With two months left to play this season, will the New York Mets get any reinforcements from their top prospects in their playoff push?
Host Ryan Finkelstein breaks down how players like Luisangel Acuna, Brandon Sproat or Mike Vasil could play roles down the stretch, while also checking in on Brett Baty, Blade Tidwell and Drew Gilbert.
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It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Do the New York Mets have any top prospects who can help them for the stretch run this season? I'll talk about that more on today's show. You are Lockdown Mets, your daily New York Mets Podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all you amazing Mets fans, you're listening to Lockdown Mets, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Thank you for making Lockdown Mets your first listen every day, Lockdown Mets is free and available on all platforms including YouTube. From the show today, we're going to talk a little bit of prospects for a Friday, far important. The first segment, I'll discuss some hitters and AAA that could potentially make an impact on the Big League roster this year. Second segment, we'll talk about some pictures as well as some notes from John Heyman's latest article about what the Mets felt when it came to protecting their top prospects at the deadline, so going through some of those notes there. The final segment, a series preview that lies ahead this weekend, Mets vs Angels as well as the road trip in general. It's going to be a very tough one for this Mets team. Before we get to any of that though, I'm your host Ryan Finkelstein, if you want to find any of my work, follow me on X at Finkelstein-Ryan to also find some of my writing at JustBaseable.com, where I work as the managing editor. Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel, this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily, that's right, there's something for everyone every day all summer long, visit fanduel.com to get started. This year, we have seen the Mets call on some players from Syracuse that have had very big impacts on this roster, namely, you had Mark Fientos, who started the year in AAA, who has been a huge contributor as the Mets starting third baseman, Jose Iglesias has been another one that has been added to the fold, has had a lot of success, Danielle Nunez came up, has been a big part of that bulletin before going on the IL, so we have seen the ability this year for the Mets to dip into AAA and find an impact player. What I wanted to do with two months left and no more trades to supplement this roster is comb through the Syracuse Mets team and see if there's anyone who could contribute down the stretch for this big league club. We're going to start with the two top prospects that are at that level, and that is Drew Gilbert and Luis Angelicuna. Now Drew Gilbert, finally healthy, had a really bad hamstring pull early in the season that's kept them out pretty much all year, he's now played six games back healthy in AAA, he did play game a few games in the complex league, maybe a few in Port St. Lucie as well. So he's getting his legs under him. Now he's back to playing almost every day in Syracuse, which is a great thing for him just to develop. He's two for four in his last two games, but I don't know if I expect Drew Gilbert to play a role from the Mets down the stretch. I think it would take a litany of injuries to their outfield for them to call on Drew Gilbert. I think because they just picked up Jackie Bradley Jr, they added another depth piece where if let's just say right now, again, what goes down. I think Jackie Bradley Jr. would be the guy that was added. He's hitting two forty and six games, but he has two home runs in those six games, still has a great glove out in the center field, put him in all three spots if you wanted to. So I think Jackie Bradley Jr. is sort of the next outfielder up. DJ Stewart just got sent back down. They could always call him again. So while I love to see Drew Gilbert make his debut this year and there is an outside chance with a fantastic August and he's a September call up. I imagine that Drew Gilbert's going to stay there for the rest of the season. I don't know if they have any appetite to put him in the Arizona fall league to get him some more reps. I think Jet Williams will certainly be in the Arizona fall league, so it might make sense to have Gilbert there as well. And then next season, that might be the year where we find this he drew Gilbert get his call and it might not be early in the year because he still needs more time to develop. I think he'd come into spring with an outside shot depending on the roster composition to maybe make the team, but more likely you're looking at a guy that's going to spend next year in Triple A as well and hopefully he can earn a promotion quickly and be part of the team next season. I don't imagine we see Drew Gilbert this year. I'm just happy he's healthy playing games again. And there was a little bit of an uproar today because Luis and Helikuna was scratched from the lineup and Mets fans see the big name. It's flashy. It's a help. He joined in the club. Well, it was just a sore foot that he was scratched for and he has not been hitting well. Now, there was a lot of buzz around him when he had a great month of June. I said, let's see him do it in July before the Mets would actually call him up and hasn't been a good July for him or wasn't a good July for him. He had 236, 274 on base, 281 slug that is a pretty bad 555 OPS for Luis and Helikuna. So I don't think that we see him unless the Mets just want his speed and defense as a September call up. If you remember years ago, the Mets picked up Eric Young Jr. to just be a September call up to still bases basically. I could see them doing that with Hakuna, but I also would think that they might just want them to spend the entire season in AAA and continue to develop. Now, Brett Beatty and DJ Stewart are the other guys outside of Jackie Bradley Jr. that I think are most realistic to get called on because David Sterns was on Mets podcast and he was asked about getting help from the mile leagues. And those are the two names he mentioned as well as saying that there's some Mets pitching down there that could potentially be called on obviously a ton of relievers. But I think there's some starting pitchers that are interesting as well. So we will touch on those. But speaking specifically on Beatty and Stewart, I think DJ Stewart at this point, he'd have to get really hot and he is someone that they like his approach at the plate. I don't think any Mets fans would be happy to see DJ Stewart back. Brett Beatty, I feel like they've been priming him to make a return, but he hasn't really been tearing the cover out the ball. Actually, in July, he hit 231, 378 on base, which is good, but 385 slug. The reason why you wanted him playing every day in AAA is to find his power stroke and to hit for a higher average, getting on base and triplet drawing your walks, that's great, but he's not impacting the baseball. So that's definitely something that I think you'd want to see more of before you call on Brett Beatty to play a bench role. They have been playing him at second base a lot, so that does tell me that they are either hoping that he can contribute down the stretch or just trying to prime him as a contingency plan if something happens to a Jeff McNeil or Jose Iglesias. But Brett Beatty is not swinging the bat well enough. I still think we've probably seen him at some point down the stretch if nothing else as a September call up, but he just hasn't really hit the cover out the ball. Like you'd want to see him do facing that inferior competition in AAA, he's got a little bit of a struggle for him. A guy who's had no problems hitting AAA pitching is Luke Ritter, who's now homered in three straight games. In the month of July, he hit 325 with a 454 on base and a 558 slug. He's got 22 home runs and 77 RBIs and 95 games. If the Mets are looking for a lefty masher, Luke Ritter is the guy. I'm curious if we're going to see him this year because he doesn't have that top prospect shine to him, right? I don't even know if he's considered a top 20 prospect in the Mets system, probably not because he's 27 years old, but the guy has absolutely mashed in the minor leagues this season. So I am very curious if we get a Luke Ritter cameo at some point. I'm rooting for him because I would just like to see it. The guy has hit so well, you just want to see him get rewarded for that, see him get that day of service time, at least in the big leagues. I don't know if it's going to happen, but really if you're looking at impact bats in AAA, this guy right now is their best hitter in that lineup. So I wonder if at some point a spot could open up for him. What does Ben Gamel do for you right now after you picked up Jesse Winker? I think because Sterling Marte is on the mend, Ben Gamel is just a placeholder and I get that. There's not really a reason to bring up Luke Ritter when he's probably not going to have any clear road towards playing time, but if you have a setback to Marte, if something happens where you decide you need a bat and particularly a right handed bat to crush left handed pitching, don't be surprised if Luke Ritter makes his MLB debut this season. Now on the pitching front, there is one starter who is really starting to find his rhythm in AAA that could represent even better pitching depth than Tyler or McGill. I want to talk about him. I want to talk about some reports about the match trade deadline strategy as well as the top pitching prospect in the system right now. So we got a lot to discuss in just a minute. First, though, a word from our sponsors. Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. I love sports. I love them so much. 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Every day, all summer long, so head over to fanduel.com/lockdown and start making the most out of your summer, FanDuel, official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball. Today's episode is also brought to you by Supply House. Get supplies from the site that's made for skilled trades, supplyhouse.com. Supplyhouse.com is a reliable way to order plumbing HVAC and electrical products online with their easy to use website which is packed with helpful resources and the latest product info to help you get the job done right. Get experts to support an industry-leading service from the friendliest folks in the business and talk to a real person every time. Pros in the skilled trades can get a competitive edge by joining Supply House's Free Trade Master program where every trade master gets access to a dedicated phone line free shipping and discounts on every order. Join the thousands of trade pros already benefiting from their free membership at supplyhouse.com/t-m in order of plumbing, HVAC and electrical supplies from anywhere with just a few clicks at supplyhouse.com. Deb today with all the latest in the world of sports by checking out, locked on sports today streaming 24/7 on YouTube. Now let's look at the pitching side of things here and first things first, I want to mention that Tyler Zuber made his first appearance in the Mets organization. Zuber was acquired at the deadline from the raise, he was optioned at AAA, did not have a good first appearance, gave up two runs on three hits, home run in one inning pitched. So we'll see how he continues to fare. There's a lot of arms clearly if you want to talk about relievers who could impact them at this year whether it's guys like Matt Gage who has made not an appearance but he was on the roster and Zuber being another one, Chantaro Fujinami is still in AAA now after getting outreaded there following clearing waivers. A lot of different guys, Bres Montes Deoka is now on the IEL again actually so maybe Tom and John Rehab hasn't gone great from, we'll talk about those guys as they materialize because the roster churn is pretty great when it comes to relievers. When it comes to the starters who are now going to be depth pieces down the stretch for the Mets, obviously Tyler McGill is the sixth starter, he's in line whenever the Mets need another arm but there are a couple of top prospects to talk about. Blade Tidwell is the first one, he's got a 5-5-6 ERA in his first 10 games pitch in AAA, nine of those being starts. I don't think we see Tidwell this year, I don't even know if we see him early next year, he is a really exciting prospect for the Mets but it might take some time and there is some relievers there so for now I think Tidwell is right where he should be, he should stay in triplet for the rest of the season, possibly a lot of next season but once he starts really rolling there that is a piece to be pretty excited about. Now Dom Hammel, I don't expect to see him this year either, he did have a good start his second to last time out where he struck out nine across six strong innings pitched only or did not walk any actually, gave up a couple of runs but his most recent start he gave up three, didn't make it out of the fifth, still got an ERA in the sixes, I don't think we see Dom Hammel. The guy I really wanted to talk about is Mike Vassel because he is actually starting to pitch himself into that big league depth conversation, he had a terrible start to the season but has slowly but surely figured it out and four starts in June at a 4-2-6 ERA and on June 26 he made it through six innings for the first time all year since then throughout the month of July he went six or more in four of six starts so five of his last seven starts he has made it through six innings, in July he pitched to a 3-3-8 ERA and his last start was his best yet in triple A, went seven innings, allowed one run on four hits, walked to, hit a batter and struck out eight. So all of a sudden Mike Vassel is right there, I'd say he's seventh on the depth chart right now and that means you're very close to the big leagues, obviously that's could always stretch out Jose Budo instead of going to a Mike Vassel and that might be their preferred option if they were to need two starting pitchers and also I guess the other factor that you could look at is if Tyler McGill is really struggling in triple A Vassel could jump over him so he's getting into that conversation is the only reason why I wanted to mention him also that's a guy that I think was probably shocked at the deadline as a prospect to match a willing to trade, I think that would hold true in the off season as well if they needed to make an addition through the trade market. Mike Vassel is not one of their top top tier pitching prospects that's reserved for Christian Scott, Brandon Sprote, Jonah Tong and then I would even put Blade Tidwell in that conversation before I got to Vassel and then I think Vassel's in a group that previously also had Tyler Stewart belong to it as well as Dom Hamill. I think that if Mike Vassel can have two more strong months here and close out the season with let's just say three months in triple A with a sub three five ERA that all of a sudden is a pretty attractive piece if the Mets need to dangle somebody in the off season. Now speaking of trades, there was some interesting notes in a article from John Haman today for the New York Post talking about the Mets trade deadline strategy when it came into prospects. He said the Mets checked on big relief stars, Tanner Scott, Carlos Estebes, Pete Fairbanks, Kyle Finnegan and others, but understandably didn't want to mortgage the future while barely in wild card position. So the Mets made sure to keep top prospects, Jet William, Drew Gilbert, Ryan Clifford, Louisa and Helikunya, Blade Tidwell, Brandon Sprote and others. Here's the interesting caveat. He says the 100 mile power sprote is a late call up candidate, especially with the bullpen remains an issue. I've been talking about Brandon Sprote joining this bullpen for a couple months now on this show. It's just an intriguing possibility. There's been a while where I've just sort of thrown it out there and I did a whole podcast on it not that long ago about how he might be the Mets secret weapon down the stretch. Just like Corbin Burns was for a Brewers team that the that David Stern's had. Ken Redford was 2017 or 18. I think it was 18 where the Brewers went to game seven of the NLCS and Corbin Burns did not give up a run. I think he gave up two runs across six playoff appearances that year and it was fantastic in September. So you just have to keep an eye on that. If there is one top prospect who will make his debut this year, to me, I would put my money on Sprote over a Koonya. Actually, I don't know about that, but Koonya as a September called for defense and speed still, I feel like both of those guys end up making a cameo at some point. But yeah, if I had a lean on, here's what I'd say. The greater impact. If there's a top prospect that could have a great impact on this team this season, it's broke. I don't think a Koonya would make an impact. I don't think Gilbert would make an impact. Those guys aren't going to get everyday reps this year. I don't even imagine Mike Vassel would make a massive impact. I think it would probably be just a spot start in a specific instance where maybe the Mets needed an arm Brandon Sprote could be a difference maker in that bullpen. He could go fastball change up alone and be a weapon out of the bullpen. So, I am very, very curious if that happens. Ultimately, if it doesn't, it means that the bullpen has held up and you don't need that type of an arm to be inserted into the fold and you can just get him primed and ready to go to potentially be part of the rotation early next season. But Sprote is quickly becoming one of the top prospects in this system. He might finish the year as the top prospect in this system. So, stay tuned for those type of rankings once we get to the end of the year. A couple more interesting notes from John Heyman's article, the Mets fielded significant interest in Brett Beatty, both improved defense and an 897 triple AOPS. They still like him. I think that's, think about the conversations the Mets were having. A lot of conversations on relievers. And so, if the Mets didn't want to part with Brett Beatty for a leaf pitcher, I can understand that. Here's a really interesting note as well. He said teams did have the impression that Giants considered dealing two times a young winner, Blake Snell, and the Yankees Dodgers, Padres, Orioles, Cubs, and Rangers checked in. The Mets did not apparently check and according to John Heyman, and then here's the other part of it, sources say Giants wanted a top 100 prospect and for the acquiring team, take responsibility for the contract, which included a $30 million 2025 player option. Maybe David Serns just doesn't like Blake Snell, but if you're telling me that a top 100 prospect and taking on the contract, it's all would have taken to get Blake Snell. What top 100 prospect? Like did the Mets at least place a phone call and say, Hey, we listen to the top 100 prospect. Can we do a straight swap? Because if it was me and you could have essentially rented the least in a cocoon in your system for a year and basically have traded Max Scherzer at the end of his contract with money to take on Blake Snell, but for a playoff push, where you were in the race, I would have made that trade in an absolute heartbeat. So the fact that the Mets didn't even check in, I don't love that. But then at the same time, they might have been looking for a specific top 100 prospect. It might have been if the Mets did even check in it again, John Heyman saying they didn't the deal might not have gotten done unless it was sprout, you know, jet Williams drew Gilbert, and I wouldn't have traded any of those guys for Blake Snell. But it's interesting. Definitely an interesting report. Last piece of minor league news before we preview the weekend, serious allies ahead, Sean rude fully made his second rehab appearance. This one in double A that was on July 31st and he struck out the side. So Sean read fully getting closer and closer to making his return. We're going to see him before Daniel Nunez or Reed Garrett, which makes sense because when I'm mistaken, he was the first one to hit the IL and he has been a very good picture for the Mets in leverage this season. So I'm excited to see them get him back. Don't expect it over the weekend. I would say the earliest you might see is against the Cardinals or maybe he meets you in Colorado. I think kind of worst case scenario. You don't see him until the very telling end of this road trip, if not the homestand, but I sort of feel like at some point on this road trip, the Mets are going to get Sean rude fully back relievers don't need that many appearances to get themselves right. You might want to have him throw it back to back. I imagine they're going to get him into a game, you know, on Friday and then maybe get him into one on Sunday and then one potentially on Tuesday and then needs good to go. I don't know. So we'll see exactly when Sean read fully makes his return, but again, probably fairly soon. Now the Mets are going to face off against the Angels this weekend. I will preview that series of lies ahead in just a minute. First though, a word from our sponsors. Today's episodes brought to you by liquid IV. Get hydrated with electrolytes, essential vitamins and clinically tested nutrients from the number one powdered hydration brand in America, talking about liquid IV and what I love about liquid IV is both its convenience and how it makes me feel. All you got to do, tear the packet, pour and enjoy and for me, I'm a runner. I like to go out, go for my jogs in the afternoon and sweat a lot in South Florida. You need that hydration. When I usually come back for runs before liquid IV, it would take me multiple glasses of water to feel hydrated with liquid IV, one glass and I'm feeling great and I love the strawberry lemonade flavor that is my go to. 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If you want to be locked on meds insider, find the link in the episode description, go to subtext.com/lockedonmetz. The meds kick off a 10-game road trip in Anaheim on Friday night and it is a brutal trip because the meds had to make up a game that got rained out against the Cardinals earlier this season. That's an important game. The Cardinals are right in the thick of this wildcard race so the meds are going to play three games over the weekend in Anaheim and they're going to fly to St. Louis for a makeup game that would have been an off day on Monday. Then they're going to fly to Colorado for three games, then go to Seattle for three more before finally getting an off day and heading home for a nine-game homestand. If you want to think about that, there's no off days between their homestand and the next road trip, which is in San Diego. The meds are going to get a nice nine-day respite and they're going to head right back to the West Coast play a pair of very important series. Luckily there is an off day between them, I believe, but they're going to have to play the Padres for four, then I think there's an off day to then play the Diamondbacks for three. So this is really kind of a make or break stretch of their season here. God do well in this road trip. You got to come home and defend there, play a strong homestand, then you play really your two-chief rivals I would say right now as far as this wildcard push is concerned, it's going to be a tough road a-ho for sure. Now the Angels are an easy part of this stretch. They're 47 and 62 on the season, this is not a great baseball team. You got to take advantage when you get these teams in the schedule, particularly because the meds schedule gets much tougher at the end of this month, as I just mentioned, as well as into September. So take advantage of these teams when you face them. Game one is going to be Paul Blackburn versus Tyler Anderson and the meds really got a raw deal because there's no world where Tyler Anderson should still be on the Angels. They should have traded them. What were they thinking? Anderson has a 2-9-6 ERA in this season, been so good and the price for starting pitching was remarkably high at this deadline, a complete malpractice. The Anderson is on the Angels, if anything, he should be on the meds right now. But the meds got a tough left to go up against in this outing. Paul Blackburn, we got to see what he can do in his meds debut. That's going to be an exciting game to watch for sure. Game two on Saturday, David Peterson versus Jose Soriano, Soriano in his second year in the big leagues. First year as a starter, he's got a 3-6-9 ERA. He's been very effective. So tough for match up than you might think. Sunday, Jose Quintana versus Griffin canning. Canning has a 5-5 ERA on this season, so maybe a nice, easier rubber match if it gets to it. But ideally, the meds will handle business and take as many of these games as they can. One thing I want to do as we head into these weekends in particular throughout the rest of the season is sort of take a look at the landscape. What else is going on in this wildcard race? Who's playing against each other? Are there some teams that have tough match ups? Where can the meds get an edge in this race? So to take you around the wildcard, Cardinals are playing the Cubs right now and I believe a four-game set and they were walked off on Thursday night in that game. So the Cubs get a little bit up in the wildcard race. That's fine. They're pretty far back. Cardinals lose a game. That's a good sign. Hopefully, the Cubs maybe get them down bad before the meds have to come in and play the Cardinals for a game. That series taking place in Chicago, so they're going to have to travel short distance, but they'll have to travel on Sunday as well. Diamondbacks are playing the Pirates this weekend. I wonder if Paul Skienes is pitching. Let's just take a quick look. Pirates pitching probably. So I'm just curious. You want to see the Pirates win those games, I would say, for sure it's Luis Ortiz, Mitch Keller, and Paul Skienes. That's a rough weekend for the Diamondbacks with that Christian Walker in the lineup. I'll tell you that much. They got Fat, Montgomery, and Ryan Nelson going. So Pirates should win that series, which would be good for the Mets for the Diamondbacks. I've been as hot as the Mets and that's really the team that, as I talked about yesterday's show, I'd be most concerned about taking them at spot in the wildcard. So tough series for them against Pittsburgh. The Braves got an easy one. They're playing the Marlins. The Rockies are squaring off against the Padres. So the Padres got an easy one as well. Those two teams are maybe going to create some separation as the top two wildcard teams. Giants and Reds who are on the fringes of the race are playing each other, and then about rounds it off there. So this is an opportunity for the Mets here. You got the Padres and the Braves who are playing some easy teams as well, but the Diamondbacks could lose some games this weekend, the Cardinals losing games this weekend. This is a chance to get up on those teams and grab that wildcard spot. Again, let me confirm where the Mets are in the wildcard standings before we close. Didn't check today's the Mets did not play. They're still half a game back of the Diamondbacks. So here's your opportunity maybe get a little bit of traction. Diamondbacks have won three in a row. So we'll see how they fare against a Pirates team that is two games over 500 and has there are three best pitchers right now, I would say, squared off for the series should be a lot of fun. As always, thank you all for listening. I'll be back for a show on Saturday, assuming that we get a nice game on Friday night. So make sure you follow rate and reviews so you don't miss it. If you're watching on YouTube, hit that subscribe button or trying to get to 10,000 subs by the end of the season. So I appreciate all of you who continue to subscribe, follow me on acts at Finkelstein Ryan, follow the show at Lockdown Mets. Thank you for making locked on Mets. And first, listen to your first watch every day. Now for your second watch, head over to YouTube and check out the first ever 24 seven streaming channel that covers everything in the world of sports on YouTube talking about locked on sports today with our local experts from each team, legal experts from each league. You find locked on sports today streaming 24 seven on YouTube and on Amazon Fire TV. A prime member. You can listen to this locked on podcast ad free on Amazon music. Download the Amazon Music app today!
