- Marc and I dont throw this term around loosely, as the Mets may have an enigma with this 20 year-old righty. Selected in the 14th round in 2016 out of East Lake High School (Florida), the 6’3″ 210 lb James had an outstanding debut season working in relief with the GCL Mets. He put up decent peripherals, as a starter, in 2017 at Kingston in the Appy League. He further impressed the Mets coaching staff during minor league spring training to begin 2018. Impressive enough that they gave him the opportunity to debut in full season ball at Double-A Binghamton. He proved it just wasn’t a cavalier decision, as he went out and threw 4 innings, giving up one run, striking out four, and only one walk. Through some movement in the Mets system, James now finds himself settled at St Lucie, where he threw another strong start yesterday. Let’s keep an eye on this youngster.
- The blurb above could be a future storyline in the making, but Beasley has been quietly creating his own UTR storyline. A 30th round pick from last season out of Clemson University, the 6’3″ 215 lb right-hander has already worked his way into the HiA level. He debut across two rookie levels in 2017 and was being stretched out this season at LoA Burlington. Beasley didn’t allow more that two earned runs in any of his 6 starts with the Bees and holding opponents to a .198 batting average. Despite 4 unearned runs yesterday in the 1st inning, Beasley went on to throw 4 scoreless frames to keep that streak alive with his promotion at Inland Empire.
LoA Mentions – Starters LHP Bruce Zimmermann (LoA Rome – Atlanta) 23 years old 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, 2.12 ERA, Win 7-2 RHP Cody Bolton (LoA West Virginia – Pittsburgh) 19 years old 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 0.00 ERA, Win 2-0
- Full season debut for the 6th round pick in 2017
HiA Mentions – Starters LHP Nick Fanti (HiA Clearwater – Philadelphia) 21 years old 6 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 6.46 ERA, Win 1-2
- Fanti has gotten off to a rough start in the Florida State League. Yesterday’s stat line is what we became accustomed from the 31st round pick in 2015. Fanti was a 2017 “One to Watch” which he backed up to be named a 2017 Organizational All-Star. He made 21 starts with LoA Lakewood and finished 9-2 with 121 strikeouts, 28 walks, and only 87 hits over 120.1 innings. Though two HiA starts, Fanti had a 9.64 ERA (10 ER in 9.1 IP) with 15 hits and only 3 strikeouts. The ten days in-between starts did wonders for the 6’2″ 185 lb southpaw with his six innings of one-hit ball yesterday.
National League – Relief RHP Brendan King (LoA South Bend – Chicago) 23 years old 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 3.28 ERA, Win 2-1 American League – Relief RHP Jake Elliott (LoA Kannapolis – Chicago White Sox) 23 years old 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, BB, 4 K, 1.84 ERA
Under The Radar Minors 