Five New York Mets Prospects That Had A Good April

Five New York Mets Prospects That Had A Good April

No one ever said that it was easy or fun being a fan of the New York Mets, and that’s because it’s usually not. But if there’s one thing that can give Mets fans some hope for the future and something positive to watch, it’s the team’s farm system.

Since general manager Sandy Alderson came to power in Flushing, the Mets farm system has quietly become one of the more intriguing in baseball, especially on the pitching side of things. We’ve already seen Matt Harvey come to the big leagues and pitch at an incredibly high level, and we know that Zack Wheeler isn’t too far behind. But there are several more promising pitching prospects down on the farm for the Mets.

The position players aren’t as impressive, but catcher Travis d’Arnaud, despite his recent injury, is considered one of the top prospects in all of baseball. Wilmer Flores is also a young player with a bat that Mets fans are excited about.

Thus, we have come up with a list of five players in the Mets farm system that have excelled early in the 2013 season. Some players we had high hopes for before the season, while others have surprised us with their excellent performances in the month of April. Unfortunately, some deserving players had to be omitted from the list of five, including AA pitcher Logan Verrett, A-ball first baseman Jayce Boyd, and one of the Mets top prospects Brandon Nimmo, despite his recent slump.

These aren’t necessarily the top prospects in the system, just five players that have had good performances during the month of April.

Rafael Montero

Montero has moved through the minor leagues at a rapid pace, and with just five starts at AA there are already whispers that he could be in the major leagues at some point this season. He has struck out 35 and walked only three in 27 2/3 innings of work during the month of April, exhibiting impeccable control. Opponents are batting .188 against him and he holds an ERA of just 1.95. Montero has three pitches that are average or better, and with the way he’s able to throw strikes, he’s a prospect to watch closely.

Kevin Plawecki

The Mets reached to take Plawecki in the first round of last year’s draft because they needed a top-flight catcher in their system, and Plawecki has not disappointed. In addition to calling games himself and handling a pitching staff, Plawecki has hit 12 doubles and four home runs in the month of April. His line is .391/.455/.667, as he is a great contact hitter, but he’s also shown plenty of power this season while playing in a big ball park in Savannah. It should not be long until Plawecki moves up a level.

Noah Syndergaard

The Mets acquired Syndergaard in the R.A. Dickey trade during the offseason, with the hope that he will be next in line behind Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler as a right-handed power pitcher who has a chance to be a front of the rotation starter. Syndergaard had one disastrous start in April and four starts that went very well. Although he’ll likely spend two more full seasons in the minors before he’s big-league ready, Syndergaard has had a good first month in the Mets organization.

Domingo Tapia

Tapia had one outing this month in which he failed to get out of the first inning, but in his other four starts he was solid. There are scouts that think Tapia could pitch in a major league bullpen right now which speaks to how devastating his fastball is. But the Mets will continue to develop him as a starter, and it’s been so far so good for Tapia in 2013.

Cory Vaughn

Vaughn had it pretty rough for the last season and a half, but he has started to turn things around this year with a great April. He has a line of .291/.391/.506 over the first month of the season, as Vaughn has already shown serious power with four home runs. If he can keep this up for the entire season, he will once again become a prospect to watch, even if it’s as a platoon player as he has crushed left-handed pitching this season.