Mets Minor League Players of the Week: Week Fourteen

Jake Mangum

Week: 7 G, 25 AB, .520/.567/.840, 13 H, 3 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 2 BB, 6 K, 1/2 SB (Double-A)

2021 Season: 67 G, 270 AB, .263/.314/.430, 71 H, 18 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, 37 RBI, 15 BB, 64 K, 9/12 SB, .318 BABIP (High-A/Double-A)

Jake Mangum comes from a family of football players: his grandfather, John Mangum, was a defensive tackle for the Boston Patriots from 1966-1967; his father, John Mangum Jr. was a defensive back for the Chicago Bears from 1990-1998; his uncle, Kris Mangum, was a tight end for the Carolina Panthers from 1997-2006. Jake inherited their athletic genes, but he did not follow in the family business, instead choosing the baseball diamond over the gridiron. A standout who lettered all four years he attended Jackson Preparatory School in Jackson, Mississippi, Mangum earned All-State and All-American honors multiple times and was recruited by multiple elite colleges and universities, eventually choosing to attend Mississippi State University after graduating in 2015.

Over the course of his four years there, Mangum hit a combined .356/.418/.456 in 259 games, breaking Eddy Furniss’ SEC NCAA career hits record. He was drafted three times in total, in the 30th round of the 2017 MLB Draft by the Yankees as a draft-eligible sophomore, in the 32nd round of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Mets as a junior, and in the 4th round of the 2019 MLB Draft once again by the Mets as a senior. After signing with the Mets, he was assigned to the Brooklyn Cyclones and hit .247/.337/.297 in 53 games, helping Brooklyn win their first solo championship.

The outfielder began the 2021 season with the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones but was quickly promoted to Binghamton after 9 games, where he has remained since.

A switch hitter, Mangum stands extremely open and spread at the plate, holding his hands high. He uses a contact-oriented approach to slash the ball all around the field. Despite his athletic frame and some additional muscle put on since turning pro, his in-game power is limited by his slash approach, though he certainly has some pull side pop when he is able to connect in his wheelhouse. He is aggressive at the plate, but has steadily improved over the years, taking more walks.

Mangum makes up for his below-average power with his speed, his carrying tool, earning plus and even plus-plus grades by scouts and evaluators. He is not an aggressive base stealer, but is a good base runner. His speed mainly manifests itself in his defense. Mangum is an average-to-above-average defender in center. He possesses plenty of range in thanks to his excellent speed, and his routes have refined since his earlier college days. In addition, he possesses a strong arm as well, even pitching a few innings for Mississippi State in 2017.

Adam Oller

Week: 1 G (1 GS), 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 12 K (Double-A)

2021 Season: 15 G (15 GS), 76.0 IP, 66 H, 39 R, 34 ER (4.03 ERA), 29 BB, 95 K, .249 BABIP (Low-A/Double-A/High-A)

Adam Oller had a natural playmate in his older brother, Josh, and when Josh began playing baseball, Adam followed suit and the Oller brothers quickly began dominating wherever they played. The two pitched together at Concordia Lutheran High School in Tomball, Texas, where Josh lettered three times and Adam four, and helped lead the team to their first playoff appearance in more than a decade in 2012, when Josh was a senior and Adam a sophomore. An all-district and all-state player thanks to his ability at the plate and on the mound, when Adam graduated from Concordia Lutheran, attended Northwestern State University, where his brother was transferring to from Angelina College, and their sibling rivalry resumed.

Adam Oller began his Demons career as a reliver, with head coach Lane Burroughs originally intending on using him as the team’s closer thanks to his calm demeanor on the mound, but after three appearances, he changed his mind and began using him as a starter in order to maximize his excellent stuff. In his three years at Northwestern, Oller emerged as one of the Demons’ best pitchers, quickly becoming their Friday night starter, a role constantly threatened by his brother, who was Northwestern’s Saturday night starter. In total, he posted a cumulative 2.06 ERA in 310.1 innings, allowing 248 hits, walking 75, and striking out 188. He was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 20th round of the 2016 MLB Draft after posting a 1.23 ERA in his junior year and signed with, agreeing to a $70,000 signing bonus.

He spent the remainder of the 2016 season with the Bristol Pirates, their Rookie-level affiliate in the Appalachian League and was promoted to the West Virginia Black Bears in 2017, Pittsburgh’s Short-A affiliate in the New York-Penn League. Oller pitched well in 2017, but his performance took a major step back in 2018, when he split the season with the Black Bears and the Bradenton Marauders, the Pirates’ High-A affiliate in the Florida State League and was eventually given his release at the conclusion of the season, a season that saw him post a combined 6.29 ERA in 73.0 innings. After assessing where he was in his life and whether or not continuing to play baseball was something that he wanted to continue doing, he was convinced by friends and family to give the game one more shot and signed with the Windy City Thunderbolts, a team in the Frontier League. He made 4 starts there, pitching 27.0 innings total, and was impressive, allowing two earned runs while giving up 15 hits, walking 2, and striking out 45. Professional scouts and evaluators took notice, and the San Francisco Giants ended up signing him, assigning him to the Augusta GreenJackets, their Low-A affiliate in the South Atlantic League. He finished out 2019 posting a 4.02 ERA in 87.1 innings there, allowing 94 hits, walking 26, and striking out 93. At the 2019 winter meetings, the Mets selected the right-hander in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft.

Oller throws from a low-three-quarters arm slot with a long action through the back. His fastball sat in the low-90s prior to being released by the Pirates, but since then, he’s added a few miles per hour working with professional and hired coaches to optimize his mechanics, and now the pitch sits in the low-to-mid-90s, 92-95, topping out as high as 96 MPH. He complements his fastball with a curveball, slider, and changeup. At Northwestern, his curveball was his go-to secondary pitch, but the Pirates wanted him to throw the slider more and as such, he has used his slider more over the course of most of his professional career.

Players of the Week 2021

Week One (May 4-May 8): Francisco Alvarez/Tylor Megill

Week Two (May 9-May 15): Antoine Duplantis/Tylor Megill

Week Three (May 16-May 23): Francisco Alvarez/Franklin Parra

Week Four (May 24-May 30): Mason Williams/Franklyn Kilome

Week Five (June 1-June 6): Brett Baty/Alec Kisena

Week Six (June 8-June 13): Carlos Cortes/Josh Walker

Week Seven (June 15-June 20): Luke Ritter/ Justin Lasko

Week Eight (June 22-June 27): Mark Vientos/Oscar Rojas

Week Nine (June 29-July 4): Mark Vientos/David Griffin

Week Ten (July 6-July 11): Jaylen Palmer/J.T. Ginn

Week Eleven (July 13-July 18): Jaylen Palmer/Connor Grey

Week Twelve (July 20-July 25): Jose Peroza/Justin Lasko

Week Thirteen (July 27-August 1): Mark Vientos/Josh Walker