Complex Excellence

[Edgy MD]

Lest it go overlooked, the Rookie-level Florida Complex League Mets clinched the FCL Eastern Division title Thursday, and won it pretty handily. They currently play out the string holding a .633 winning percentage, which is good-looking no matter where you're playing. Kade Morris, the Mets' recent third-round draftee, made his professional debut in the game, starting and going but a single inning. It was a good day to spread the pitching wealth around.



A lot of players come and go during a single season for a Rookie-level team, as short as the seasons are, but the most consistent performer for the FCL Mets (hereafter, "The FeCkLes") has been 19-year-old firsbaseman/outfielder Yohairo Cuevas. The lefty-swinging Latin-from-Manhattan went .310 / .444 / .578 // 1.022 over 90 plate appearances before getting bumped up to St. Lucie.



Among the comings and goings on the pitching side, swingman José Gomez certainly stood out. Others threw more innings than José's 18 2/3, but most walked a whole lot of young men. Gomez walked only five, while striking out 25. Combined with yielding but a single homer, this amounted to a 3.00 ERA to go along with his 3-0 w/l record.



Setting the pen on fire for his partial season was a 20-year-old lad named Luis Rodríguez. The righthanded Dominican only threw 7 1/3 innings before he too got promoted to St. Lucie, but those 7 1/3 were without much of a blemish. To be clear, I'm not saying he was unscored upon (though he was), I'm saying he was un-hit upon (if that's the correct way to phrase it). He tallied three saves, walked three, struck out 11, and the next hit he allows at that level this season will be his first.



That's kinda kool, and I hope he and all his FeCkLes co-stars return to the roster for the playoffs they've so richly earned.

[Fman99]

I didn't know this was a thing, I thought each MLB team had just four affiliates, ours being in Port St. Lucie, Brooklyn, Binghamton and Syracuse

[Lefty Specialist]

Go FeCkLes!

[Edgy MD]

The Rookie-level Mets used to play in the what was called the Gulf Coast League, before the Covid emergency killed off three of the Mets teams and merged the two Florida Rookie leagues into one.



Like the St. Lucie Mets, they operate out of the organization's spring training complex. They are generally home when the St. Lucie Mets are on the road, and vice versa. Very often a rehabbing Met will make his first appearances with the FeCkLes, not because he's so rusty that he has to go down that low to get his mojo back, but because he's already in St. Lucie and they don't want to put him on a bus to Jupiter. The team is mostly comprised of recent high-school draft picks and graduates of the two (even-lower) Mets affiliates in the Dominican Summer League, getting their first stateside experience.



As you can see in that muted celebration (nobody wants to be the next Edwin Diaz in the wrong way), they don't even get their own uniforms, but are outfitted in repurposed New York Mets unis, even though it's likely few of them have ever even been to New York, and for most, those will likely be the last MLB uniforms they ever wear.



Most games don't even have any spectators apart from scouts and unpaying curious onlookers.

[Chad ochoseis]

Even if the bus was moving along nicely at 80mph, it would take 690 years to get from PSL to Jupiter, at which point the rehabbing Met would likely be eligible for free agency.

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

I think they play in the back fields rather than in the stadium. I'm not sure fans can even go to the games, or, if they did, whether there is an admission charge.

[ashie62]

They do this in Arizona also