213 Miles From Shea

Things that are required for every major league spring training camp: optimism, managers claiming players are in the best shapes of their lives, and veteran catchers on minor league deals.

Michael Pérez’s contract was purchased by the Mets from the Pirates at the end of July last year and the Mets have re-signed the veteran catcher for the upcoming season.

Pérez made a surprising splash back in 2018 when he made his major league debut slashing .284/.304/.392 over 24 games. Over his five year career he has been a .174/.244/.301 hitter. Pérez even saw some action with the Mets last season, getting 16 plate appearances over six games (.143/.250/.143, 18 OPS+). His Baseball Savant page supports his hitting line. He was in the 20th percentile for max exit velocity and the 4th percentile for sprint speed. He also didn’t wow behind the plate either last year, ending in the 15th percentile for framing.

None of that is really the point for Pérez. He’s the emergency catcher in case something goes wrong. Last year the Mets had McCann and Nido splitting catching duty with Mazeika as the emergency catcher. At one point the Mets needed to call up Pérez before Álvarez was ready to make his major league debut.

Álvarez is much closer to being ready this year. In front of him is Nido and Narváez. So essentially right now Pérez is still around the same place on the depth chart, but the overall group of catchers in front of Pérez is stronger than the group last season.

Pérez will also be competing this spring with Nick Meyer and Hayden Senger, both are non-roster invitees to spring training for the second year in a row. Essentially Pérez is this year’s Patrick Mazeika and Pérez is a good example of how the whole roster feels stronger than it has in years past.

The Mets first round pick from last year’s draft made some noise in the minors last year and earned an invite to major league camp this spring.

Kevin has spent the off-season being celebrated on overall in baseball top prospect lists across the league:

• #50 Baseball America
• #64 Baseball Prospectus
• #103 Fan Graphs
• #36 MLB.com

Parada is currently the #3 Mets prospect in the system according to MLB.com with an estimated major league debut around 2025. The 21-year old was drafted out of Georgia Tech with the 11th overall pick and has been projected as top catching prospect since he graduated high school. He was a hitting machine in college slashing .341/.420/.636.

Parada only played in a few games last season, getting 55 plate appearances, but during that time he impressed with a .275/.455/.425 line. As he spends more time in the minors, the power will come (he was a little over a year younger than the average player in St. Lucie last season). His real strength though is his ability to get on base.

Parada is still far away from the major leagues. With Francisco Álvarez in the wings there is also no need to rush Parada through the system. In addition to Álvarez, the Mets have two major league starting catchers already in Nido and Narváez. Michael Perez is also in Mets camp as the veteran back up catcher. This is all to say Parada is on his own time clock and spring this year is an opportunity for Parada to build skills with the major leaguers and get some reps in against higher quality opponents.

Top prospects in Mets camp are always fun. We looking forward to seeing Parada play in some games and see this hitting machine in action!

The Mets head into spring this year with three catchers on their 40-man roster and four catchers in camp with invitations to major league camp. The Mets traded away James McCann in the off-season and signed Omar Narváez to split the starting role with Tomás Nido while top prospect Francisco Álvarez gets more time in minors. Meanwhile Kevin Parada has just shot up the Mets prospects rankings. Further the Mets signed veteran catcher Michael Perez to a minor league deal as a possible depth option.

This is all to say that things have gotten even more complicated for Nick Meyer since last year when he was invited to major league camp. It was difficult to see then where fit overall then and now the Mets have even more depth at catcher.

Meyer was drafted in the 6th round back in 2018 out of California Polytechnic State University where he also played on the USA collegiate National team. He rose up quickly in the Mets system, going from Brooklyn in 2018 to Syracuse in 2021. He even went the extra mile to play in the City of Champions cup in 2020 when minor league baseball was shut down due to Covid19.

Last season he was the Mets 27th prospect according to MLB.com where they were high on his defense over his hitting. He has been getting better at the plate though. In 2021 between Binghamton and Syracuse he slashed .251/.337/.324 over 257 PAs. Last year between the same two leagues he slashed .233/.355/.353 over 302 PAs.

Here’s the advantage Nick Meyer brings to the table: he’s been in the Mets system for a while. He has experience catching pitchers who have been around him in the minors and in Mets camp the last two springs. Meyer will be competing with Hayden Senger who is in similar situation and veteran Michael Perez for depth chart positioning. As of right now it feels like Meyer and Senger are just below Perez who is behind the three catchers on the Mets 40-man roster.

On December 1st the Mets signed the pride of Elizabeth, New Jersey – Jimmy Yacabonis. The Christian Brother Academy and St. Joseph University alum was drafted by the Orioles in the 13th round back in 2013.

He made his major league debut with the Orioles back in 2017 and pitched in 55 games for the birds over the next three seasons. Since then he bounced around the Padres, Mariners, Rays and Marlins. Last season he pitched for both Florida based teams totaling 14 innings over 14 games with an 8.36 ERA, 6.40 FIP, 2.143 WHIP and a 49 ERA+. He was much more effective in the minors last season pitching 33 2/3 innings over 27 games with a 3.21 ERA and a 1.188 WHIP.

This has pretty much been Jimmy’s story over the last nine seasons. His minor league stats are pretty good. He has a career 3.25 ERA in 443 innings of work over 285 games. In the majors he has a 6.03 career ERA over 118 innings.

According to his Baseball Savant page, Jimmy threw three different pitches in the majors last season – a fastball, slider and changeup. His fastball averaged at 94 mph and he threw it almost 60% of the time (53rd percentile for velocity, 49th for spin). He tossed his low-80’s slider 37% of the time. Jimmy’s high-80’s changeup barely made a major league appearance last season.

There are a lot of pitchers ahead of Jimmy on the depth chart. Unless he has a tremendous spring, he’s most likely going to start the season in Syracuse. It’s going to take either a strong start in Syracuse, other pitchers on the 40-man roster struggling or some surprise injuries for Jimmy to come up to the majors. There is a consistent need for fresh arms during the season – between small injuries, or players being used too much, there’s a constant rotation in the back of the bullpen. There is a strong chance that at some point this season we’ll see Jimmy. The Mets are coming to camp this year with a lot of bullpen depth and Jimmy is part of that.

On a personal note, as a teacher for the last 12 years in Newark, I love when the Mets sign players from Essex/Union/Hudson county area. Usually my students are Yankees fans but we had fun talking about Newark-born Hector Santiago a few years ago when he was on the Mets. Jimmy Yacabonis will definitely end up as a star of a few physics problems in class if he makes the roster at any point this season.

In mid-November the Mets claimed William Woods off waivers from the Atlanta Braves. The 24-year old from Tennessee finally made the majors last year where he pitched in two games in late April / early May. Before the start of last season, the Braves were so worried that Woods be selected in the Rule V draft that they added him to the 40-man roster. In the process of creating roster space at the end of the season the Mets were able to swoop in and pick him up.

In his brief time in the majors, Woods allowed no runs over two innings from two hits and a walk while striking out two. He showed his mid-90’s fastball with an average 2391 RPM and his mid-80’s slider with a 2504 RPM (Baseball Savant). He spent most of the season though bouncing around different levels of minor league ball while recovering from injuries. When he was on the field in the minors he had a 6.04 ERA and 1.342 WHIP over 24 games and 25 1/3 innings. The most significant injury he had was an ankle injury that sidelined him from May to July.

Braves websites have written about Woods in the past and their thoughts about his future role has shifted over the years. Before the 2022 season he was seen more as a starter leading with a powerful fastball. At the end of last season he was seen more as a reliever (with the same tool set). Ultimately, he needs to develop secondary pitches to stay in the majors.

William Woods is worth the look the Mets are going to give him this spring. The Mets always need flamethrowers in the bullpen and it is unpredictable when a player can find lightning in a bottle and put all their talents together. Woods has a lot of competition ahead of him. He’s not on the 40-man roster, he’s a righty, etc. Like everyone else we have looked at in this series, a strong spring can change everything.

Josh Walker is the third lefty reliever we are profiling in this year’s Non-Roster Invitee series. He’s one year older than Zach Muckenhirn and about five years younger than T.J. McFarland. Walker was drafted by the Mets in the 37th round back in 2017 out of the University of New Haven. He has a low 90’s fastball, upper 70’s curveball and a changeup.

The 28-year old also received a non-roster invitation to camp last season as well. In 2021 Walker was mainly used as a starter where he had a 3.73 ERA and a 1.020 WHIP over three different levels of minor league baseball. If he was going to make the major league squad last year – it was going to be as a reliever. He picked up an injury in spring though that kept him out of most of the season. Over the 13 games he did play, he tossed 22 innings with a 4.91 ERA and a 1.455 WHIP. He got most of his work in Syracuse where he allowed 12 runs from 18 hits in 14 1/3 innings.

Then Walker went to the Arizona Fall League where he had a lot more success. He allowed four runs, three earned over 9 1/3 innings in eight games while striking out 14 batters (2.89 ERA, 1.393 WHIP).

Walker, like Muckenhirn and McFarland, will be battling it out to be the fourth lefty on the Mets (Lucchesi, Peterson, Raley). It is unlikely that he breaks camp with the Mets. That being said, if anything happens to the Mets lefty arms this season Walker is on the short list to make a short stint in the majors.

Denyi Reyes is a right handed pitcher trying to get to Queens with the Mets this spring. Reyes was signed by the Red Sox in 2015 but never made the majors with them. He was signed by the Orioles before the 2022 and got into three games between the end of May and the start of June tossing 7 2/3 innings with a 2.35 ERA, 2.72 FIP, 1.174 WHIP and a 179 ERA+.

Denyi Reyes stats in the minors don’t tell the full story of his effectiveness. He had a lousy 7.17 ERA over 15 games (10 starts) and 54 innings of work with 1.519 WHIP. His walk rate though was a paltry 3.3%. That coupled with the success he had in his brief major league season last year gives hope that there is something here.

Denyi Reyes has four pitches. He leans on his fastball the most (average 93 mph) and mixes in a low-80’s sliders, mid-80’s changeup and a mid-70’s curveball. Over his three games in the majors last year his fastball velocity was in the 39th percentile, spin the 21st and extension in the 94th.

Over his career in the minor leagues (seven seasons), Reyes has posted a 3.29 ERA and 1.088 WHIP in almost 600 innings of work. At the very least, he should be better in Syracuse than he was in Norfolk last season.

Due to his ability to pitch both in relief and start games, there’s a high chance we’ll see him at some point this season if he gets onto the Mets 40-man roster. The Mets are still rebuilding minor league spot starting options for when they need one turn in the rotation. While this season’s major league club is built different, we’ve seen the Mets go from full rotations to rotations with one or two healthy pitchers the last two seasons. It’s always good to have options which is what Denyi Reyes brings to the table.

For a second straight season Eric Orze gets an invite to major league camp for the Mets. Eric Orze was one of the six players the Mets drafted back in 2020. They traded away their first pick, Pete Crow-Armstrong for Javier Baez. They traded J.T. Ginn for Chris Bassitt. They traded away Isaiah Green in the package for Francisco Lindor. Matthew Dyer was traded for Rich Hill. Anthony Walters was released.

So the last man standing from the 2020 draft is Eric Orze.

Eric was mostly used in Syracuse last year. overall he pitched in 34 games totaling 50 1/3 innings with a 4.83 ERA and a 1.152 WHIP. While in Syracuse he was three years younger than the average player in the league. This was building off of his previous year where he posted a 3.08 ERA over 49 2/3 innings. That year he dominated in Syracuse with a 2.19 ERA and 1.135 WHIP while being four years younger than the average player.

Orze is also a double cancer survivor. When he was in college he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. A couple of years later he was diagnosed with skin cancer. I highly recommend reading Dicomo’s article as it chronicles Orze’s tough and amazing journey.

Right now Orze is listed as the Mets 29th best prospect by staff at Metsmerized and the 19th best prospect by MLB Pipeline. According to MLB Pipeline, Orze’s pitch to watch is his low-80’s splitter.

While I don’t think Orze will make the team out of spring this year (unless he completely forces the issue), I do think we’ll see him at some point this year. He has shown the ability in his two years in the minors to throw multiple innings in the same game, a definite need for the Mets depending on game script.

The Mets signed Zach Muckenhirn to a minor league deal back at the end of November. The 27 (soon to be 28)-year old is looking to break through on to the 40 man roster as a lefty reliever. In addition to competing with the players already on the Mets roster, he is competing against other NRI’s like T.J. McFarland to be that lefty specialist.

Muckenhirn was drafted by the Orioles in the 11th round back in 2016 out of the University of North Dakota. In his last year with the Orioles in 2019, he showed success in AA ball (3.21 ERA, 37 games, 53 1/3 innings) but faltered in his brief time in AAA ball allowing seven runs over 3 2/3 innings. Then Covid19 happened and minor league baseball stopped. He bounced over to Puerto Rico where he had success in small samples. Over 11 outings (12 1/3) innings in 2020 he had a 0.73 ERA.

This was enough to get picked up by the White Sox in 2021 where he impressed with a 1.77 ERA over 40 2/3 innings. He continued that success into the winter where he played in another 9 games allowing no runs.

Muckenhirn continued to have success last year in AAA ball with the White Sox with a 3.11 ERA and 1.345 WHIP over 47 games and 55 innings.

Right now, Muckenhirn is on the outside looking in. He’s fighting for a roster spot and doesn’t have any major league experience yet. The last couple of seasons though, between playing in Puerto Rico and States, he has shown flashes of success. It’s all about getting hot at the end of the Spring. Muckenhirn can make some noise and force the issue. Ultimately, the Mets will be looking at how he does against major league level players for a later in the season callup.

If Muckenhirn has a spring similar to what he did in Charlotte last season, and starts off in Syracuse the same way, it feels more than likely he’ll see some playing time in Queens this year.

Baseball teams are always taking flyers on different arms before the start of the season. One thing the Mets have been good for the last several seasons is taking a flyer on a lefty reliever. T.J. McFarland is that lefty reliever for the Mets this season.

McFarland was drafted in round four by the Cleveland Guardians back in 2007. The Orioles then drafted McFarland a five years later in 2012 during the Rule V draft. He had his most consistent playing time with the Orioles, pitching 198 1/3 innings over 121 games from 2013 to 2017. Over that stretch he posted a 4.27 ERA, 4.03 FIP, 1.548 WHIP and a 96 ERA+.

After he got released from the Orioles, he bounced around a bunch of organizations. He played with the Diamondbacks for three seasons, this included his best season in the majors. In 2018 he pitched 72 innings over 47 games with a 2.00 ERA, 1.194 WHIP, 3.63 FIP and a 211 ERA+. Then the Athletics, the Nationals (never played in a major league game) and finally the Cardinals for the 2021 and 2022 season.

Last season he pitched 32 2/3 innings with the Cardinals over 28 games with a 6.61 ERA, 5.32 FIP, 1.622 WHIP and a 58 ERA+. For comparison, his career numbers are a 4.13 ERA, 4.20 FIP, 1.463 WHIP and a 102 ERA+. This regression is even more stark when considering one season before, in 2021, he tossed 38 2/3 innings over 38 games with a 2.56 ERA, 3.79 FIP, 1.060 WHIP and a 154 ERA+.

His 2022 numbers make more sense when you dive into his Baseball Savant page. His fastball velocity was in the 5th percentile, spin in the 2nd percentile and extension in the 3rd percentile. Last season his fastball averaged at 89 mph, changeup at 82 and he mixed in a slider 15% of the time with an average velocity of 80 mph.

Twice in McFarland’s career he has surprised with tremendous seasons. A strong spring can rocket him up the depth charts and he could be a surprise lefty for the Mets. Right now, this seems unlikely. There’s no risk in taking a look though!