the raindrops

Let's Eat the Bones

One for each level seems fair.  I've already gone over Victor Diaz before, but it never hurts to recap:

Year	Lg.	Age	AB	H	2B+3B	HR	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG
2001	GCL	19	195	69	24	3	16	23	.354	.403	.533
2002	SAL	20	349	122	28	10	27	69	.350	.407	.521
2002	SOU	20	152	32	7	4	7	42	.211	.258	.336
2003	SOU	21	316	92	22	10	27	60	.291	.353	.462
2003	EAS	21	175	62	11	6	8	32	.354	.382	.520
2004	INT	22	305	89	20	12	15	72	.292	.322	.475

Diaz, a draft-and-follow pick taken in the 37th round of the 2000 draft by the Dodgers, began his professional career by winning batting titles in the Gulf Coast and South Atlantic Leagues.  He so impressed the Dodger hierarchy that they skipped him a level and promoted him straight to AA to finish the 2002 season.  Obviously, he was overmatched.  Nevertheless, Diaz made them look pretty smart by adjusting in 2003.  His cumulative line, spread across the Southern and Eastern Leagues: .314/.368/.483 with a 35:92 bb:so ratio, and 49 extra base hits (18 home runs) in 491 at-bats. 

Coming into the season, his only weakness as a hitter was his batting eye, but he'd already improved compared to his first attempt at AA, and he's always been young for his levels, so there was room for improvement.  His numbers at Norfolk don't look good at first glance, but a month-to-month breakdown shows signs of life (and don't forget, Norfolk is a pitchers' park):

Month	AB	XBH	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG
April	82	7	2	23	.268	.286	.427
May	112	9	4	26	.295	.314	.429
June	111	16	9	22	.306	.355	.559

Striking out less and walking more, all while hitting for more power.  Still want to see a more disciplined approach, but you've got to love a guy who's been improving so steadily since entering pro-ball.  Next up, Justin Huber:

Year	Lg.	Age	AB	H	2B+3B	HR	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG
2001	APP	19	159	50	12	7	17	42	.314	.415	.528
2002	SAL	20	330	96	24	11	45	81	.291	.408	.470
2002	FSL	20	100	27	3	3	11	18	.270	.370	.400
2003	FSL	21	183	52	15	9	17	30	.284	.370	.514
2003	EAS	21	193	51	13	6	19	54	.264	.350	.425
2004	EAS	22	189	53	13	7	36	45	.280	.419	.460

Huber, like Diaz, has always been young for his levels, particularly for a catcher.  He's never been afraid to take a walk, demonstrating an advanced approach from day one.  His first full season in the Sally league saw him walking at a rate better than once every ten plate appearances, and slugging nearly forty percent of his hits for extra bases.  He earned a late season promotion to the difficult hitting environment of the Florida State League, where he continued to take and rake. 

After dominating at St. Lucie to start the 2003 season (.284/.370/.514 is sick in the FSL) Huber was promoted to Binghamton, where his production went down, mostly due to his inability to make contact, as seen by the increase in strikeouts.  2004 started with Huber rehabbing a pectoral injury, DHing in St. Lucie for a couple weeks.  Since getting back to Binghamton, he's improved his strikeout rate from last summer, while doubling his walk rate.  He's also reached base via the hit by pitch ten times.  Gotta love twenty-two year old catchers who put up .400+ OBP in AA.  But wait, it gets better; let's look at the month-to-month:

Month	AB	XBH	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG
April	21	2	7	6	.190	.393	.381
May	78	6	14	15	.269	.406	.397
June	90	12	15	25	.311	.442	.533

Keep working those deep counts, Justin.  A third straight season with an in-season promotion looks likely.  Moving along, Aaron Baldiris:

Year	Lg.	Age	AB	H	2B+3B	HR	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG
2002	APP	19	217	71	10	3	14	24	.327	.390	.419
2003	SAL	20	393	123	23	6	51	55	.313	.396	.427
2003	NYP	20	88	32	7	0	14	13	.364	.451	.466
2004	FSL	21	272	82	14	1	37	41	.301	.387	.375

It's hard for the Mets to defend their policy of sending players from Capital City to Brooklyn as an organizational developmental policy when they do it so haphazardly.  In 2002, with Brooklyn no where close to a playoff spot, the Mets brass sent Justin Huber to St. Lucie to get his feet wet for the following season.  In 2003, however, the Cyclones made it all the way to the league championship (where they lost), and Baldiris, who handled the Sally league quite nicely, was assigned to Brooklyn to beef up their roster instead of following the Huber path, which at the time of Baldiris's demotion, was an outright success, what with Huber forcing his way to Binghamton.  Freakin' Wilpons.

Anyways, Baldiris, like Huber, has got the advanced approach thing down at an early age.  Excellent plate discipline, with his only flaw being a lack of power.  But hey, he's still just 21, and there is room for growth.  He's continued hitting in high-A ball, and we're still waiting on his power to take the next step; don't get too worried about the .375 SLG, that's league average in Florida.  Good signs in the monthly splits:

Month	AB	XBH	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG
April	88	4	13	18	.307	.388	.375
May	92	5	19	16	.239	.379	.293
June	92	6	6	7	.359	.404	.457

If he can maintain a .100+ ISO (SLG - AVG) from here on out, expect big things when he reaches the cozy confines of Binghamton.  Also, with Wright in front of him, and Bowman behind him, Baldiris may be Duquette's best trading chip if he needs to pull the trigger on a deadline deal.  That, or he'll start learning to play second.  One more, some kid named Petit, Yusmeiro:

Year	Lg.	Age	W-L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	HR	BB	SO
2003	APP	18	3-3	2.32	12	12	62.0	47	2	8	65
2003	NYP	18	1-1	2.19	2	2	12.1	5	0	2	20
2004	SAL	19	9-2	2.39	15	15	83.0	47	8	22	122

The only reason he isn't hyped more is because his fastball barely touches 90 mph.  The real question here is if he should jump right into double-A.  Check this out:

Month	K/9
April	10.71
May	12.42
June	16.01

Sixteen!  Six-MFing-teen!  He could throw it underhand for all I care.  Time for a promotion, maybe two.

Oh yeh, I should have mentioned this at the beginning, but I just assumed you probably already knew.  This is just a sampling of the Mets second tier prospects.  Top shelf honors belong to Mr. Wright, who had another multi-hit game yesterday, and Scott Kazmir, who is quietly returning to form.

The monthly splits are available thanks to a recent addition to the sidebar, TonyJ's Mets Stuff (found via Baseball Reloaded).  Thank you TonyJ!

Posted by Avkash at July 1, 2004 08:46 AM | TrackBack