10. Tomas Nido, C
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 4/12/1994 (23)
2017 teams/levels played for: AA Binghamton Mets, MLB New York Mets
2017 Stats: Minors: .232/.287/.354, 404 PA, 8 HR, 30/63 BB/K; Majors: .300/.300/.400, 10 PA, 0/2 BB/K
Info: Nido was drafted in the 8th round in 2012 out of high school after transferring to Florida high school from Puerto Rico during high school. He has worked his way up the New York Mets system slowly, showing excellent skill development.
(Nido) has worked his way up the New York Mets system slowly, showing excellent skill development
Defensively, Nido is above-average across the board with a good chance to at least be a quality backup. He has a plus arm and great reactions that he uses to control the run game. Nido also rates very highly in pitch framing metrics.
With the stick, Nido is a question mark. He has certain above-average power. However, he tends to approach each plate appearance to make contact, and puts way too many balls on the ground. If he could get his swing lofted, he very well could hit 30+ home runs.
Nido will be in AAA to open 2018 and could push aside what has been a fairly ineffective catching position for the New York Mets.
9. Chris Flexen, RHP
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 7/1/1994 (23)
2017 teams/levels played for: high-A St. Lucie Mets, AA Binghamton Mets, MLB New York Mets
2017 Stats: Minors: 10 GS, 61 1/3 IP, 1.76 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 4.3% BB, 27.2% K; Majors: 14 G, 9 GS, 48 IP, 7.88 ERA, 2.02 WHIP, 15% BB, 15.5% K
Info: When a system is truly struggling, a guy like Flexen can stand out. With the New York Mets system in the spot it is, here we find Flexen.
Flexen is a quality back-end rotation piece with a fastball that sits low-90s and can touch 96 and adjusts his grip to get movement on the pitch. He pairs that with a high-spin curve that generates plenty of weak contact. His third pitch is an average change that he’s still developing movement on, and he works with a slider that really is not consistent enough to even label yet, but could be a useful fourth offering.
Flexen has a sturdy build at 6’3″ and 250ish pounds that portends an inning-eater, and he’s shown the ability to command and control his pitches well in that mold. He doesn’t have a true swing-and-miss pitch, something that was highly evident in his big league run in 2017.
The New York Mets hope that they do not have the injury issues that they did in 2017 that forced Flexen up to the big league club and that he can spend the entire season honing his sequencing and command in the upper minors.
Next: #7 and #8