Minors Weekly Report: Powerful Cyclones Sweep Six-Game Set

A Mets’ minor league affiliate has swept a six-game series for the first time this year. The Brooklyn Cyclones achieved this feat against the Winston-Salem Dash, putting forth a dominant effort where everything was firing on all cylinders.

Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing were among the catalysts, but it was a total group effort to shut down the Dash.

Let’s get into the last week of the Mets’ minor leagues.

Triple-A

The Syracuse Mets dropped four of six games to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs this past week, being outscored 51-35 in the series. The series loss puts Syracuse at 20-25 on the year.

The offense was the main positive takeaway from the series, with several batters performing well.

Jared Young led the team with eight RBIs and had a .917 OPS. He tied with Joey Meneses for the team lead with two home runs. Meneses also had a great week, recording a .994 OPS. Young (.934 OPS overall) has been great in 20 games this year, while Meneses (.747 OPS) has mostly cooled down from his hot start to the year.

Perhaps the best performer of the week was Gilberto Celestino, who led the team with nine hits, including two doubles and a triple. Celestino recorded a 1.074 OPS for the week and raised his season OPS to .768.

With Brandon Sproat and Nolan McLean both struggling, the best start of the week came from Joander Suarez. Suarez allowed two runs, though neither was earned, in 5 2/3 innings while striking out three. Suarez has a 3.21 ERA in six games between Double-A and Triple-A.

Blade Tidwell also impressed, allowing one run in five innings and striking out six. The start from Tidwell lowered his ERA on the year to 4.08.

Double-A

The Binghamton Rumble Ponies won four of their six games against the Hartford Yard Goats, winning three of the final four games to take the series. Two of Binghamton’s losses were by a score of 1-0, while their other loss was by two runs. The Rumble Ponies are now 22-16.

Nick Morabito broke out in a massive way for the Rumble Ponies, going 12-for-26 with a home run, four doubles, three walks, six stolen bases, and six runs. Morabito recorded a 1.294 OPS for the week and raised his season OPS to .758. Morabito was the Mets’ Minor League Player of the Year last season, playing mostly in High-A.

Speaking of breaking out, Kevin Parada had a much-needed strong week, going 5-for-19 with two home runs. The former first-rounder has not looked the part in his professional career to date, and he owns just a .498 OPS in 95 at-bats with the Rumble Ponies this year.

Jett Williams continued his fantastic season by going 8-for-25 with two home runs, two doubles, six walks, and a stolen base. After a mostly lost 2024 season, Williams owns an .898 OPS with the Rumble Ponies and continues to make a case for a promotion to Syracuse.

Ryan Clifford led the team with six RBIs in the series, also recording a home run, two doubles, and four walks. Clifford’s resurgence from early in the year continued as he now own an .819 OPS.

Jonah Tong delivered yet another marvelous start, tossing six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts. In his last two starts, Tong has now allowed just two hits and two walks in 12 2/3 scoreless innings with a whopping 21 strikeouts. His ERA on the year is 2.12.

Zach Thornton and Jack Wenninger also shined, with Thornton allowing two runs in 12 innings across two starts and Wenninger allowing just one run in six innings in his start. Both have been fantastic this year, with Thornton owning a 2.04 ERA between High-A and Double-A and Wenninger owning a 3.19 ERA in Double-A.

High-A

The Brooklyn Cyclones completed their sweep against the Winston-Salem Dash by a combined score of 39 to 18 in a dominant effort both offensively and on the mound. The Cyclones are now 26-12 on the year.

The top of the order was a force, with Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing, and Jacob Reimer all putting together a fantastic series. Benge (.919 OPS), Ewing (1.064 OPS) and Reimer (1.085 OPS) have been among the best players in the Mets’ system this year.

In this last series, Benge recorded two doubles, a triple, and a home run with four walks and a stolen base in 18 at-bats; Ewing recorded two doubles and a triple with five walks and six stolen bases in 18 at-bats; and Reimer recorded three doubles, a home run, two walks, and a stolen base in 18 at-bats.

The pitching in this series was also great, with R.J. Gordon (6 IP, ER, 7 K), Brendan Girton (5 IP, ER, 9 K), and Jonathan Santucci (5 IP, 0 ER, 5 K) each tossing at least five innings and allowing either one or no runs. Both Gordon and Girton have been great this year, while it’s been more of a struggle for Santucci. He lowered his ERA to 6.58.

Noah Hall also had a great start. He allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings, though only one run was earned. Hall has been fantastic this year, holding a 1.82 ERA through eight starts.

Low-A

The St. Lucie Mets took the series from the Daytona Tortugas, winning four of six games. The Mets outscored the Tortugas 42-34 and improved to 21-18 on the year.

Simon Juan had a fantastic week after a mostly rough start to the year. Juan recorded six hits, including a double, a triple, and two home runs for a 1.114 OPS for the series. His overall numbers still aren’t great, as he raised his OPS to .622.

Daiverson Gutierrez also had a solid week, going 5-for-17 with a home run and six walks with just two strikeouts. Gutierrez, like Juan, has not looked good at all this year and owns just a .573 OPS.

Will Watson and Wellington Aracena delivered the best starts of the week for the Mets, with Watson going 4 2/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts and Aracena going four scoreless innings with five strikeouts. Watson (2.77 ERA) has looked great this year, while Aracena (4.43 ERA) has mostly struggled.

FCL Mets

The FCL Mets went 3-3 in six games this past week to move to 4-7 on the year. They own the second-worst run differential in the Florida Complex League at -26.

Branny De Oleo, Vladi Gomez, and Randy Guzman were the top hitters for the week, with each hitting a home run. Each recorded a 1.000 OPS or near-1.000 OPS for the week.

On the mound, Jonathan Jimenez and Daviel Hurtado looked sharp, each going four scoreless innings. Jace Hampson also didn’t allow a run in three innings. Of the group, Hurtado has been the best this year and has not allowed a run in seven innings.

Organizational Leaders

Batting (Among Qualified Batters)

AVG – A.J. Ewing (STL/BRK) – .381

OPS – Jacob Reimer (BRK) – 1.085

HR – Jon Singleton (SYR) – 8

SB – A.J. Ewing (STL/BRK) – 27

Pitching (Among Qualified Pitchers)

ERA – Noah Hall (BRK) – 1.82

SO – Jonah Tong (BNG) – 59

WHIP – Joel Díaz (BRK) – 0.97

Players of the Week

Offense – Nick Morabito, OF Binghamton

Morabito entered the week with a .638 OPS on the year and had such a good six-game stretch, he raised that number by .120 points. The organizational Minor League Player of the Year for 2024 did it all, displaying power, contact, and speed. He’ll be hoping he can use this series as a launching pad for the rest of the season.

Pitching – Jonah Tong, P Binghamton

Jonah Tong continues to be ridiculously good and is in the conversation as the best arm in the Mets’ system, even ahead of Brandon Sproat and Nolan McLean. He doesn’t allow many baserunners, doesn’t allow many runs, and strikes out the world whenever he’s on the mound. The 21-year-old still has Triple-A ahead of him, which has served as an obstacle for many top pitching prospects, but you couldn’t ask for any better of him right now.

Upcoming Schedule – May 20-25

• Triple-A Syracuse: vs. Rochester
• Double-A Binghamton: vs. Richmond
• High-A Brooklyn: @ Jersey Shore
• Low-A St. Lucie: vs. Jupiter

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