What minor league players put up the best numbers the opening weeks of the season, March 28th to April 6th?
Joey Meneses
Week: 8 G, 30 AB, .333/.412/.600, 10 H, 8 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 4 BB, 6 K, 1/1 SB (Triple-A)
2024 Season: 8 G, 30 AB, .333/.412/.600, 10 H, 8 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 4 BB, 6 K, 1/1 SB, .417 BABIP (Triple-A)
What a start to the season for Meneses. Ten hits, eight of which were extra bases. In limited innings in 2022 with Washington, he showed excellent batting metric numbers but regressed with more at-bats in 2023 and 2024. So far, while his 89.5 MPH exit velocity and 41.7% hit hard percentage are on par with his poor 2023 and 2024 seasons, his launch angle has been about double as compared to his even his best season, averaging an effective 15 degrees, and he is pulling the ball more. There is certainly some degree of small sample size BABIP luck involved, for sure, but good for Meneses. With virtually the entire Mets line-up and bench struggling except, a sustained hot start could result in some MLB playing time for Meneses when and if David Stearns decides to shake the roster up a bit.
Zach Thornton
Week: 1 G, (1 GS), 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K (High-A)
2024 Season: 1 G (1 GS), 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER (0.00 ERA), 1 BB, 8 K, .250 BABIP (High-A)
In the 2023 MLB Draft, the Mets selected southpaw Zack Thornton with their 5th round pick, the 159th player selected overall. He signed for $350,000, just a bit below the MLB-assigned slot value of $378,000 but did not suit up professionally for the Mets that year. He made his professional debut in 2024 instead, assigned to the St. Lucie Mets. Appearing in 13 games, making 6 starts, he posted a 4.39 ERA in 41.0 innings, allowing 47 hits, walking 16, and striking out 32. He was promoted to the Brooklyn Cyclones in August and finished out his season in Coney Island, posting a 3.67 ERA in 27.0 innings, allowing 30 hits, walking 2, and striking out 22. All in all, Thornton posted a combined 4.10 ERA in 68.0 innings, allowing 77 hits, walking 18, and striking out 54.
The 6’3”, 170-pound left-hander throws from a high-three-quarter arm slot and has plenty of deception in his delivery with a funky, up-tempo delivery that incorporates an extremely long arm action through the back and a slingy, crossfire release. Despite all of the movement in his delivery, Thornton has excellent command.
His fastball hovers around 90 MPH, topping out slightly higher. Thornton throws a four-seam fastball and a two-seam fastball, of which the characteristics of both are similar. While the velocity on his fastballs are not particularly breathtaking, his delivery gives the pitch deception, and they generally record spin rates between 2200 RPM and 2400 RPM, giving his four-seam fastball about 16 inches of induced vertical break, resulting in high whiff rates.
Similarly, none of his secondary pitches jump off the page at you, but he has a full repertoire of pitches, understands when to use them, and can command each and every one of them. While none of his individual pitches grade as much more than average, he does not hurt himself by getting into unfavorable counts and keeps the pressure on hitters. Some consider his slider his best secondary pitch, while others consider his changeup his best secondary pitch, with the caveat that he does not throw it enough.
His slider sits in the low-80s and features two-plane break. His changeup sits in the low-80s with late fade tumble thanks to its 1700 RPM spin rate. His curveball sits in the mid-70s, a big 11-5 breaker. The weak contact that Thornton gets on all three, in addition to his two-seam fastball, is why he maintained a nearly 50% ground ball rate in 2024 and a miniscule 25% fly ball rate.