Mets Minor League Players of the Week: Week One

Pitcher of the Week

Justin Dunn

2018 Season: 0.00 ERA, 2 GS, 10.0, 8 H, 3 BB, 14 K, .222 BAA

Week: 0.00 ERA, 2 GS, 10.0, 8 H, 3 BB, 14 K, .222 BAA

Dunn only has two games under his belt this season, so we are still working with a very small sample size, but for comparison, in Dunn’s first two games last season, he had a 3.86 ERA in 9.1 innings with 11 hits allowed, 7 walks, and two strikeouts. The right-hander is on the record as saying that he has not changed much physically, but instead, has begun looking at things in a different light. In an interview after his second start last week, he said that he’s not putting a lot of pressure on himself anymore. “I didn’t change much, just the mental aspect of it. Not putting pressure on myself. I took the pressure off, with two full years of pro ball. I’m not in control of a lot of things, so I just have to go out and pitch and do what I’ve know how to do since I was a little kid.”

According to St. Lucie pitching coach Marc Valdes, Dunn was trying to be too perfect last season. He felt the pressure of being a first round draft pick and was trying to live up to those expectations. He was trying to throw a perfect game every time he was on the mound. He was trying to get 81 swings and misses to strike out all 27 batters. Having taken his lumps in 2017, it sounds like Dunn realizes that a lot of the art of pitching is out of his hands.

The numbers are encouraging and obviously it is better for a player to trend in the right direction rather than the wrong direction, but it is still far too early to say that Dunn has gotten past all of the problems that plagued him last season. The many questions and concerns in his profile remain and can only be reevaluated when the right-hander has a much more comprehensive body of work in 2018.

Player of the Week

Ty Kelly

2018 Season: 10 G, 35 AB, .441/.486/1.029, 15 H, 2 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 3 BB, 11 K, 0/0 SB

Week: 10 G, 35 AB, .441/.486/1.029, 15 H, 2 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 3 BB, 11 K, 0/0 SB

Kelly had an amazing week, putting him at or near the top of the leader-board in most offensive categories, but it’d hard to get excited. He’s hit well in Triple-A in the past, but it hasn’t translated into major league success. In 2016, he played 39 games with the Mets and hit .241/.352/.345 and in 2017, he played 69 games with the Phillies and hit .193/.260/.341.

It’s hard to see Kelly having any kind of impact on the 2018 Mets. He’s an organizational depth player, and I really can’t foresee many scenarios where he gets promoted to the big league club. He plays second base, but there are multiple players ahead of him on the depth chart, at the major league level and in the minors. He plays third base, but there are multiple players ahead of him on the depth chart, at the major league level and in the minors. He can play left field, and to a lesser degree, right field, but there are multiple players ahead of him on the depth chart at the major league and minor league level.