Minors Weekly Report: Drew Gilbert, A.J. Ewing Rake for St. Lucie

It hasn’t been the best start to the season for the Mets’ minor league affiliates. Just one team, High-A Brooklyn, has a winning record through the start of the year. However, several minor leaguers are performing well, including A.J. Ewing and Drew Gilbert in St. Lucie. Even in a small sample size, Ewing looks like a breakout candidate this year, while Gilbert has been crushing Low-A pitching while on rehab.

Triple-A

For the second straight week, the Syracuse Mets (5-9) dropped their series, winning just two of six and scoring just 16 runs in six games against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

Gilberto Celestino paced the team in batting average, on-base percentage, and OPS through the six-game series, going 6-for-16. Despite leading the team in those categories, he didn’t record any extra-base hits and only drove in one run.

Joey Meneses was the offense’s other standout performer as he continues to build on a strong start to the season. Meneses went 7-for-22 against the IronPigs with three doubles and five RBIs. Through the early going, Meneses leads the International League with 11 doubles, four more than the next highest batter. Meneses and his .924 OPS lead the Syracuse Mets by a lot 14 games into the season.

Brandon Sproat had his best start of the season so far in this series, striking out six batters in 4 1/3 innings while allowing one run. He allowed two hits and two walks in the effort.

Brandon Waddell, who has been excellent to start the season, delivered the best overall start of the series, tossing five scoreless innings. He allowed a hit and two walks and struck out four batters. Through three starts, Waddell owns a sparkling 1.35 ERA.

Out of the bullpen, Anthony Gose tossed two more scoreless innings to bring him up to six scoreless on the young season. Rico Garcia also impressed, allowing no runs in 2 1/3 innings. He has a 1.93 ERA in four appearances.

Double-A

Nick Lorusso had by far the best series of any of the Rumble Ponies’ bats. The 24-year-old went 4-for-12 with all of his hits going for extra bases—three doubles and a home run.

Nick Morabito has struggled in his first action above the High-A level, but he had a decent week by leading the team with five hits in the five-game set. He recorded one double and two RBIs and also stole five bases. On the downside, he struck out eight times in 18 at-bats and didn’t record a walk.

Nolan McLean and Jack Wenninger have been the two standout pitchers for Binghamton in the early going. They both recorded their second starts of the year in this series, and each delivered a performance of five innings, allowing just one run each. Wenninger especially impressed, striking out nine with just two hits and a walk allowed, while McLean struck out six and allowed four hits and three walks.

Joander Suarez had an excellent outing out of the bullpen, tossing four scoreless innings while allowing just two hits. He also struck out six in the effort. That was Suarez’s first outing of the year after recording a 3.92 ERA in Binghamton a year ago.

High-A

The Brooklyn Cyclones (6-3) split their series against the Hudson Valley Renegades, keeping them three games above .500. Both teams scored 22 runs in the six-game set.

Chris Suero continued his rollicking start to the year, going 4-for-16 with three doubles and a home run. He was tied for the team lead in the series as well with three RBIs. Through eight games, Suero has a monster 1.234 OPS.

Eli Serrano has also been fun to watch in Brooklyn, both at the plate and in the field. He added four more hits to his ledger in this series, including a double and a home run. He also stole three bases. His OPS is just a notch above 1.000.

Boston Baro has not been off to the same kind of start as Suero or Serrano, but he started to heat up against Hudson Valley. He recorded his first two extra-base hits of the year—a triple and a home run—and had an .818 OPS for the series. For the year, it currently sits at .661.

Several pitchers delivered scoreless efforts against the Renegades, including Noah Hall (4 2/3 innings, eight strikeouts), Anthony Nunez (3 2/3 innings, eight strikeouts), Zach Thornton (five innings, six strikeouts), and Joel Díaz (four innings, five strikeouts). R.J. Gordon also impressed in two starts, allowing just two runs in 7 2/3 innings while striking out seven.

Low-A

The St. Lucie Mets (4-5) split their series against the Lakeland Flying Tigers despite some much-needed offense from the team. In six games, St. Lucie scored an impressive 38 runs and gave up 29.

Much of the offense in this series came from Drew Gilbert, who played in four games as he rehabs an injury. The former Astros prospect recorded eight hits in 15 at-bats, including two doubles and two home runs. He also walked three times without striking out. Even if it’s just in Low-A, it’s great to see Gilbert crushing the ball after struggling during an injury-plagued 2024 campaign.

As great as Gilbert was, you could argue A.J. Ewing was even more impressive. The 2023 draft pick struggled in St. Lucie a year ago but has looked extremely comfortable thus far. Against Lakeland, Ewing went 11-for-22 with two doubles, a home run, and a whopping nine RBIs. He also stole three bases. In eight games, he owns a 1.204 OPS.

In two games including one start, 2024 seventh round draft pick Will Watson looked stellar against the Flying Tigers. Watson tossed 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out nine. These appearances were just the third and fourth outings of Watson’s professional career, so the early success is very encouraging.

Matt Allan also continues to be the best story of the young minor league season, as he made his second start of the year. Allan struck out three in 3 2/3 scoreless innings, and he’s now thrown 6 1/3 scoreless innings to start his first season since 2019.

Out of the bullpen, Irving Cota shined yet again, tossing four scoreless innings with three strikeouts. The 21-year-old has now tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings to start the year.

St. Lucie was aided this week by two rehabbing Mets:

• Francisco Alvarez had a hit and two walks in 12 plate appearances. He’ll play with Double-A Binghamton.
• Jeff McNeil went 2-for-5 with a walk, and he’ll continue playing with St. Lucie Tuesday through Thursday this week.
• Both should be playing with Syracuse by the end of the week.

Organizational Leaders

Batting

AVG – A.J. Ewing (STL) – .448

OPS – Chris Suero (BRK) – 1.234

HR – Chris Suero (BRK) – 3

SB – D’Andre Smith (BRK) – 6

Pitching (min. 5 innings)

ERA – Felipe De La Cruz (BNG)/Joel Díaz (BRK)/Zach Thornton (BRK)/Will Watson (STL) – 0.00

SO – Jack Wenninger (BNG) – 16

WHIP – Zach Thornton (BRK) – 0.60

Players of the Week

Offense – A.J. Ewing, OF/2B St. Lucie

It’s tough to pick between Ewing and Drew Gilbert, but Ewing gets the nod simply because Gilbert is a top prospect and would otherwise be in Syracuse if he weren’t rehabbing. The Mets have high hopes for A.J. Ewing, who is still just 20. The fourth-round draft pick from 2023 has been excellent to start the season after he had just a .689 OPS in 71 games for St. Lucie last year.

Pitching – Will Watson, P St. Lucie

Will Watson is another player the Mets are excited about. The 22-year-old out of USC has yet to give up a run in 7 2/3 innings this year and has only allowed five baserunners. There have been some standout pitchers in the Mets’ system early this year, and Watson has been among the best. He could be part of a great 2024 draft class.

Upcoming Schedule – April 15-20

• Triple-A Syracuse: vs. Buffalo
• Double-A Binghamton: @ Reading
• High-A Brooklyn: @ Aberdeen
• Low-A St. Lucie: vs. Tampa

The post Minors Weekly Report: Drew Gilbert, A.J. Ewing Rake for St. Lucie appeared first on Metsmerized Online.