Elian Peña Continues Strong Start to 2026

Not much Mets minor league baseball happened with both the Syracuse Mets Triple-A and Binghamton Rumble Ponies Double-A games being postponed due to weather. With the St. Lucie Mets game suspended in the top of the third inning, the Brooklyn Cyclones were the only Mets minor league team to complete a game.

Triple-A

Syracuse (5-4), Buffalo (3-6), Postponed

Makeup on April 8

Jonah Tong will make his third start of the season.

Double-A

Binghamton (1-1), Somerset (1-1), Postponed

Makeup on April 8

Jonathan Santucci will make his second start of the season.

High-A

Brooklyn (0-3) 1, Jersey Shore (2-1) 5

Box Score

• 2B Mitch Voit 1-for-4, 2 K (.385 OPS)
• LF John Bay 0-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K (1.262 OPS)
• SS Antonio Jimenez 0-for-4, 2 K (.685 OPS)
• 1B Corey Collins 0-for-3, 3 K (.125 OPS)
• C Daiverson Gutierrez 1-for-3, 1 BB (.750 OPS)
• 3B Colin Houck 0-for-4, 2 K (.258 OPS)
• RF Yohairo Cuevas 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 SB (.250 OPS)
• DH Vincent Perozo 1-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K (.542 OPS)
• CF Diego Mosquera 0-for-4, 1 RBI, 2 K (.125 OPS)

The bats were largely silent for the Brooklyn Cyclones, amassing only four hits while striking out a staggering fifteen times. Their only run scored came when Diego Mosquera grounded out to the Blue Claws second baseman. Mets 2022 first round pick Colin Houck continues to struggle as he has through his pro career so far, while 2025 first round pick Mitch Voit has started 2026 slow after ending the final couple of weeks of the 2025 season strong. The Cyclones left eight men on base this game and will look to rebound tomorrow against the Blue Claws.

• RHP Joel Díaz (L, 0-1) 3.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 5 K (8.10 ERA)
• RHP Irving Cota 3.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (0.00 ERA)
• RHP Dakota Hawkins 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (27.00 ERA)
• RHP Danis Correa 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER (0.00 ERA)

Joel Díaz struggled heavily to find the zone, walking five across his 3.1 innings of work. He did show off his swing and miss stuff striking out five, but it was not enough to prevent giving up three runs. He did generate an impressive 40% whiff rate in this game. Irving Cota was a bright spot in the game, pitching the largest portion of the game. Cota does not have wipe out stuff, but he has some of if not the best control in the Mets system. 65.2% of his pitches were in the strike zone and it only took him 46 pitches to throw 3.2 innings. Dakota Hawkins struggled to generate swing and miss and gave up hard contact only managing to get two outs, requiring Danis Correa to get the final out.

Low-A

St. Lucie (2-1) 1, Dunedin (1-2) 2, Suspended

To be Completed April 8, at 4PM

Box Score through Three Innings

• SS Elian Peña 2-for-2 (1.071 OPS), 2 SB
• 3B Branny De Oleo 0-for-2 (.000 OPS)
• LF Randy Guzman 0-for-1, 1 K (.368 OPS)
• DH Julio Zayas 0-for-1 (.857 OPS)
• 1B AJ Salgado 1-for-1, 1 R (.812 OPS)
• RF Simon Juan 0-for-1 (.641 OPS)
• C Chase Meggers 0-for-1 (.347 OPS)
• 2B Sam Robertson 1-for-1, 1 R, 1 RBI (.650 OPS)
• CF Sam Biller 1-for-1, 1 RBI (1.200 OPS)

Elian Peña continues his hot start stateside logging two hits and two stolen bases. His first hit was his hardest so far this season and came in at 96.3 miles per hour. There were some concerns about his contact rates in the DSL and while this small sample hardly is enough to fully quell those, his 92.9% zone contact rate these first few games are an encouraging very early return. So far the team in this game is 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position with the sole run coming off a single from Sam Biller. The Mets are currently down one run heading into the remainder of the game and will look to take the lead.

• RHP Jose Chirinos 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (4.50 ERA)

Jose Chirinos struggled to find the zone in his two innings of work with only a 33.3% zone rate. He did generate a 33.3% whiff rate and both his sinker and changeup looked electric. He is able to tunnel those pitches well to confuse batters and both generate good movement. If he can continue to increase his sinker velocity, creating a larger velocity band between the pitches he can make that pairing truly dominant.

 

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