The Mets' system has bore fruit this year, sending the big league club Ike Davis to help stop a sinking ship. It's worked so far, but how much more help do the Mets have on the way?
A classic mid-round college pick who dominated lower levels after turning pro simply because of experience, but has struggled at higher levels because of a lack of pure stuff. Antonini is struggling in Double-A with a 4.66 ERA and a K/9 of 5.1, but does have impeccable control, which means he could be a reliever down the road.
Flores is the next big hitter the Mets have their hopes pinned to, and he's displayed the ability to barrel-up the ball. In his second try in the Sally League (no worries, he's only 18), he's hitting .303/.369/.466. The home runs haven't come yet, but the doubles are there, which is a good indication of future power.
The name most clamored for when the Mets need pitching help, Gee has had an effective but unspectacular career that leads one to believe that he could be an effective back-of-the-rotation starter or fill-in guy. The best sign for Gee is that his strikeout rate in 2010 has spiked slightly to 8.1 K/9, signaling that perhaps he misses enough bats to be more effective than he's given credit for.
Havens was injured for part of the season, but now that he's back in action, he's back to hitting. Havens always displayed good power for a middle infielder, but he's also making better contact so far this year (.289/.366/.511 in limited time). He's also switched over to second base, with the Mets clearly lining him up for the future.
Until he reached Double-A, Holt at least slightly resembled the first round pick he was back in 2008. But since a mid-season promotion to Double-A, Holt's ERA is 7.15, including 9.90 this season, and he's pitched only 20 innings despite making 7 starts (averaging less than 3 innings per start).
A career closer who made his first professional start this season, Kunz is in the Bimghamton rotation just to get as many innings as possible. It's a good plan, but his sidearm deliver isn't fooling anybody, and his 5.29 ERA and K/BB ratio of close to 1 is signaling that he may never be an effective enough pitcher to pitch in the majors.
It's hard to believe F-Mart is only 21 because we've been hearing about him forever, but unfortunately for the Mets, not much has changed during that time. Martinez still has loads of potential and still can't stay healthy. He's currently sporting an OPS of .678 in yet another injury-plagued season.
Tejada is a strange case, because he's been young at every level to the extent that it almost feels rushed, and yet he's not universally considered to be a superstar prospect. He makes good contact but with virtually no power, as evidenced by his .295/.343/.361 line this season, yet it's hard to knock him for it because he's only 20-years-old. He also doesn't control the strike zone enough to be a top of the order hitter. Why the Mets have rushed him so quickly is beyond me, but he clearly needs a full season in Triple-A, if not more.
A successful cup of coffee in the majors last season left Mets' fans foolishly calling for Thole to be handed the starting catching job this season. Luckily the Mets got this one right and sent Thole back to the minors for some more experience. Thole continues to display no home run power but decent doubles power and controls the strike zone well (15 BB/21 K's on the season), but the question remains whether he will ever hit for enough power to be a big-league regular.
