Player production is quick to change in the New York Mets minor league system. Here is a brief look at some of the current producers and stifling prospects down on the farm in the organization.
Up: Lucas Duda, outfielder, AAA Buffalo Bisons
The left-handed hitting Duda looked sharp in 45 games at AA Binghamton. His .286 average and six home runs earned him a recent promotion to AAA where he is on the fast track to gaining some serious recognition.
In 19 games with Buffalo, he already has seven home runs, one more that he hit at AA. On this current tear, Duda has hit six of these in his last ten games. His total minor league stats for the season show that he has walked and struck out 38 times each in 64 games.
The plate discipline must be particularly attractive to the Mets, and he’ll have plenty of more time to prove his worth and potential at Buffalo this year.
Down: Roy Merritt, left-handed pitcher, AA Binghamton Mets
After a quick start to the year that really put him on the map, Merritt failed to prove that he could advance to the next level and still manage to put up the impressive numbers as a reliever.
After his initial relief gig at Binghamton, he got the call-up to AAA Buffalo. In four appearances with the Bisons in relief, Merritt surrendered nine hits and seven runs. He was demoted back to Binghamton and ever since, he has simply looked the same. His consistent stuff out of the bullpen has become very irregular.
Up: Mark Cohoon, left-handed pitcher, AA Binghamton Mets
The southpaw starter ripped apart the South Atlantic League with the single-A Savannah Sand Gnats. In 13 starts, Cohoon tossed a whopping three complete game shutouts while posting a 7-1 record and 1.30 ERA. He allowed just two home runs in 90.1 innings of work and oppositions hit just .213 against him.
Since his impressive stint in Savannah, he earned a promotion to Binghamton. He’s made two starts. His AA debut was not very successful, but in his second start, he pitched five innings and allowed five hits, a run, and he struck out four.
Cohoon’s control has been impressive as well. In both AA starts, he didn’t walk a batter over the course of 10.2 innings. He is just one of several interesting lefty arms in the Mets minor league system, and at 22-years-old, the Mets should preserve him.
Down: Eddie Kunz, right-handed pitcher, AA Binghamton Mets (pictured)
Mets fans probably remember the days in which Kunz had the potential to win a spot in the Mets bullpen. They also probably remember that he was viewed as a future closer. Those days are gone completely.
Kunz has struggled with his command so much that he was tried out as a starter. Having floundered in that operation, he remains a reliever. Kunz is walking batters at an alarming rate and can’t keep up his strikeout numbers.
Over his last ten appearances, his ERA sits at 5.66 and he has struck out eight and walked 16. Kunz can only hope to improve his control before he is even regarded as a Mets prospect again.
Up: Cory Vaughn, outfielder, A Brooklyn Cyclones
Vaughn, the son of former major leaguer Greg Vaughn, was selected by the Mets in the fourth round of this year’s MLB Player Draft. He’s off to a quick start in the minors, putting some solid all-around numbers.
Vaughn is batting .300 in his last 10 games. In all 18 he has appeared in for Brooklyn, he has hit four homers, driven in 16 runs, and stolen 3 bases. Vaughn has the potential to develop a good all-around game and has gotten off to a rather smooth start.
Down: Brad Holt, right-handed pitcher, A-Adv. St. Lucie Mets
Holt has been a complete mess, and hasn’t even been his recent pitching. All year he has struggled mightily with his command. After nine starts at Binghamton, a stretch in which he went 1-5 with a disturbing 10.20 ERA, Holt got demoted to St. Lucie.
The issue here is that Holt had been very highly touted in the Mets organization a year ago. Last year, he was more effective and was even speculated to be on the fast track to the Majors. However, with this recent demotion, things have completely changed. He has a lot to overcome at the moment.
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