Mets, Twins, Yankees 2015 draftees to watch in 2016

These Appalachian League prospects got off to a hot start in their professional careers and could start climbing prospect ranking with a strong performance in 2016.

Over the next few weeks, I will highlight players from each of the Rookie-level minor leagues who got off to great starts in their professional careers. These players, all of whom were drafted in 2015, are heading into their first full professional season and they have the potential to appear on top prospect lists if they maintain their hot starts.

As you will see, many of these players weren’t high draft picks as most of them were drafted in the eighth round or later. High draft picks out of college tend to be pushed more aggressively through the lower levels of the minors—Dansby Swanson and Alex Bregman, for example—while high school draftees may start their careers a little more slowly—for example, Brendan Rodgers of the Rockies.

Today’s focus will be the Appalachian League, with the Pioneer, Gulf Coast and Arizona leagues to follow in the coming days.

Patrick Mazeika, Mets, Catcher, Eighth round
Throughout his career at Stetson University, Mazeika’s offensive numbers slowly got less impressive even though he finished with a career high seven home runs in 2015, his junior season. Once he got to professional ball, he rebounded quickly. He tied for the Appalachian League lead with 176 weighted runs created plus (wRC+) and slashed .354/.451/.540 with five home runs. Perhaps the most impressive statistic was his ability to put the ball in play, as he only struck out in 9.7 percent of his plate appearances and drew walks in 9.0. Mazeika’s biggest challenges in 2016 will be repeating that level of plate discipline and proving his .383 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) wasn’t a fluky stroke of good luck.

More from Call to the Pen

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

Kane Sweeney, Yankees, 1B, 29th round
Sweeney’s power came out in full force during his senior season at Morehead State. He hit a career-high 15 home runs and slashed .353/.482/.626. That power surge happened when his plate discipline reached its peak as well: he cut his strikeout rate in three consecutive seasons at Morehead State and improved his strikeout-to-walk rate from 1.85 as a freshman to 0.91 as a senior. His power translated to professional ball, but he did strike out more: He was third in the AL with a 174 wRC+ and hit .320/.482/.526 with six home runs but had a 24.6 K%. Like Mazeika, Sweeney got a significant jump in production from his .417 BABIP. Since that rate is probably unsustainable, he won’t experience the same success on batted balls, so Sweeney needs to continue to hit for power to move up the ladder.

LaMonte Wade, Twins, OF, Ninth round
Of the four prospects discussed in this post, Wade has the most well rounded game. He hit .302/.418/.486 and his 160 wRC+ was fourth in the league and he was tied for sixth in the league with nine home runs. He also stole 12 bases in 13 attempts. His impressive performance came after he blossomed during his junior season at Maryland when he hit .335/.453/.468 with four home runs and stole seven bases. Wade’s batted ball and plate discipline skills suggest his impressive performance is legit: His strikeout rate in three seasons as a Terrapin was 12.5 percent and his BABIP was .312—it was .366 in 2015, his junior season—and in the AL he walked more than he struck out—his 1.35 BB/K was third in the league—and had a .330 BABIP, a very sustainable rate.

Next: Royals' Fuentes blocked by Gordon signing

Kevin Kaczmarski, Mets, OF, Ninth Round
The second Met on the list, Kaczmarski won the AL batting title with a .355 average and was fifth in the league with a 157 wRC+. In his career at the University of Evansville, he hit .352/.431/.540 and posted a gaudy .406 BABIP with only a 14.9 K%. His skills translated to pro ball, where his .395 BABIP and 11.6 K% helped him to a .415 OBP. Even though Kaczmarski isn’t likely to experience the same fortune with balls in play in higher levels of the minors, he’s shown the ability to make contact and has a knack for making that contact count, so Mazeika’s BABIP concerns aren’t as prevalent with Kaczmarski.

All stats from MiLB.com, FanGraphs.com and The Baseball Cube.