Mets Minors Weekly Report: Ryan Clifford Rakes in Binghamton

Ryan Clifford is one of the Mets’ top prospects for a reason. While the Binghamton Rumble Ponies only managed a split of their series, Clifford looked like the team’s best player the entire week. After a mediocre start to the year in Brooklyn, he’s turned it around with a power surge in Bingo.

For more on all the news from this past week, check out the Mets Minors Weekly Report below.

Triple-A

The Syracuse Mets won their series with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs four games to two this past week. It was even more lopsided than the win-loss total would suggest, with Syracuse outscoring Lehigh Valley 43-22 in the six games played. Syracuse continues to sit alone atop the International League East division with a 42-26 record.

Several Mets had excellent weeks at the plate, with five individual players recording at least a 1.000 OPS. Luke Ritter led the way with four home runs in 23 at-bats, including a two-homer effort on Sunday. His season OPS now sits at .903. The 27-year-old is making a strong case to be the next man up if the MLB team faces some sort of injury. He’s been raking.

Rhylan Thomas posted the highest OPS of the week in Syracuse, hitting three homers and two doubles in 17 at-bats. Thomas, who started the year in Binghamton, now possesses a .728 OPS with Syracuse.

Two other batters who excelled this week were Brett Baty and Luisangel Acuña. Baty’s success is expected at this level, and he recorded 12 hits in 25 at-bats. His OPS through eight games in Syracuse is a phenomenal 1.217. Acuña, on the other hand, has struggled this year but he recorded 10 hits in 23 at-bats this week, including his fourth home run of the year. Acuña’s OPS is now .682.

José Buttó and Dom Hamel had the two best starts for Syracuse, with Buttó allowing one run in 5 2/3 innings and Hamel recording a quality start with two runs in six innings. Buttó continues to be solid for Syracuse, now sporting a 3.45 ERA on the year, while Hamel recorded one of his best starts of the season. He’s been struggling lately, as he now owns a 6.79 ERA.

Christian Scott also continues to get work in Syracuse with a call-up back to the major league level expected soon. (He was demoted to manage his innings.) He threw for 3 1/3 innings, allowing one run and striking out six. His ERA in Syracuse this year is 2.91.

Several Mets relievers didn’t allow a run this week, with the most impressive performances coming from Matt Festa and Josh Walker. Festa threw three scoreless innings across two appearances, lowering his ERA to 2.38, while Walker struck out five in 2 1/3 innings. Walker’s ERA in Syracuse is now 1.86.

Double-A

The Binghamton Rumble Ponies split their series with the Somerset Patriots, each team winning three games. Binghamton entered Sunday down 3-2 in the series but secured the split by winning 7-2. The Rumble Ponies are in third place in the Eastern League Northeast division at 31-30.

Ryan Clifford was far and away the most productive member of Binghamton’s lineup this week, proven by his 1.479 OPS. He had six hits, all of which were for extra bases (four doubles and two home runs) in 17 at-bats. He also walked six times and stole a base. While he’d love to raise his batting average, Clifford is having a fantastic start in Binghamton and has a .911 OPS with the club.

Rowdey Jordan and Drake Osborn are players who aren’t having amazing seasons, but they stepped up at the plate this week. Jordan went 6-for-19 with a double and a home run, also stealing two bases. His OPS for the week of .935 raised his season OPS to .695. As for Osborn, he went 5-for-16 with a home run. He hasn’t been in Binghamton long, and he now has a .596 OPS with the team.

Justin Jarvis pitched in two games this week, making one start. He allowed just two runs in 10 innings, striking out nine and not allowing a walk. Jarvis now has a 3.58 ERA for the year in Binghamton. Jarvis, who was acquired in the Mark Canha trade, should be tested again in Syracuse before the year is over.

Luis Moreno, like Jarvis, also pitched in two games making one start. In seven innings, he allowed three runs, though only one of them was earned. Moreno has not looked great this year, but he now has a 4.33 ERA after a really good week.

Brandon Sproat, one of the most exciting arms in the system, returned to action this week. He only pitched 3 2/3 innings, but he allowed one run and struck out eight. Sproat continues to make it look easy, now sporting a 1.52 ERA in Binghamton.

Only two arms out of the bullpen did not allow a run this week. Paul Gervase made two appearances, throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings and striking out four. Gervase now owns a 4.11 ERA. Cam Robinson only made one appearance, but he went 2 2/3 scoreless innings. Robinson has looked great in nine games, as he owns a 1.35 ERA.

High-A

The Brooklyn Cyclones lost their series with the Hudson Valley Renegades 4-2. Brooklyn dropped each of the first three games of the series, getting outscored 25-9 in those three games. They avoided humiliation, though, by winning two of the next three games. Brooklyn is now 32-31, sitting in fifth place of a talented South Atlantic League North division.

Brooklyn had a slow week offensively, with only three batters recording an OPS over .750 for the week. One of them, William Lugo, had a 1.643 OPS, but he only recorded nine at-bats. Still, He had two doubles, a home run, and four walks. Lugo now has a .617 OPS on the year.

The most productive batter for the week was Nick Lorusso, who recorded two of the team’s three home runs in the series. He also recorded seven RBIs while no one else recorded more than two. Lorusso has had a really good year. Through 52 games, he owns an .843 OPS.

Nick Morabito went 8-for-26 this week, batting over .300, but he only recorded one extra-base hit which was a double. Still, he made offense happen by walking three times and stealing six bases. With Brooklyn, he owns a .786 OPS.

The best outing of the week for Brooklyn pitchers came from Jeffrey Colon, who made one appearance in relief. He was phenomenal, going for 6 2/3 innings and not allowing a run. His outing came out of nowhere, as he has not been good at all this year. Colon’s season ERA after his stellar game is 6.28.

Jonah Tong, who has come back down to earth after his unbelievable scoreless streak to start the year, had a start of five innings allowing three runs (two earned) this week. Tong was fantastic for St. Lucie earlier this year, leading to his promotion, but he has just a 4.26 ERA through eight starts in Brooklyn.

Josh Hejka continued his great year out of the bullpen this week. In two appearances, he went 4 1/3 innings allowing two runs, though neither of them were earned. He’s been the team’s best reliever, as he has a 1.52 ERA through 19 appearances.

Low-A

The St. Lucie Mets’ dreadful season continues, as they dropped five of their six games this past week against the Jupiter Hammerheads. Their only win was of the one-run variety, and they got shut out in both ends of a doubleheader on Sunday. St. Lucie is currently in last place in the Florida State League East division by 10 games, sporting an ugly 20-43 record.

Despite the forgettable series, there were a few players who shined. Boston Baro, for instance, went 5-for-17 with a double and two home runs. He also walked four times while striking out once. Baro now owns a .761 OPS with St. Lucie.

Ronald Hernandez went 4-for-14 with a home run and four RBIs during the previous series, also only striking out once. He had an .833 OPS for the week and has a .756 OPS on the year.

Jack Wenninger and Ernesto Mercedes each had solid starts, with Wenninger going 5 2/3 innings allowing three runs and striking out eight. Mercedes allowed three runs in five innings and struck out seven. Both have struggled this year, though, with Wenninger sporting a 4.98 ERA and Mercedes sporting a 5.40 ERA.

Out of the bullpen, Cristofer Gomez was the Mets’ best reliever. He made two appearances, throwing for 3 2/3 scoreless innings and striking out four. Gomez has also struggled mightily this year, as he now owns a 6.60 ERA.

Florida Complex League Mets

The FCL Mets went 2-2 in their four games this past week, keeping the team three games below .500 at 13-16. That puts them tied for third place in the FCL East division.

For the second week in a row, Simon Juan was the batter who stood out most. He went 5-for-13 with a double and two home runs in the team’s four games. His OPS keeps shooting up, and it now sits at .877. Julio Zayas (.917 OPS) also had a solid week for the FCL Mets. Meanwhile, Jose Chirinos (4 IP, 0 ER) and Andinson Ferrer (2 1/3 IP, 0 ER) were the two pitchers who stood out the most.

Dominican Summer League Mets

The DSL Mets Orange went 2-3 this past week, giving them a 4-6 record on the young season. They’re in sixth place out of nine teams in the DSL South division. The two best batters for the week were Fidel Pinango (1.056 OPS) and Yovanny Rodriguez (.814 OPS). On the pitching side, Luis Montero (4 IP, 0 ER) and Josue Morillo (3 IP, 0 ER) also had good weeks.

The DSL Mets Blue went 3-2 this past week, and they’re also currently 4-6 which is tied for last place in the DSL East division. Rainer Reyes (1.357 OPS) and Edward Lantigua (.924 OPS) led what was a big offensive week for the team, while Jose Guevara (6 IP, 0 ER) and Joel Lara (4 1/3 IP, 0 ER) were great on the mound.

On Monday, Guevara actually led the DSL Mets Blue to a combined, seven-inning perfect game victory against the DSL Mets Orange. In his six perfect innings, he struck out ten batters.

Organizational Leaders

Batting

AVG – Nick Morabito (STL/BRK) – .337

OPS – Mike Brosseau (SYR) – .980

HR – Luke Ritter (SYR) – 16

SB – Nick Morabito (STL/BRK) – 32

Pitching

(Among Qualified Players)

ERA – Brandon Sproat (BRK/BNG) – 1.31

SO – Jonah Tong (STL/BRK) – 74

WHIP – Brandon Sproat (BRK/BNG) – 0.93

Players of the Week

Offense – Ryan Clifford, 1B/RF/LF Binghamton

Ryan Clifford got off to a weird start in Brooklyn this year, slashing .216/.412/.304/.716 prior to his promotion to Binghamton. That was likely due to the unusual layout of Maimonides Park, and his new stats in Brooklyn seem to prove that. His batting average is about the same, currently at .205, but he’s slugging .534 and has a .911 OPS in 28 games with the Rumble Ponies.

He seems to look more comfortable by the day, and he certainly looked comfortable this past week. He had a 1:1 walk-to-strikeout ratio and had all of his hits go for extra bases. Clifford is one of the top prospects in the Mets system for a reason and he’s starting to show it in his new ballpark.

Pitching – Jose Guevara, P DSL Mets Blue

The Dominican Summer League is newly underway, and Jose Guevara has made an immediate impact. Prior to this week, he had allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings across two starts. Against the DSL Mets Orange, though, he threw six perfect innings and struck out 10. The 19-year-old now has a 2.38 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings.

Several other pitchers, including Dom Hamel, Justin Jarvis, and Jeffrey Colon could have easily been recognized here, but it’s hard not to go with someone who recorded 18 outs and didn’t allow a baserunner.

Upcoming Schedule – June 18-23

• Triple-A Syracuse: vs. Rochester
• Double-A Binghamton: @ Akron
• High-A Brooklyn: vs. Jersey Shore
• Low-A St. Lucie: vs. Fort Myers

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