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Luke Voit
Week: 6 G, 19 AB, .368/.556/1.053, 7 H, 1 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 8 BB, 6 K, 0/0 SB (Triple-A)
2023 Season: 36 G, 125 AB, .256/.409/.624, 32 H, 5 2B, 1 3B, 13 HR, 30 BB, 43 K, 0/0 SB, .271 BABIP (Triple-A)
Luke Voit has been a terrific acquisition for the Syracuse Mets. Since joining the team in the middle of June, he is hitting .256/.409/.624 with 13 home runs, tied for third most on the team this season, behind Ronny Mauricio, DJ Stewart, and Mark Vientos (16), and Jonathan Arauz (14). He set a Syracuse Mets record this past week and became the first Syracuse player in general since 1961 to hit home runs in six consecutive games.
His current home run barrage began on July 22, against the Buffalo Bisons. He took starter Paxton Schultz deep in the fifth inning in that game and then followed it up the next day by taking reliever Brandon Eisert deep in the eighth inning to five Syracuse a late-inning lead they would eventually blow. After an off day on July 24, the Syracuse series against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs began. Voit homered in the first inning of that game off of right-hander Nick Nelson to put Syracuse on the board, hit another off of reliever Taylor Lehman the next day, and then on July 28, hit homers in both halves of a double header. In game one- which technically took place the day before because the game was suspended- he took starter Shaun Anderson deep and in game two, he took southpaw Bailey Falter deep.
If the Mets were a team that was in contention, Voit would be an interesting piece to plug into the line-up. The team has gotten very little production from right-handed designated hitters Daniel Vogelbach and Mark Vientos, who are hitting .226/.329/.369 and .227/.278/.348 respectively. Francisco Alvarez has occasionally DH’ed and could continue DH in the future, but in general, the Mets have not gotten much out of a position whose sole function is to provide offense.
Given, however, that the team is so far back in both the division and the wild card race and has openly begun to sell off assets, it would make more sense to give both incumbents- particularly Vientos- more time rather than to call Voit up and see if he can hit in Queens like he has been in Syracuse.
Dominic Hamel
Week: 1 G (1 GS), 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 11 K (Double-A)
2023 Season: 18 G (17 GS), 83.0 IP, 79 H, 47 R, 44 ER (4.77 ERA), 34 BB, 110 K, .337 BABIP (Double-A)
Dominic Hamel started off the year well, but things quickly soured. After allowing 4 earned runs in 15.2 innings in April (2.30 ERA), he allowed 17 earned runs in 23.1 innings (6.17 ERA) in May and 16 earned runs in 22.2 innings (6.35 ERA) in June. In 4 starts in July, Hamel allowed 8 earned runs over 21.1 innings, good for a 3.38 ERA.
His last start was his best start of 2023, with a 76 Game Score, and is tied as his second-best start of his career. Last season, when he was with the Brooklyn Cyclones, he made a start against the Wilmington Blue Rocks in which he posted an 80 Game Score, and then a week later, made a start against the Winston-Salem Dash in which he posted a 76 Game Score.
The right-hander, in a vacuum, should conceptually have better numbers, with a 3.32 FIP and 3.47 xFIP. Going forward, if he is able to keep the ball on the ground more, he might. The right-hander currently has a 22.8% line drive rate, 35.8% ground ball rate, 41.4% fly ball rate, and a 15.7% infield fly ball rate. The 22.8 line drive rate and 41.4 fly ball rates are particularly noteworthy because Hamel has a 10.1% home run/fly ball rate. He had a similar 9.6% during his time with St. Lucie last season, but in order for the right-hander to have any kind of real success, he is going to need to figure out how to minimize the damage hitters do on his fastball and changeup in particular.
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