Jeff Paternostro at Amazin’ Avenue fills out his thoughts on the B-Mets who impressed him on a freezing opening weekend. Hint: Zack Wheeler, Darin Gorski and Jefry Marte.

Bats/Throws: Right/Right

Height/Weight: 6’1”, 190

Acquired: NDFA (7/2/07)

Born: 6/21/91 (La Romana, DR)

2011 Rank: 31

Why Ranked Here: I have no idea what to do with Marte anymore. I ranked him way too highly at #12 two years ago and dropped him to #31 a year ago.  After a really unimpressive year in the Florida State League, he went out and ripped up the Arizona Fall League for a month as a 20-year old.  Then he broke his wrist (technically a distal radial fracture) right before the end of the season.

I saw a few games out of him in St. Lucie this year, and he showed an agility at third that I never saw in Savannah in 2010. All the same, the Mets had Marte begin learning first base in the Arizona Fall League.  If he flips across the diamond, he’ll have to hit a lot, and a lot more than he ever has, to have any value.

On the offensive side, there are glimmers of hope as he seems to be making strides with his plate discipline. At St. Lucie, he cut his strikeout rate down to a mere 16%, his lowest ever for a full-season level, and dramatic decline from his 22% in 2009. Marte continued that progress with his plate discipline in Arizona, walking 12 times and fanning just 12 times in 22 games.

Contact and walks?  Sure.  That’s a good start, and he still won’t turn 21 until June.

2011: Marte was second on the St. Lucie Mets in plate appearances (537), doubles (22) and walks (41).

Dr. Pangloss Says: An everyday third baseman.

Debbie Downer Says:  He never hits .270 over a full-season.

Projected 2012 Start: St. Lucie

MLB Arrival: 2014

Basic

Advanced

Yesterday, we looked at a bunch of guys who played third base in the upper minors, and are unlikely to be successors to David Wright.  Today, lets move down the chain and check out two interesting a-ballers who just might be the Mets’ third basemen in a post-Wright world, if the Mets ever have to face a post-Wright world.

A+
On the surface, Jefry Marte had a disappointing regular season, hitting .248/.313/.346 in 131 games for St. Lucie after spending the previous two years in Savannah.  On the other hand, the mitigating factors for Marte are his age – he turned 20 in June, and the league – the FSL hit .262/.331/.386.  Marte got off to a hot start in April (.321/.396/.524 – 5 2B, 4 HR), producing the most extra-base hits of any month in 2011 in his first try.  However, as the summer wore on, he wore down, hitting just .210/.263/.284 in the second half.

One reason for optimism about Marte’s offensive game: his 2011 strikeout rate of 16% was his lowest in his three years of full-season baseball, a full 6% lower than his 22% whiff rate in 2009 with Savannah.   A second reason for optimism: his strong Arizona Fall League performance, in which he had an equal number of walks and strikeouts (12 in 22 games) or 12.8% of plate appearances.  That kind of strike zone control is a very large step forward.

I saw him only very briefly in 2011, but I thought he was moving better at third base than when I saw him in 2010.   I should point out that he started playing first base in Arizona, and it was while playing first, that he broke his wrist.  There’s no good time to break a wrist, but the fall, when he should have a full three and a half months to heal the bone and strengthen the muscles before spring training seems like one of the less bad scenarios.  If you’d asked me in August, where Marte would rate on my list of Mets prospects, I’d tell you he would be way down from his pre-season rank at #31.  Now, I think he’s more “holding.”

A
Lets make this simple: Aderlin Rodriguez, who turns 20 today, has plus power.  His 17 homeruns were the most by a Gnat as a Mets affiliate (exceeding Sean Ratliff’s 15 in 2009), and the most by any Gnat since Luke Montz hit 19 in 2005.  He was just the fourth Gnat as a Mets affiliate (since 2007) to hit double-figures home runs.

Everything else in his game needs work.  He hit just .221/.265/.372 overall.  Sure, some of that was hurt by his .245 BABIP, but that BABIP is also a product of lot of weak contact, especially popups.

He committed 44 errors at third.  His arm, to my eyes is stronger than Marte’s.  His footwork was at least ast good.  However, his hands aren’t as good.  It’s very possible that he will have to slide across the diamond to first base eventually.

Last Friday, Jefry Marte broke his left wrist in the Arizona Fall League.  According to Mets Farm Director Adam Wogan, Marte it was a distal radial fracture and after having surgery in New York, the team expects him to be at “full go before spring training.”

The radius is one of two bones in the arm, and distal simply refers to the wrist end as opposed to the elbow end.

This past season, Albert Pujols suffered a distal radial fracture, and faced with a diagnosis that he would miss 4-6 weeks, (some experts suggested he would need more time), returned to the field in a mere two and a half.  The man is a machine.

In other mortals, wrist injuries tend to linger and sap a player’s power.  There’s never really a good time to break a wrist, but Marte should have plenty of time for a full recovery coming off a statistically impressive showing in the Fall League.

Lets go to the Desert, where the Arizona Fall League is winding down.

Jefry Marte - The 20-year old was removed from the Peoria Javelinas roster on Friday, the 11th after sustaining an injury in the 8th inning of the game on Thursday, the 10th.  I do not know the severity, nor the specific injury, yet.  (EDIT: Marte was involved in a collision at first.)  In 22 games, he hit .333/.436/.538 with four doubles and four homers.  That’s nice, but the most impressive thing is that he drew 12 walks and fanned just 12 times.  His K/BB this past season for St. Lucie was 2.1 (86/41), the best of his his career, and a mark that’s steadily improved over time.  Note too that Marte played as much first base as he played third base in Arizona.

Juan Lagares – Apparently, the 22-year old Lagares was moved from the Taxi Squad to the regular roster as he played Wednesday, Friday and Saturday last week and of course picked up two hits both Friday and Saturday.  He’s now sitting at .364/.407/.582 overall in 55 AB in 12 games.    He’s played mostly centerfield and a few games in right.

Lets make this an every Monday thing and go around winter-ball to check on Mets still playing ball.

We start in the Arizona Fall League where the hitters are enjoying themselves.

Overall:

• Juan Lagares: .432/.462/.730 (16-for-37), 6 XBH – 8 games
• Juan Centeno: .355/.429/.452 (11-for-31), 3 2B, 4 BB, 2 K – 9 games
• Jefry Marte: .308/.431/.558 (16-for-52), 4 2B, 3 HR, 10 BB, 8 K – 15 G
• Wilfredo Tovar: .315/.351/.481 (17-for-54) 7 2B, 1 3B, 3 BB, 3 K – 14 G