New York Mets 2018 Minor League Awards
The New York Mets had a rough season in public relations, but there were amazing performances in the farm system.
As part of our continuing coverage at Call to the Pen of the minor leagues, we will be covering each organization’s top players for 2018. The coverage will go in reverse order of record. Today, we will look at the New York Mets.
We are going to review the system’s leaders for each organization statistically, then choose one hitter and one pitcher to honor for every team. This will be primarily based on statistical performance, though some “age relative to level” could come into play, so a very impressive season from a 28-year-old in AA will rank below a nearly as impressive season from a 20-year-old at the same level.
After we review each organization’s hitter and pitcher of the year, we will close out October with Call To The Pen’s Minor League team of the year. That will lead into November starting our team top 10 prospect lists. In other words, there will be plenty of minor league content on the way at CTTP, so keep coming back for more each day this offseason!!
New York Mets minor leagues
The New York Mets have plenty of talented players beyond a former NFL quarterback that happens to be in their minor league system. The system had a player compete for the minor league home run title along with many excellent performances overall.
Right now, the strength of the New York Mets farm system is in their lower levels, so they may be a few years out, but the depth of talent at that level is incredible!
Before we offer up awards on the season, let’s take a look at the system’s statistical leaders:
Organization Leaders (min. 150 PA, 50 IP)
BA: Luis Santana .348
OBP: Luis Santana .446
SLG: Jeff McNeil .617
OPS: Jose Lobaton 1.029
R: Peter Alonso, Zach Borenstein 92
H: Peter Alonso 136
2B: Zach Borenstein 32
3B: Ross Adolph 12
HR: Peter Alonso 36
RBI: Peter Alonso 119
SB: Andres Gimenez 38
TB: Peter Alonso 277
W: Nabil Crismatt 11
G: Kyle Regnault 48
GS: Drew Gagnon 28
IP: Drew Gagnon 163 2/3
SV: Trey Cobb 12
K: Drew Gagnon 172
ERA: Jefferson Escorcha 1.57
WHIP: Jefferson Escorcha 0.79
K/9: Steve Villines 13.0
K/BB: Steve Villines 7.38
New York Mets Minor League Hitter of the Year: Peter Alonso
Level(s): AA Binghamton, AAA Las Vegas
Stats: .285/.395/.579, 31 2B, 36 HR, 119 RBI, 76/128 BB/K
Peter Alonso has been crushing baseball since he came into the New York system as a 2nd round pick in 2016. Alonso opened with AA Binghamton in 2018, and he split his season fairly even between there and AAA Las Vegas.
Alonso can club the ball without question, and he has a very reasonable strikeout rate in the low 20% range. In 2018, that number was 22.3%. He does have one major bugaboo, though, and that is when he isn’t holding a bat.
Alonso has committed 28 errors at first base over his minor league career, and that’s just in 220 games. He will need significant improvement at first base just to be passable at the position. Participating in the Arizona Fall League this fall could be a chance for the Mets to showcase Alonso for an American League team.
Runners-up
Jeff McNeil was all the rage with New York Mets fans this summer, and for good reason. He put up an insane 2.3 bWAR in just 63 major league games. Before he was called up, he destroyed AA and AAA to the tune of .342/.411/.617 with 26 doubles and 19 home runs over 88 games.
The top prospect in the system, Andres Gimenez was more than just a scout’s favorite in 2018. Gimenez was just 19 through the majority of the season, turning 20 in September as the season closed. He played across high-A and AA, hitting .281/.347/.409 with 29 doubles, 5 triples, 6 home runs, and 38 stolen bases with a 31/92 BB/K ratio over 504 plate appearances. He’ll likely open 2019 in AA and work his way to AAA with a chance to spend some September time in the Big Apple.
After two seasons in the DSL, diminutive (5’8″, 175-pounds) 2B Luis Santana came stateside, skipping over the Gulf Coast League straight to the Appy League, where he hit .348/.446/.471 with Kingsport, slapping out 13 doubles and 4 home runs and adding 8 steals with a 27/23 BB/K ratio over 242 plate appearances.
New York Mets Minor League Pitcher of the Year: Justin
Dunn
Level(s): high-A St. Lucie, AA Binghamton
Stats: 8-8, 24 GS, 135 1/3 IP, 3.59 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 52/156 BB/K
Justin Dunn was a dynamic arm at Boston College that put together one exceptional season as a starter that ended up getting him selected 19th overall in 2016 by the New York Mets. He tossed just 30 innings in his draft year, flashing his stuff, but not eliminate the worry that he may end up in the bullpen eventually.
Injury issues in 2017 furthered those bullpen worries, but the 2018 season answered those questions, for now at least. Dunn opened the season in the Florida State League, and his dominant performance got him promoted to AA.
Dunn experienced more issues in AA than high-A, particularly as the season wore on and he hit innings numbers he hadn’t surpassed before. After he passed 90 innings, he seemed to struggle. Beginning the start after that point, he made 7 starts, with a 6.23 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, and a 19/49 BB/K over 39 innings. That added over a run to his season ERA to that point and a full 0.10 to his WHIP.
He will hope to see his endurance pick up in 2019
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Runners-up
Signed out of Venezuela, Jaison Vilera made his way to the New York-Penn League in 2018, and he continued to show the excellence that has been his trademark thus far. He made 13 starts, throwing 73 2/3 innings, with a 1.83 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 22/78 BB/K ratio.
The New York Mets drafted David Peterson out of Oregon with the 20th overall selection in 2017. He had his first full season in 2018, starting with low-A Columbia and finishing with high-A St. Lucie. Overall, he made 22 starts, pitching 128 innings with a 3.16 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and a 30/115 BB/K. Impressively, Peterson only allowed 2 home runs.
Signed as a minor league free agent, Drew Gagnon made 28 starts in the minors, tossing 163 2/3 innings, with a 4.40 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and a 44/172 BB/K ratio. He was called up to the Mets and tossed 12 big league innings, with a 5.25 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, and 5/8 BB/K ratio.
The New York Mets drafted Steve Villines in the 10th round in 2017 out of the University of Kansas. In his first full season in 2018, he climbed up three levels, ending the season in AA Binghamton, totaling 47 games, tossing 66 2/3 innings, with 10 saves, posting a 3.11 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, and a 13/96 BB/K ratio.
Next. Blue Jays minor league awards. dark
New York Mets fans should get to enjoy elite pitching at the major league level until the top prospects in the lower levels find their way up, that is unless the Mets choose to trade off and rebuild, which would add to the system depth significantly.