The latest on Mets top prospects

September 21st, 2022

Welcome to the Mets prospect update, where you’ll find news, promotions and standout performances, all year long.

Mets top prospect: Rankings | Stats | Box scores

Mets win first FSL title since 2006 (Sept. 20)
The St. Lucie Mets needed an improbable home run to take Game 1 of the Florida State League Championship Series. In Game 2, they took full control of their destiny.

New York's Single-A affiliate took home a league title for the first time since 2006, defeating Dunedin, 6-3, at Clover Park to cap off a 4-0 playoff run. The Mets also swept the Blue Jays in the FSL Finals for the crown 16 years ago, during another undefeated run through the playoffs.

"I feel completely honored to be a part of this group," St. Lucie manager Robbie Robinson said. "With all the turnover that we've had and everything that we've accomplished over the year, we maintained a steady record. ... To have this Draft group come in and buy into the winning mentality and do their thing is a really special moment with everyone." Full story »

Ramirez produces multihit effort in playoffs (Sept. 13)
It was a day of threes for Alex Ramirez in his first postseason game.

The No. 4 Mets prospect was a run-producing machine when his team needed it the most as he went 3-for-5 with three runs in High-A Brooklyn’s 8-1 win over Aberdeen.

The 19-year-old reached base safely in four of his five plate appearances as he hit three singles and reached base on an error. Ramirez wound up crossing home in three of those instances.

The outfielder’s day helped the Cyclones beat the IronBirds in Game 1 of the South Atlantic League semifinals. The Dominican Republic native has continued what was a productive regular season, where he slashed .281/.346/.436. -- Edwin Perez

Parada drills first pro homer for St. Lucie (Sept. 11)
Kevin Parada snuck in his first home run as a pro right under the buzzer.

The No. 3 Mets prospect connected on his milestone long ball in the final game of Single-A St. Lucie's regular season, the only run in a 9-1 loss to Fort Myers. He nearly did it earlier in the game but settled for a double off the wall in left-center instead. Both balls registered exit velocities over 100 mph, per Statcast.

Parada, the 11th overall pick in July, belted 26 home runs at Georgia Tech earlier this year, a single-season school record. He played briefly in the Florida Coast League before joining St. Lucie, posting a .275/.455/.425 line in 40 at-bats over 13 games. Parada's season is set to continue with St. Lucie's upcoming Florida State League semifinal matchup against Palm Beach. -- Jacob Resnick

Kevin Parada ended his first pro season with his first home run for Single-A St. Lucie.Bryan Green/MiLB.com

Hamel starts off September dealing (Sept. 2)
Dominic Hamel started the month off on his “A” game.

The Mets' No. 12 prospect threw his fifth shutout outing, as he struck out nine while allowing three hits in seven scoreless innings of work in High-A Brooklyn's 1-0 loss to Wilmington.

The righty was dealing throughout his start, as he retired 21 of the 24 batters he faced. Hamel finished the night with 89 pitches -- 65 of them strikes -- in his start.

He lowered his ERA to 2.96 and brought his K tally to 137 in the 112 innings he has pitched this season. -- Edwin Perez

Álvarez snaps homer drought with 24th (Aug. 23)
We’ve seen this script before.

Francisco Álvarez goes through a rough stretch offensively -- as all players do -- before the light bulb turns on, as if he seemingly remembers he’s baseball’s top prospect.

Perhaps this was another one of those light bulbs. Homerless in his last 11 games, Álvarez blasted his career high-tying 24th of the season, singled in a pair of runs and walked twice in Triple-A Syracuse’s 9-8 win over Worcester.

“It was a good night for him,” Syracuse manager Kevin Boles said. “He’s working counts. I think he’s starting to be a little bit more patient, he was able to get into positive counts and I think that really paid a benefit to him.”

Álvarez drew a walk in the first inning and was driven in two batters later on a home run from Mark Vientos, the Mets’ No. 7 prospect and the reigning International League Player of the Week. Two innings later, Álvarez began making his case for this week’s award. Full story »

Vientos continues hot stretch with four hits (Aug. 21)
Whether he earns a promotion to the Majors in 2022 remains to be seen, but Mark Vientos continues to emphatically state his case.

The No. 7 Mets prospect extended his hitting streak to eight games with his first four-hit performance in more than five years for Triple-A Syracuse, which lost to Charlotte, 10-8. Vientos, who is slashing .404/.436/.654 while hitting safely in 11 of 12 games this month, collected his 15th double, singled three times and drove in a run.

The hot streak continues a sizzling summer for the 22-year-old, who batted .164 in April before finding his stride. Through 87 games with Syracuse, Vientos is slashing .289/.363/.545 with 38 extra-base hits, 22 home runs and a career-high 66 RBIs. -- Michael Avallone

Fourth-rounder Reimer knocks in 6 (Aug. 15)
The Mets selected Jacob Reimer in the fourth round out of the California prep ranks in the 2022 Draft because of the 18-year-old’s hitting ability. Early in his pro career, he’s already displaying that tool.

Reimer had a huge day in the Florida Complex League, going 2-for-5 with 6 RBIs in the FCL Mets’ 12-2 win over the Marlins. Reimer cranked a three-run homer, and an RBI triple in the rout, also driving in runs with a groundout and a walk. He also scored thrice in what was only Reimer’s second professional game. -- Joe Trezza

First-rounder Williams collects 3 steals in FCL (Aug. 11)
Only a few games into his professional career, Jett Williams is already tearing up the basepaths. The No. 14 overall pick of the ‘22 Draft stole three bases, tallied two hits and recorded the game’s only RBI for the Florida Complex League Mets in their seven-inning 1-0 win.

Batting second, the shortstop reached base on a throwing error in the first frame and made the opposing team pay with steals of second and third. He singled to center in his next at-bat and followed it up with an RBI knock to left and a stolen base in the fifth. 

In his first three games in the FCL, the 18-year-old has already stolen four bags while collecting three hits, three RBIs and two walks in 12 plate appearances. -- Stephanie Sheehan

Baty collects first Triple-A hit, RBI (Aug. 10)
In his second game with Triple-A Syracuse, New York’s No. 2 prospect Brett Baty notched his first hit and RBI at the Minors’ highest level in the Mets’ 10-3 loss to Buffalo.

The 22-year-old went 0-for-4 in his Triple-A debut, but quickly bounced back. He reached base three times by way of a walk and two singles. The lefty slugger started his night with a five-pitch walk before rattling off two singles in his final two at-bats. His first base knock was a rocket up the middle to load the bases, and the second was mere feet from leaving the yard in left field, but Baty settled for a long single to drive in teammate Mark Vientos for his first Triple-A RBI. 

MLB’s No. 18 prospect was one of the hottest hitters in the Minors before his promotion, finishing his time in Double-A with a .302 average, .950 OPS, 19 homers, 22 doubles and 59 RBIs in 89 games with the Rumble Ponies. -- Stephanie Sheehan

Baty promoted to Triple-A Syracuse (Aug. 8)
Brett Baty has been playing as though he needs a new challenge, and it appears he's getting one. The 22-year-old third baseman/outfielder is being promoted from Double-A Binghamton to Triple-A Syracuse.

The Mets' No. 2 prospect (and MLB's No. 18) batted .312/.406/.544 over 89 games for the Rumble Ponies and had been especially hot since the beginning of June, whacking 16 homers since the start of that month. He hit his 19th dinger of the season on Sunday, putting together his third multihit performance in his past four games.

With Syracuse, he'll join baseball's No. 1 prospect in Francisco Álvarez. José Butto, the Mets' No. 12 prospect, is also getting the bump from Binghamton to Syracuse. -- Josh Jackson

Red-hot Baty homers for sixth time in 10 games (Aug. 7)
By all accounts, Brett Baty is enjoying his time with Double-A Binghamton, but trading upstate New York zip codes looks likelier with each passing day.

Baseball's No. 18 overall prospect slugged his 19th homer and drove in three runs during his third multihit effort in four games in the Rumble Ponies' 8-6 loss to Somerset. Baty added a pair of walks as he continues a torrid stretch that dates back to June 1. The 22-year-old has gone deep 16 times in that span, including six in his past 10 games.

With top overall prospect Francisco Álvarez already with Triple-A Syracuse, Baty is making his own push. The Texas native improved his slash line to .312/.406/.544 with 41 extra-base hits and 59 RBIs in 89 games.

No. 49 prospect Ronny Mauricio ripped a three-run homer, his 21st of the season, which is a new career high. -- Michael Avallone