FanPost

Shortstop(s) of the Future?

I know it was you Fredo. You broke my heart. You broke my heart.

-- Michael Corleone upon planting the kiss of death on his brother Fredo.

Future Mets shortstop candidates are seemingly everywhere.

There's Wilmer Flores at Citi actually playing everyday. The latest Vegas flavor of the month, Matt Reynolds, is suddenly getting noticed. After a bumpy post-promotion start, Gavin Cecchini's on a .311/.447/.508 run over his last 15 games at High-A. And Amed Rosario's posting a very nice .285/.332/.377 line for an 18 year old in Brooklyn.

Plus let's not forget about three more shortstops being showcased at Citi this weekend. Of course, Starlin Castro, Javier Baez and Arismendy Alcantara currently play for the Cubs but it's not too crazy to imagine Sandy giving them the once over twice.

Heck, wunderkind Dilson Herrera's even taken a few reps at short. What more could Mets fans ask for?

How about a plus defender with a big-league ready glove and a bat that seems to be developing more than was expected?

If you're interested then enter Wilfredo Tovar.

We got a peek at "Fredo" last September and his glove was clearly big league ready. But in a super small sample of only 15 at-bats it looked like his bat wasn't. So should we write him off for lack of lumber?

His 2013 AA debut left a ton to be desired:

April 2013 AA .205/.250/.253 11.4% k-rate - 2.2% bb-rate

Those are the numbers of an all-glove no stick guy who only sees the bigs if the entire infield gets concussed and DL'd on the same infield pop-up.

No hits and no walks do not a big leaguer make. At least he was making (likely weak) contact. But then when the calendar turned to May - something changed.

May-on 2013 AA .273/.330/.355 9.9% k-rate - 7.6% bb-rate

Well, that's better. Nothing special but certainly suggests he's not a complete waste at the plate. And the increasing walk rate, while still lower than you'd like suggests maybe he was getting more comfortable at the plate. Would he be able to carry it over?

His 2014 season was interrupted by a May 28th injury that kept him on the shelf until beginning a rehab assignment on July 25th before finally returning to AA on August 1.

The injury derailed a promising start to the season that saw him hitting .313/.377/.373 with a 7.8% walk rate but only a 5.4% k-rate. Again - contact, contact, contact. Certainly not particularly strong contact as evidenced by the .060 ISO but with his glove he can still provide value without banging balls off the wall.

But what about post-injury?

Upon his return it looked like maybe Fredo was gonna Fredo after all. After the rehab games he returned to AA with a 4-30 skein that dropped his AA BA from .313 to .283. But since then he's gone 10 for 21 to bump his season long line up to .303/.374/.383 in 201 ABs with an 8.4% walk rate and only 7.1% k-rate.

And if you want to bump up the sample size, since last April he's had 556 AA at-bats in which he's hit .284/.346/.365.

Now Tovar is very unlikely to ever be an offensive force. But do the contact skills and improved walk rate mean he might be able to competently hold down the 8 slot in a big league lineup? Unlikely but his extended performance at AA suggests he's at the very least someone we shouldn't completely forget about. And if he can hit next spring in Vegas maybe he can be a valued utility guy that can deliver above replacement WAR in the event of an extended injury to the starting SS or 2B.

SS of the Future?

Age

Current

wOBA+

Wilmer Flores

8/6/1991 (23/9 days)

MLB

AAA 111

Matt Reynolds

12/3/1990 (23/8 mos)

AAA

AA 128

AAA 111

Wilfredo Tovar

8/11/1991 (23/4 days)

AA

AA 107

Gavin Cecchini

12/22/1993 (20/8 mos)

High A

Low A 104 High A 91

Amed Rosario

11/20/1995 (18/9 mos)

SS A

SS A 105

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