you look at the Syracuse infield, it’s tough to ignore the talent that is on this roster and the impact it has had in the first week of the season.

Let’s start behind the plate with Francisco Àlvarez. The Mets’ top prospect and one of the lone top prospects in all of baseball still in the minors has drawn three walks, hit two home runs, and driven in four runs in the first few games. Defensively, he has thrown out 2 of 4 runners trying to steal.

As you make your way around the infield, Ronny Mauricio (No. 6 in our rankings) is showing off the power that he had in spring training and in the minors a year ago as he hit his first two home runs of the year on Wednesday against Rochester. His six RBIs are the most of any player on the Syracuse roster.

Mark Vientos (No. 8) will get the chance to play more first base once Brett Baty (No. 2) comes back from his thumb injury, so fans will be able to see his progression at a different position. As for Baty, he was 6-for-15 with two home runs and five RBIs in his first four games before the injury on Tuesday.

If you add the top prospect performances along with the solid production from Jonathan Araúz at second base (9-for-21, 2 doubles, 5 RBIs, 1.002 OPS), this makes for a fun infield where you could make a case any of those five players will see some time in Flushing in 2023 when it is all said and done.

Binghamton Rumble Ponies

Every good team can use a strong rotation. While you have some good pitchers down in Brooklyn with Blade Tidwell (No. 7), Binghamton has the best 1-2 of any affiliate in the system with Dominic Hamel (No. 12) and Mike Vasil (No. 9).

Hamel was the Mets Minor League Pitcher of the Year a year ago with Brooklyn and he should get a nice test at Double-A to begin the season. While the 24-year-old right-hander didn’t get to throw in a major league spring training game this year, he is coming off of a season in which he had 145 K’s in 119 innings of work. Down the stretch, he had six strikeouts or more in seven of his last ten starts.

At media day this week for the Rumble Ponies, Hamel said he was even throwing the ball harder this spring. For a pitcher that was already around the mid-90s in velocity with his heater, that could be scary for opposing Double-A hitters.

"I'M THROWING HARDER"@Mets #9 prospect Dominic Hamel is feeling good as the @RumblePoniesBB get their season started this week pic.twitter.com/XaIv84nucL

— Jackson Neill (@jacksonneilltv) April 3, 2023

Mike Vasil joins Hamel in the rotation and it sounds like he will be starting the Binghamton home opener against Somerset (Yankees) on Tuesday night:

Spoke to Binghamton manager Reid Brignac. He told me that Troy Miller will be the Opening Day starting pitcher with Mike Vasil the starting pitcher for the Home Opener next week. @ernestdove @MiLBMetsMadness pic.twitter.com/zdwmLZG8Bw

— Mets News and Links (@JohnFromAlbany) April 4, 2023

The eighth round pick in 2021 will make his Double-A debut after holding opposing hitters at Brooklyn to a .197 batting average over eight starts. The 23-year-old made a good impression in a spring start against most of the Atlanta Braves regulars and it will be fun to see how some of his offspeed pitches continue to develop as the season goes along.

While Hamel and Vasil highlight the rotation, Binghamton does have depth. Junior Santos completed more than 100 innings in a season for the first time last year with Brooklyn (116 2/3 innings), and Luis Moreno had nine outings last year in which he pitched into the sixth inning or better.

At Double-A, you should be looking for pitchers that can go deep into games and Reid Brignac’s squad has four pitchers that can easily provide that.

Brooklyn Cyclones

If you are looking to find an outfield with the most speed and athleticism in the organization, Coney Island is going to be the spot for you to start the 2023 season. Alex Ramirez (No. 4) is going to be the name that headlines this outfield.

The Mets’ top outfield prospect is back in Brooklyn this season, but the 20-year-old outfielder won’t be there for long if he continues to produce like he did a year ago. In 54 games with the Cyclones, Ramirez had a slash line of .278/.329/.427 with 17 doubles, 5 home runs, and 34 RBIs. The key for him this year is going to be to make better decisions on the basepaths since he was caught stealing seven times in 11 attempts a year ago and to cut down on his strikeouts (54).

In addition to Ramirez, Stanley Consuegra (No. 16) is back with the Cyclones this year. The 23-year-old was promoted to High-A last year on July 4 and had 13 doubles in 56 games (14 in 66 games with St. Lucie). Consuegra is known for being able to have high exit velocities whenever he makes contact, but like Ramirez, he was getting caught a good amount on the bases last year (12-for-22 on stolen base attempts).

If you are looking for speed, Omar De Los Santos is going to be one to watch. The 23-year-old was elusive for catchers in the Florida State League last year as he stole 70 bases in 85 attempts. He dramatically improved in 2022 with his ability to draw walks as he had 35 in 111 games (30 in his prior two professional seasons combined). When he makes contact, he can provide instant offense in any situation. Omar was named the Florida State League MVP last season.

St. Lucie Mets

Taking a look at the roster of the reigning Florida State League champions, the amount of promising young arms in the system is going to be fun to watch in the early stages of their development.

The headline name amongst St. Lucie pitchers is Layonel Ovalles (No. 18). The 19-year-old right-hander had 66 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings a year ago in Rookie Ball and Low-A combined. He did have 12 walks in five games with St. Lucie at the end of the year, but his velocity can hit up to 97 miles-per-hour and his slider is a fun offspeed pitch to watch.

Jordany Ventura (No. 28) was only able to make four starts last season due to a pectoral injury. However, the 22-year-old was able to make the most of his time in St. Lucie last year with 10 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings pitched. The key for him is going to be his changeup to keep hitters from just staying on the fastball.

Jawlime Ramirez (No. 23) is an interesting name to watch after his first professional season in the United States (0.78 ERA in 46 2/3 innings pitched) and left-hander Javier Atencio (No. 17) has good potential with his fastball-changeup combo as long as he limits the amount of free passes he gives up. Ramirez was the Florida Coast League Pitcher of the Year last season.

Another name to watch in the rotation is left-hander Felipe De La Cruz. The 21-year-old had 53 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings last season including nine in four innings with the St. Lucie Mets.

With the number of good pitching prospects in this system, one or two of these pitchers could move up team prospect rankings and become a player to watch come this time next year.

The post Mets’ Prospect Groups to Watch in 2023 first appeared on Metsmerized Online.