213 Miles From Shea

Each year at 213 we look through the Non-Roster Invitees to spring training and get to know them a bit. Are they in camp to get a look at big league hitting/pitching to aid their development? Are the Mets just trying to get a better look at a future rookie? Are they a veteran trying to get back to the major league level? What can we expect from them this season?

Jose Peraza is the top infielder on the Non-Roster Invitee list with a chance of making the team this year. Peraza was signed by the Braves in 2010 and was part of a three team trade at the deadline in 2015 between the Braves, Dodgers and the Marlins. In that trade Peraza ended up going to the Dodgers with Bronson Arroyo, Luis Avilan, Jim Johnson and Alex Wood. In total 13 players in this trade. He would soon after make his debut with the Dodgers.

He was then involved with another 3-team trade in December of 2015! Peraza was traded to the Reds with a couple of other players. The White Sox were also involved. Mets “legend” Todd Frazier went from the Reds to the White Sox. Anyway he spends a while with the Reds until he becomes a free agent at the end of 2019 when he signed with the Red Sox and then with the Mets in 2020.

Anyway, Peraza is is a career .270/.310/.372/.681 career hitter. He struggled last year with the Red Sox, hitting .225/.275/.342/.617 in only 120 PA’s. He has also hit above a .740 OPS in 2016 and 2018. 2016 was his best season by far where he hit .324/.352/.411/.762. Peraza is also only 27.

I think the pitcher version of Jose Peraza is Arodys Vizcaino or Tommy Hunter. Like both of these pitchers, Peraza has had success in the majors before. I would be more worried about him on the Mets if he was slated for a starting role, or a utility role. But that’s not the 2021 Mets. He’s fighting for a spot and if there’s a injury to a bench player he may slot in well. He’s going to get an extended look this off-season. I’m curious to see how his contract is structured to see if he can opt out if he doesn’t make the team or if he will request to be released so he can sign a major league deal with another team if he has a strong spring.

Recapping Yesterday:
It’s the second week of spring training! Yesterday we started to see the hallmark of the second week: starting pitchers getting three innings of work in and bullpen pitchers making their second appearance. There’s now a third calling card of the second week – baseball games lasting all 9 innings.

Stroman had a bumpy start in the first inning yesterday, allowing 2 runs, but then settled down after than pitched two more innings of scoreless baseball. After the game he commented that his fastball usually takes longer to get to 93-94 mph than it has this season and that it’s a good sign. He was followed by Loup and Blevins who each allowed a run, Barnes who bounced back and didn’t allow any runs. The side-armer, Hildenberger struck out the side and Nogosek had an amazing line of allowing 3 walks but striking out the side. Zamora, also battling for a bullpen spot, allowed a hit and nothing else. So a good day on the mound for the Mets.

On the other side, Alonso continued his hot spring picking up another hit, increasing his OPS to 1.135. Pillar increased his spring OPS to 1.825 with a double (also had some real questionable defense in the game) and Villar absolutely destroyed a baseball on a 3 run homer.

What We Are Looking For Today:
Jordan Yamamota will make his second spring start as he continues to compete for the last rotation spot (both David Peterson and Joey Lucchesi did well their first time around last week). Jordan looked great last week, scattering two hits and recording a strikeout in one inning of work.

After Yamamota we’ll get to see highly touted Mets prospect Matt Allan get some work in! Followed by Betances who is looking to rebound from his first spring training game.

On the other side we’ll get to see a good amount of regulars in the lineup, despite it being a road game (without split squads this year, it’s going to be the norm). The Mets will open up with Nimmo/Lindor/Conforto/Smith which on days when Alonso doesn’t play could easily be the top 4 in the lineup. Nimmo is off to a hot start this spring and Smith is coming off a game where he hit a homer. Mets prospect Brett Baty is the starting DH and hopefully get at least 2 PA’s.

Each year at 213 we look through the Non-Roster Invitees to spring training and get to know them a bit. Are they in camp to get a look at big league hitting/pitching to aid their development? Are the Mets just trying to get a better look at a future rookie? Are they a veteran trying to get back to the major league level? What can we expect from them this season?

Every few days we get to cover a top prospect in this series and today we cover the top top prospect in the Mets System – Ronny Mauricio! The Mets signed the 19 year old in 2017 and he was instantly considered a prospect with the highest potential in the Mets system. MLB.com has Ronny listed as the Mets top prospect and gives him the following grades:

• Hit 50
• Power 60
• Run 40
• Arm 60
• Field 55
• Overall 55

Ronny’s age with his performance has been impressive. In 2018 he played in the Gulfcoast League and for the Kingsport Mets, he was 2.8 years and 3.3 years younger than the average player in those leagues respectively and hit .273/.304/.410/.713. The following year he played for the Fireflies, 3.5 years younger than average, and hit .268/.307/.357/.665.

This spring we are looking to see where the Mets play Mauricio. For a good portion of the winter, there were rumors that the Mets would trade Mauricio for a third basemen/starter because of the expectation is that Lindor will be signed to a long term extension (this article was written on 2/20 and I’m hoping that Lindor has signed a massive extension by the time this posts).

But the Mets don’t have a third basemen and maybe Mauricio can be a third basemen. I’m sure a lot of eyeballs will be on the Mets in spring training games when he plays the hot corner and then in the minors this year to see where the Mets are giving their top prospect reps.

Each year at 213 we look through the Non-Roster Invitees to spring training and get to know them a bit. Are they in camp to get a look at big league hitting/pitching to aid their development? Are the Mets just trying to get a better look at a future rookie? Are they a veteran trying to get back to the major league level? What can we expect from them this season?

Jake Hager joins many players (Oscar De La Cruz, Jared Robinson, David Rodriguez, etc) that the Mets have signed this year who haven’t made the majors yet with their original clubs. We’ve repeated this too much throughout this article series – the Mets had no upper minors depth at all. The Mets needed to do a lot to create that depth.

Hager was a first round pick by the Rays back in 2011. He stayed with the Rays through the 2017 season and then signed with the Brewers. Over his career in the minors he has hit .259/.312/.376. Ultimately his stats show a stark difference between AA and AAA. In Double A he hit .270/.323/.406/.728 and in Triple A .237/.286/.361/.647.

So the question is – what can he do this spring? How does he perform in Syracuse? The Mets top tier infield prospects are still a while away from making the majors. If there are any injuries on the team, Hager could be on the short list for players to be added to the 40 man roster to play for a week before being DFA’d. There are a few players that are in a similar pool (Brandon Drury, Jose Peraza). Let’s see what he can do this spring!

Recapping Yesterday:
The Mets return to TV today. Somehow yesterday’s game wasn’t on TV! The Astros TV crew has not arrived to camp yet, so none of their home games are being broadcasted. The only way to follow yesterday’s game was through the radio booth. I’ve now listened to the Marlins, Cardinals and Astros booths this spring and somehow the Marlins have been the best. The Cardinals were shockingly awful. Astros yesterday were very middle of the road. I guess we all can’t be the Mets.

Anyway. Yesterday was deGrom day even if we couldn’t see it. Jacob deGrom had an easy outing, allowing a hit and a walk over 2.0 innings while striking out 3 and lighting up the radar gun. He was followed by Edwin Diaz who had a 7 pitch inning with a strikeout – very easy! Miguel Castro came in after and allowed a walk but nothing else. To round out the day, Tommy Hunter worked around a hit in his Mets debut and and Montgomery’s outing got cut short due tot he rain

On the other side of the ball, Alosno continued his hot spring spring smoking two doubles and picking an RBI. Dominic Smith showed us why he is on the MLB’s Top 100 with a homer and Pete Crow-Armstrong had his first professional hit with a triple. A good day work for the Mets!

Today’s Game:
Marcus Stroman will make his second start in Spring and his first against an NL East team. He looked great his first time out, showing a lot of movement on his pitches as he pitched two perfect innings (with two strikeouts) against the Astros. Stroman will then be followed by several bullpen pitchers working in their second game this spring.

Last time out, Loup allowed a hit and recorded a strikeout in one inning of work. Jeurys Familia will also make his second appearance this spring (both Loup and Familia pitched last Thursday). Familia allowed two walks but didn’t allow anyone to score in his inning of work. Jerry Blevins is schedule and last saw game time on Tuesday against the Astros where he allowed a hit, walk and struck out a batter in one inning. Jacob Barnes will look to bounce back from his Wednesday appearance where he allowed 3 runs off 3 hits and 2 walks in an inning of work. Finally, Daniel Zamora rounds out the expected pitchers list and he has pitched since the Mets spring Opener last Monday, also against the Marlins, where he allowed one hit while striking out 1 in one inning.

We are getting to that time where we are seeing pitchers again! Let’s Go Mets!

Each year at 213 we look through the Non-Roster Invitees to spring training and get to know them a bit. Are they in camp to get a look at big league hitting/pitching to aid their development? Are the Mets just trying to get a better look at a future rookie? Are they a veteran trying to get back to the major league level? What can we expect from them this season?

Brandon Drury was a January depth signing for the Mets who spent a good portion of this off-season trying to rebuild out depth. Drury was drafted by the Braves in 2010 and was traded with Nick Ahmed, Martin Prado and others for to the Diamondbacks in January 2013 for Chris Johnson and Justin Upton. Drury would make his major league debut with the Diamondbacks in 2015. In 2018 he was part of a three team trade between the Diamondbacks, Yankees and Rays (he ended up with the Yankees). He was traded again (lots of trades!) in a deadline deal to the Blue Jays for J.A. Happ.

So from that part alone – Brandon has dealt with New York before, has dealt a lot with being dealt and just change in general.

Over his career he has hit .248/.296/.411 with his best season being in 2016 and his worst season in 2020. At his best he hit .282/.329/.438 over 461 PA’s. At his worst he hit .152/.184/.174 in 49 PA’s. His career stats are skewed to his time in Arizona where he was much more successful and got over 480 PA’s in back to back seasons. Since then he’s struggled.

The Mets have a crowded infield already, made confusing by their lack of a true centerfielder that has infielders finding playing time in the outfield. A good spring and Drury could find himself a lot higher up on the depth chart. Its difficult to see outside an injury how he finds significant playing time on the Mets. That being said – he has a ton of major league experience and is a smart signing for a team looking to stretch out their depth. I’m expecting him to be in camp until the end of Spring.

Recapping Thursday:
The Mets last played on Thursday (only in Spring Training/Opening Weekend are off-days scheduled for Friday) and beat the Nationals 8-4, dropping the Nationals to a meaningless 0-3 record. Big days for a few starters on the Mets – Brandon Nimmo opened the game with a leadoff homer and Pete Alonso hit a grand slam.

On the mound, David Peterson allowed one hit in 2.0 innings in his first outing. Peterson is competing for the 5th rotation spot and probably has the inside track for now. Familia walked a couple but got out of it. Loup and May, two bullpen signings in the off-season had great days too. Betances though – not so much. He allowed 2 hits and walked 2 which led to 4 runs. Overall, a good day for the Mets!

On Tap For Today:
If you woke up today expecting the Mets to play the rare Spring Training night game – you were mistaken! Due to weather the game has been moved up which means we get to celebrate Jacob deGrom earlier in the day! Jacob is coming off of another amazing season where he finished third in Cy-Young Voting. He led the league in strikeouts with 104 (second straight year leading in K’s) and led in K/9 at 13.8. He posted a 2.38 ERA, 2.26 FIP, 0.956 WHIP and 178 ERA+, all better than his previous year.

There’s a lot to look for after deGrom too! Miguel Castro is scheduled. Last year he ranked in the 100th percentile for fastball speed, 65th percentile for fastball spin and 77th percentile for whiff percentage. He’ll be followed by Edwin Diaz who was in the 99 percentile or higher in K%, Whiff%, Fastball Velocity, and xSLG last season.

Towards the end of the afternoon, we’ll look at more pitchers trying out for the last rotation spot with Tommy Hunter, Joey Lucchesi and Mike Montgomery.

Each year at 213 we look through the Non-Roster Invitees to spring training and get to know them a bit. Are they in camp to get a look at big league hitting/pitching to aid their development? Are the Mets just trying to get a better look at a future rookie? Are they a veteran trying to get back to the major league level? What can we expect from them this season?

Some of these non-roster invitee articles are more fun to write than others and this is one of the more fun ones – Brett Baty! Baty was the first pick by the Mets in the 2019 draft and was not traded away by the BVW general manager era of the Mets – thus the corner infielder is still with us and is also usually considered around the third top prospect in the Mets system currently.

His presence in camp, like Matt Allan, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Francisco Alvarez, Ronny Mauricio, etc, is to get a glimpse at the future of the Mets beyond 2021. There are very few scenarios that have Baty making the team at any point in 2021. He is also part of that group of players that make you go “ooooh” when looking at a lineup card for an early in the season spring training game. Here’s a link to MLB.com’s profile on him and his grades are below:

• Hit: 50
• Run: 45
• Power: 60
• Arm: 60
• Field: 50
• Overall 55

MLB.com’s profile has one of my favorite Baty stats – in his senior year of high school he batted .615! In 2019 he actually playe across three different levels because of his hitting ability. Starting off in the Gulf Coast League, he hit .350/.480/.650 and was out of there after 5 games. He then spent the majority of his season in Kingsport where he hit .222/.339/.437 over 186 PA’s before a stint In Brooklyn where he hit .200/.500/.300 (an odd batting line that can only make sense when there are 10 AB’s and 6 BB’s).

We were denied a year of Baty stats last year and I’m so excited to see what he does this spring and what he does the rest of the season.

Each year at 213 we look through the Non-Roster Invitees to spring training and get to know them a bit. Are they in camp to get a look at big league hitting/pitching to aid their development? Are the Mets just trying to get a better look at a future rookie? Are they a veteran trying to get back to the major league level? What can we expect from them this season?

David Rodriguez was a free agent signing last off-season to help fill out Mets catching depth. He was slated to go to Syracuse and then you know – the pandemic happened – and we missed out of a whole year of Rodriguez playing games in the Mets system. He made his minor league debut with the Rays all the way back in 2013 as a 17 year old and his stats have always been a bit interesting.

He has been a much better hitter in International Leagues. Across 7 years in the minors he has a .250/.322/.369 line (and that includes one year of minor league ball in the Venezuelan Summer League where he hit .329/.409/.540). As an international player in winter leagues he has hit .363/.430/.546. Including this past winter in the Venezuelan Winter League where he hit .383/.481/.579 in 160 PA’s followed by a .333/.429/.500 stint in the Caribbean Series.

After the Ali Sanchez trade the Mets have Patrick Mazeika, followed by Bruce Maxell and David Rodriguez as catching depth. Essentially the Mets are hoping that if needed, one of them can be similar to Tomas Nido. Mazeika’s advantage is that he is already on the 40-man roster and has been in the Mets system for years. Maxwell’s advantage is that he has had time in the majors. Rodriguez is the wild card. Despite not hitting well in the minors he has hit well in the winter. After a year where no one hit in the minors – where does that leave him? He’ll probably get an extended look this year at camp.

Recapping Yesterday:
The Mets played their second road Spring Training game of the season yesterday and it went as well as you would expect it to with a minor league pitching staff going up against a major league roster. The Mets lost in a high scoring game 14-9, a boon to all of the hitters that traveled with the Mets.

It was also the first time the Mets got an extended taste of the new spring training rules for pitchers. After a pitcher throws 20 pitches, if they haven’t recorded 3 outs they can be removed from the game. A pitcher who has been removed from the game can go back in the game later. Since these games don’t mean anything in the standings – this is great. I’m all for player health in spring.

Anyway, just a few notes from yesterday. New Met Pillar had a good day at the plate going 2-2 with a triple and a double. J.D. Davis went 2-3. Mets top prospect, Brett Baty got an AB as a pinch hitter late int he game and he smacked a double and plated two runs.

What We are Looking For Today:
David Peterson will make his spring debut today! A couple of weeks ago, Peterson was a lock for the rotation (at least until Syndgergaard returns from injury). With the Walker signing, David Peterson is competing for the last spot in the rotation. Peterson is coming off of a strong rookie season where he pitched 49.2 innings over 10 games/9 starts with a 3.44 ERA, 4.52 FIP, 1.208 WHIP and a 123 ERA+.

Then we get a look at the Mets bullpen! Jeurys Familia, Dellin Betances and Travor May are all scheduled to pitch. How Familia and Betances bounce back will determine how good the Mets bullpen in. If they take a step towards their stronger seasons, then the Mets will have a deep, deep pen. May was an early signing by the Mets this year and added punch to the bullpen. He’s also quickly became a fan favorite (and a personal favorite), citing a local sandwich as a deal sealer.

Let’s Go Mets!