Mets Minor League Players of the Week: Week Fifteen

Jake Mangum

Week: 6 G, .500 /.519/.667, 12 H, 2 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 KK, 2/4 SB (Double-A)

2021 Season: 73 G, .282/.331/.449, 83 H, 20 2B, 4 3B, 7 HR, 38 RBI, 16 BB, 65 K, 11/16 SB, .338 BABIP (High-A/Double-A)

This is Mangum’s second week in a row as Player of the Week, and he is keeping up the torrid pace that he set last week. After hitting .520/.567/.840 in Binghamton’s series against the Portland Sea Dogs last week, he hit .500/.519/.667 in their series against the Hartford Yard Goats. In fact, he has been extremely hot all month, hitting .481/.516/.704 in 14 games in August after hitting .222/.289/.333 in 21 games in July.

Mangum is currently running an extremely high BABIP during this current hot streak- .500!- but has a reasonable .338 BABIP on the season, and is the kind of player who should be able to maintain a high BABIP in general given that he is speedy on the basepaths and uses the entire field. Currently, he has a 44.6% pull rate, 22.5% up the middle rate, and a 32.9% opposite field rate, making him a very balanced hitter. Mangum seemingly may be benefitting from the new Double-A shift rules (“…the defensive team must have a minimum of four players on the infield, each of whom must have both feet completely in front of the outer boundary of the infield dirt.”), as he has a 49.3% ground ball rate. But then again, Ichiro was able thrive while maintaining a 55.4% ground ball rate. I’m not saying Jake Mangum is Ichiro, but Jake Mangum is Ichiro.

The outfielder has always been a player on the periphery of our top prospect lists, just sneaking into our Top 25 list in 2020 and just missing it in 2021. Given the state of the Mets’ farm system and Mangum’s performance thus far coupled with his strengths and weaknesses as a player, it is looking more and more like he will be on our list in 2022.

Adam Oller

Week: 1 G (1 GS), 6.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 13 K (Triple-A)

2021 Season: 16 G (16 GS), 82.2 IP, 68 H, 39 R, 34 ER (3.70 ERA), 30 BB, 108 K, .308 BABIP (Double-A/Triple-A)

Over the course of the last month or so, Adam Oller has been on a roll, and this is his second week in a row as Player of the Week. He has logged triple-digit strikeout totals in his last three starts and has posted game scores of 59, 69, 71, 83, and 82 over the last calendar month, posting a cumulative 1.14 ERA in 31.2 innings, allowing 15 hits, walking 4, and striking out 49. His recent promotion to Triple-A does not seem to have phased him, as he dominated the Worcester Red Sox in his Syracuse debut.

Oller was drafted by the Pirates in the 20th round of the 2016 MLB Draft, spending time in their organization before being selected by the Mets in the Triple-A phase of the 2019 Rule 5 Draft, and ironically, the Mets’ 20th round selection in the 2016 MLB Draft is also having success this season. Selected a few picks before Oller, the Mets picked a left fielder out of Lake Howell High School in Winter Park, Florida, Carlos Cortes. He did not sign, of course, and chose to honor his commitment to the University of South Carolina. After two seasons there, the Mets selected him again in the 2018 MLB Draft and successfully signed him, and enigmatic Cortes is currently hitting .270/.329/.517 in 68 games with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies.

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

Week Fourteen (August 3-August 8): Jake Mangum/Adam Oller