2016 Mets Minor League Review: Binghamton Mets

Season Record: 63-77 (Eastern League Eastern Division, 5th Place)

A year removed from a playoff appearance, the Binghamton Mets ended the 2016 season with a .450 winning percentage, the worst record in the Pedro Lopez era, a period that goes back five seasons. The Mets’ relative lack of near-ready quality talent hurt Lopez and the Binghamton Mets the most, as the team finished the season near the bottom of the pool in most offensive and pitching categories.

From the very beginning of the season, Binghamton was prone to lengthy hot and cold spells. Often, they would either be the team to sweep their opponent or the team to be swept. In April alone, the team endured a six-game losing streak and then immediately went on a six-game winning streak. By the end of the season, such patterns resulted in the dreadful record that the team posted. It is a shame, too, that the Binghamton Mets, who will be rebranding in 2016, will end their existence on such a low note having enjoyed so much success over the last few years.

Top Hitter

Phil Evans

It wasn’t that long ago that Evans was on the back end of plenty of Mets top prospect lists, but a few seasons of barely hitting his own weight—or in some cases, not even—decimated his value as a prospect. Evans reemerged with a vengeance in 2016, making the most of the opportunity he was afforded when fellow infielder Jeff McNeil sustained an injury—that left him sidelined for what turned out to be the entire season—by winning the Eastern League batting title. Evans hit well for most of the season, but he really turned it on late in the year, hitting .398/.430/.593 in 26 games in August. Still only 24, Evans hasn’t exactly rebuilt his value as a Mets prospect, but he demonstrated that the potential in his bat when he was drafted in 2011 was still there. Evans quietly transformed as a hitter, using the entire field more than ever and hitting the ball to his pull side with more authority than ever before, keys to sustained success in the future.

Runner Up

Dom Smith

The key to Dominic Smith’s baseball maturation has always been his power. With a good eye at the plate and a sweet left-handed swing, his ability at the plate was never in question, but he would have to hit .400 and get on base in every other at-bat in order to thrive as a first baseman without much power. Smith silenced his critics in 2016, clubbing a team high and personal best 14 home runs, all while not selling out and maintaining the high batting average and excellent peripherals we know him capable of. Still only 21, Smith certainly has the potential to improve upon his ability to hit for average and hit for power in 2017.

Top Pitcher

Robert Gsellman

Rob Gsellman began his year in the Binghamton Mets rotation, and though he did not stay there for that long, making only 11 starts before being promoted to the Las Vegas 51s, he posted some of the best numbers of the lackluster 2016 Binghamton Mets pitching corps. Key to his success was the additional velocity that he added and sharper breaking balls that he demonstrated early on in the season, which made him such an important contributor during the Mets’ Wild Card push late in the year.

Runner Up

David Roseboom

David Roseboom took up the mantle of B-Mets closer in early July when manager Pedro Lopez had his hand forced with the trade of Akeel Morris and the promotion of Beck Wheeler, and the left-hander rewarded his manager with an excellent season, successfully converting 14 saves in 15 opportunities. With a fastball sitting in the high-80s/low-90s and an average slider and change-up, Roseboom doesn’t exactly fit the profile of the power left-handed closer found in baseball, but he had success nonetheless, attacking hitters and establishing dominance early, forcing them to make adjustments to him and not the other way around. Holding left-handers to a .141 batting average and right-handers to a .189 batting average, Roseboom will does not seem like he will be limited by platoon splits going forward.