2017 Arizona Fall Leaguers

[Edgy MD]

The Mets named four AA players to their AFL roster, leaving at least two assignments still open.

Tomás Nido - c
A big setback season at AA, going .232 / .287 /.354 // .641 in 102 games, with eight homers and 60 RBI, leaves him needing a reset button, and he might find that in the desert, along with his 1-2 performance so far in the big leagues, along with a miserably stupid baserunning blunder.

Luis Guillorme - if
The defensive specialist had a surprisingly effective performance at the plate in the Eastern League, going .283 / .376 / .331 // .706, with one homer and 46 RBI. They've already moved him off shortstop 50% of the time, so they seem to be fast-tracking him, seeing him as at least a potential utility infielder in the near future.

David Thompson - 3b
His .263 / .325 / .429 // .754 line kind of hides his knack for piling up RBI. The 2015 fourth rounder has moved up fast and met the challenges, so ... Arizona!

Kevin Kaczmarski - of
A surprise pick among the organization's soggy outfield talent pool, Kacz went .274 / .370 / .369 // .739 in AA after only 42 games for St. Lucie. Wuilmer Becerra, your career is calling.

The Mets have two more guys to send and probably at least one part-timer. All, I imagine, will be pitchers.

[MFS62]

Nido is going?
I thought players who had played in the Majors weren't eligible to be sent to the AFL.
Was that ever a rule and if so, when did they change it?

OE - I found the rules. Players with over one full year on the major league roster aren't eligible.
Nido's OK.

Later

[Edgy MD]

We never listed the pitchers.

Mickey Jannis (rh-sp): a curious pick, as the Mets have kept the 29-year-old knuckleballer at AA for three seasons, and this year was his first successful season by any measure. This will also be his second year eligible for minor league free agency. The Mets re-signed him last year and perhaps want to take a look at him against a little more competitive group before deciding on doing so again, but if not, a few weeks in the desert will also be a showcase for his next employer.

Worth noting that knuckleballs are supposed to be less effective in thin desert air, which may be part of the reason Jannis hasn't tasted Las Vegas yet.

Tim Peterson (rh-rp): The 2012 draftee had a good year in 2016 and a great one (0.777 WHIP, 1.14 ERA) with Bingo in 2017. Slated for Vegas next season. Petey was a low velocity/high command guy in college before finding new life on his fastball shortly before graduating. The commissioner's office discovered the source of that new life and suspended him for 80 games back in 2015, but hey, he's been effective ever since, so do drugs, kids!

Matt Pobereyko (rh-rp): Righthanded Sally Leaguer wears Tyler Clippard wraparound shades, and like Jannis, is a late starter at climbing the ladder, having been signed by the Mets this summer off the roster of the Frontier League's Florence (KY) Freedom. He set the Kentucky Wesleyan College strikeout record his senior season and was pouring the whiff juice on in indy ball, striking out 38 in 18 innings (which is just wrong), while walking just four. While 25 is old for the South Atlantic League, he continued to deal there, fanning a phat 53 batters in just 34 1/3 innings. Most indy league strikeout beasts get undone by wildness, but Matt walked just 10, so tune in and see if he may be for real.

Kyle Regnault (lh-rp): Kyle pitched well for both Bingo and Vegas. And while offseason signings may change things, he currently sits just behind Smokey in the lefthanded reliever depth chart, so he's closest of any of these cats to the big leagues, and I'd expect he'd be looking at a camp invite next spring, but Sandy's kind of miserly with those, so he'll need a good AFL showing to get some attention. Like Smokehouse, though, he lacks the sort of lefty-on-lefty splits you want to see in a specialist.

"So what?!" says Mrs. Regnault. "The world needs generalists too!!

[Centerfield]

I would send Matt Harvey.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I would send Matt Harvey to Philadelphia.

[Edgy MD]

Hi, we're Mets pitchers in the AFL. If the Mets' system is truly slipping, well damn it, somebody didn't send us the memo. We're all doing awesome, thanks for asking.

Player	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	HB	BB	SO	WHIP	HLD	GF
Mickey Jannis	1	1	0.53	4	4	0	0	0	17.00	7	3	1	0	0	4	14	0.650	0	0
Kyle Regnault	0	1	0.77	7	0	0	0	1	11.67	8	2	1	0	0	3	15	0.940	0	1
Matt Pobereyko	0	0	0.00	7	0	0	0	0	10.67	7	0	0	0	1	1	13	0.750	1	3
Tim Peterson	1	0	0.96	6	0	0	0	0	9.33	6	2	1	0	0	2	5	0.860	1	0

[Edgy MD]

Hi, Scorpions pitchers! We're your teammates, the batters! We're doing pretty neato too! Except Nido!

Player	POS	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	E
Kevin Kaczmarski	CF	16	63	9	22	3	0	1	8	28	5	16	2	1	.349	.406	.444	.850	0
Luis Guillorme	SS	9	39	4	12	3	0	0	2	15	2	1	0	1	.308	.341	.385	.726	1
David Thompson	3B	12	49	9	15	5	2	1	5	27	2	10	1	0	.306	.333	.551	.884	0
Tomas Nido	C	12	45	3	8	4	0	1	7	15	5	13	0	0	.178	.250	.333	.583	1

[MFS62]

I'm starting to feel positive about Mickey Jannis' chances. I recall discussion last year (here?) that the Mets were reticent to advance him beyond AA at the end of last year because they were afraid the conditions (temperature, altitude, park factors) in the PCL might be bad for his newly mastered knuckleball.
But his performance in the AFL, where conditions are similar to the PCL, gives me hope that the pitch may be for real and he could make the big club at some time this year.

Later

[Edgy MD]

That dream took a punch in the gut today as Jannis gave up three runs in five innings. He took the loss, but he struck out five and walked only one.

David Thompson went 1-2 with two walks.

[MFS62]

Edgy MD wrote: That dream took a punch in the gut today as Jannis gave up three runs in five innings. He took the loss, but he struck out five and walked only one.

Ah, a mere glancing blow.

Later

[seawolf17]

Edgy MD wrote: Hi, we're Mets pitchers in the AFL. If the Mets' system is truly slipping, well damn it, somebody didn't send us the memo. We're all doing awesome, thanks for asking. Player  W  L  ERA  G  GS  CG  SHO  SV  IP  H  R  ER  HR  HB  BB  SO  WHIP  HLD  GF  Mickey Jannis 1 1 0.53 4 4 0 0 0 17.00 7 3 1 0 0 4 14 0.650 0 0 Kyle Regnault 0 1 0.77 7 0 0 0 1 11.67 8 2 1 0 0 3 15 0.940 0 1 Matt Pobereyko 0 0 0.00 7 0 0 0 0 10.67 7 0 0 0 1 1 13 0.750 1 3 Tim Peterson 1 0 0.96 6 0 0 0 0 9.33 6 2 1 0 0 2 5 0.860 1 0

See! Bingo. Fourteen guys in the bullpen next year, no bench. DONE.

[Edgy MD]

That handsome 165-pounder David Wright, has been inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame:




Wright went .341 / .427 / .489 // .916 in the AFL back in 2003, with two homers in 26 games

[Centerfield]

David looks 45 years old and sick.

[ashie62]

Centerfield wrote: David looks 45 years old and sick.

He looks like the kind of ill you don't joke about.

Muscle mass..gone