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We have reported on the success and demise in some cases of our babies playing for the Surprise Rafters. Now it’s time to checkup on those not quite babies anymore also playing Winter Ball.
The Mets catcher in waiting Josh Thole playing for Leones del Caracas in the VWL:
.409 BA, 18/44, 2 2b, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 23 TB, 7 BB, 2 K, 1.023 OPS.Â
According to Toby Hyde at Mets Minor League Blog: “Thole’s leading the VWL, which is hitting a collective .284/.359/.418, in OBP.”
The famous Chris Carter playing for the Tigres de Aragua in the VWL.
.317 BA, 13/41, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 20 TB, 6 BB, 4 K, .892 OPS
Carter was off to a blistering pace but has been off for his last 2 games going 1/7. Up until that point he was hitting .353 BA, .450 OBP, .559 SLG, .909 OPS
AAAA pitcher Tobi Stoner playing for Leones del Escogido is as expected dominating the DWL:
1.64 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 2 G, 11 IP, 8 H, 3 W, 7 K
For a report on a few others playing in the DWL and VWL check out Toby’s post here: Around Winter Ball – Thole Rakes
22 comments
trs86
10/27/2009-10:01am at 10:01 am (UTC -4)
Interesting, all the hype around Davis, Mejia, etc but with these guys all 3 of them could and should be competing for spots on NEXT year’s team. So far so good for these guys. The more of them that make the team the more money we have to spend elsewhere. I think we will be surprised by Carter. I could see a Nady type season out of him if given the AB’s. The guy can hit.
darknova306
10/27/2009-10:17am at 10:17 am (UTC -4)
But can Carter field well enough to make him a legit candidate to be trolling the Citi outfield?
trs86
10/27/2009-10:20am at 10:20 am (UTC -4)
Considering that Sheff and Murphy played there this year? I would say enough to consider him a candidate yes. Not to mention he also plays 1B.
darknova306
10/27/2009-10:29am at 10:29 am (UTC -4)
Fair point. Definitely shouldn’t rule anyone out until we see what they’ve got.
CaseStreet
10/27/2009-10:03am at 10:03 am (UTC -4)
Would you want the rest of the team playing WL?
trs86
10/27/2009-10:09am at 10:09 am (UTC -4)
You mean the ones who are that I left out or guys like Reyes, Beltran, etc?
CaseStreet
10/27/2009-10:21am at 10:21 am (UTC -4)
no, I meant the regs. I wouldn’t except for Delgado, but then again he’s not part of the team anymore.
trs86
10/27/2009-10:25am at 10:25 am (UTC -4)
Murphy yes at many positions. Green yes, Stokes no, Misch yes, Figgy does it matter? Any way there are a few players that I wish would mostly pitchers but guys like Reed, Ahern and Sullivan should be too.
wannybackstra
10/27/2009-10:27am at 10:27 am (UTC -4)
Murphy at many positions? Which ones other than 1B has he demonstrated he could play at least adequately?
darknova306
10/27/2009-10:30am at 10:30 am (UTC -4)
I think the point is to get him to learn to play some others adequately so he could become more of a super-sub. At least, that’s been brought up in the past.
trs86
10/27/2009-10:37am at 10:37 am (UTC -4)
Exactly, I don’t see even many on here saying he is the 1B of the future. So if Davis becomes that guy or one is brought in, would it not be nice if Murphy could be a Wiggy, DeRosa type?
wannybackstra
10/27/2009-12:20pm at 12:20 pm (UTC -4)
Well, he’s got about 3 months to learn to play multiple positions adequately before spring training.
Remember, DeRosa came up as an adequate middle infielder. It’d be a lot to expect Murphy, who didn’t come up with real defensive abilities to somehow learn them — he’s just not that athletic.
Anyway, if Murphy is going to be the 2010 1B, I’m sure the team wants him to get as much experience there as he can. Even if it is only for one season.
And I wouldn’t cut short Murphy’s development as a 1B in hopes of Ike Davis being the 2011 1B. There’s a lot that could happen before that time and Davis is not regarded by anyone as a can’t miss. Let’s see what Davis does against AAA pitching and let’s see how Murph responds at the plate in his second full season.
udontmesswthejohan
10/27/2009-11:10am at 11:10 am (UTC -4)
haha – why are you always dogging Figgy man?
trs86
10/27/2009-11:16am at 11:16 am (UTC -4)
Well if he pitches 50 innings or 400 innings in a year he still pitches the same. LOL. He is the definition of rubber arm.
prismo
10/27/2009-10:06am at 10:06 am (UTC -4)
Seems like the Mets babies are doing a great job so far this fall/winter.
wannybackstra
10/27/2009-10:25am at 10:25 am (UTC -4)
3 Wins in 2 Games is pretty impressive for Stoner.
trs86
10/27/2009-10:38am at 10:38 am (UTC -4)
Yup.
metsfan4decades
10/27/2009-11:36am at 11:36 am (UTC -4)
I wish those that often comment on certain blogs – like MLBTR – would actually take the time to look at stats like TRS did – before they spout off that the Mets farm system is crap.
Doesn’t look like crap to me. Yes, we had no depth at AAA this past year when 3/4s of the team went down with injuries. But then again, what farm system has that kind of depth to compensate?
And some of our better prospects were not yet in AAA last year. Doesn’t mean we don’t have some good prospects, just means they weren’t ML ready last summer….
stickguy
10/27/2009-11:55am at 11:55 am (UTC -4)
A very good reason for the Mets to be conservative this year with retaining prospects.
They did have some guys that put up good numbers at AA, and these days, it is not uncommon for guys to mostly skip AAA. So, maybe not too far away (and some like Thole even came up late).
Hopefully they can fill holes though smart FA singings or minor trades, and keep the bulk of the prospects. If they do, AAA could actually be quite good this year, with actual young prospects instead of 34 YO journeymen hanging on.
Even the start at AA, move to AAA mid-year group might not be too bad. And if so, suddenly the barren farm doesn’t look too shabby.
CaseStreet
10/27/2009-12:08pm at 12:08 pm (UTC -4)
yup, save’ em for Mauer
wannybackstra
10/27/2009-12:16pm at 12:16 pm (UTC -4)
M4D – From what I’ve read from BA and from Keith Law, no one considers AFL or Winter League stats very much when evaluating players. The Latin American winter leagues, in particular, are generally inferior competition compared to AA and AAA competition and all of the samples are small anyway.
And while there are some top pitchers at the AFL, most of the real name brand pitchers are there because they were either hurt or inactive earlier in the season or unsigned until later (like Strasburg).
metsfan4decades
10/27/2009-1:14pm at 1:14 pm (UTC -4)
I kind of figured that….I guess it’s just an ‘extra’ for young guys to work on issues, or get some extra work in at maybe a new position. Or a place for pitchers to try out some new pitch they might be working on.
Some of these guys though put up some very decent numbers last year in the minors for us. Here’s hoping a couple actually pan out to be assets for us.