The Rockaway Wave
Originally published September 21, 2023
After a late-season push, the Brooklyn Cyclones fell just short of the playoffs in 2023, finishing with the same record as the Jersey Shore BlueClaws but losing on the tiebreaker.
Still, it was quite the eventful season out at Maimonides Park. At one point or another, the ‘Clones had seven of the Mets’ current top-13 prospects on MLB Pipeline pass through Coney Island.
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest names to play for Brooklyn this season, along with some more under-the-radar guys who had breakout campaigns.
Jett Williams
The current No. 3 prospect in the organization and the No. 14 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, Williams has started to skyrocket up prospect boards thanks to an outstanding 2023 season. Starting the year with Low-A St. Lucie, he earned a promotion to High-A Brooklyn at the beginning of August and even finished the year with a handful of games at Double-A Binghamton.
For the season, Williams hit .263/.425/.451, good for a .876 OPS across the three levels. He hit 13 home runs, 22 doubles and eight triples, stole 45 bases while only being caught seven times, and walked over 100 times. In 36 games with the Cyclones, his OPS was 1.018.
He played just six regular season games for the Rumble Ponies after his promotion to Double-A, but did hit a 3-run home run in the first game of their minor league playoff series.
He was also named the organizational Minor League Player of the Year by the Mets on Wednesday.
Williams said his goal is to be a September call-up in 2024.
“Finish out this season strong,” Williams said. “Start in Double-A next year, and then hopefully, it’s a pretty big goal, but hopefully be a September call-up next year.”
For an extended look at Williams, check out The Brooklyn Cyclones Report from just last week.
Kevin Parada
The current No. 5 prospect in the organization and the No. 11 overall pick in 2022, Parada spent the majority of his 2023 season in Brooklyn before being promoted to Binghamton in the final few days of August.
Parada hit .265/.340/.447 in 87 games with Brooklyn, hitting 11 home runs, 21 doubles and four triples while also striking out 96 times in 382 plate appearances. It’s been a solid season for Parada, but he did take a bit of a tumble down prospect lists. Entering the year in the top 40 in baseball on MLB Pipeline, Parada now sits at No. 89 as the season comes to a close.
Sam Dykstra, who is in charge of creating the Mets top-30 prospects list for MLB Pipeline, gave a reason as to why back in August.
“For somebody who came in with a bat-first profile, he hasn’t quite knocked down the door in the way you would have hoped,” Dykstra said. “He’s still been above average in High-A, there’s a lot to like there. I still like the power for sure, you can see him run into some balls, and I think it’s gonna be 20 homers at the top level at least, by the time he gets there. But the defense still isn’t quite there, I know the Mets are pleased with how some of the things have come along, but I think he’s still gonna be a below-average defensive catcher. And if that’s the case, then he needs to hit significantly better than he has so far.”
Dykstra said he would like to see the Mets try him somewhere else, particularly left field but maybe even second base, though he doesn’t think he would have quite enough athleticism for second. However, he said you want someone with his profile to stick at catcher for as long as possible, so a potential position switch likely wouldn’t happen until at least Triple-A.
Parada was the subject of The Brooklyn Cyclones Report in June.
Alex Ramírez
At one point, Alex Ramírez was a top-5 prospect in the Mets system and a top-100 prospect in baseball. In May, he was even listed ahead of Jett Williams and Ronny Mauricio. Even Drew Gilbert, who is now the No. 2 prospect in the Mets system, was behind Ramírez.
Now, at the end of the 2023 season, Ramírez is down to No. 11 on Pipeline’s list. Some of that has to do with what the Mets did at the trade deadline and the draft, adding Gilbert, Luisangel Acuña, Ryan Clifford, Colin Houck and Marco Vargas, all of whom are now listed ahead of Ramírez. However, he has also been jumped by Williams, Mauricio, Mike Vasil and Blade Tidwell.
“It’s just a consistency thing,” Dykstra said. “You know that there’s wiry strength in there, you know that there’s some speed in there. He can track balls down in centerfield, doesn’t do it as often as he probably should. It’s playing more like average power than the above-average power that everybody was kind of hoping. I know age-20 season is young, he has time, but it’s kind of flatlining, whereas you would hope he would be picking up momentum and doing some different things and adding more power or showing a better bat. So, it’s kind of stagnating at a time when he shouldn’t be stagnating.”
There have certainly been times this season where Ramírez has shown flashes of the potential that made him a top-100 prospect. Most notably, on June 21 vs. the Hudson Valley Renegades, Ramírez went 6-for-6 at the plate, stole three bases and robbed a ball that was probably going to be a home run while playing left field.
After that game, Cyclones manager Chris Newell commented on the type of potential that Ramírez has.
“I’ve said this time and time again, I’ll continue to say it — when he wants to be, he’s gonna be the best player on the field every day,” Newell said. “He’s that talented.”
Even though he did have games like that one from time to time, his larger season results were underwhelming. Over 120 games for the Cyclones in 2023, Ramirez hit .221/.310/.317, which works out to just a .617 OPS — over 100 points lower than what it was in 2022. He hit seven home runs, 21 doubles and one triple, all also down from the previous season.
When asked, with just two games left on the calendar, how he would assess Ramírez’s season, here’s what Newell said.
“Hasn’t been very good, hasn’t been very good,” Newell said. “I think he knows it, it is what it is. My hope is two things. I hope that he learns from it, No. 1, and he grows, because I’ve always said how you deal with failure, or how you deal with a tough season, will ultimately dictate how you do the following year. Hopefully he has the mental ability and the work ethic to get past this year. But in the meantime, I pulled him aside, and he’s been in the doghouse a little bit, we’ve had some man-to-man talks, and I told him, you
know hey, it’s probably too late in the season for you to climb up the batting average a lot. But it’s not too late for you to come through for your teammates.”
Newell said he has a knack for seeing things before they happen, and said he told Ramírez that he had a feeling he would come up big for the team in their final two games. When the game is late and close, Newell said he told Ramírez, he will come though in the clutch and be the best player on the field.
Ultimately, Ramírez went 0-for-6 over the final two games of the season, with two walks, a run scored, and two strikeouts.
“It’s been tough for him, he knows it,” Newell said. “I’m certainly empathetic for him, because I never want to see guys struggle, but this is a hard game. If you don’t know, it’s a hard game. So I just, I hope this humbles him.”
Ramírez spent the entire 2023 season with Brooklyn in High-A, following a 2022 season when he spent 54 games there as well. During that time, he became Brooklyn’s all-time hits leader, reaching the mark in the final days of the season. He also blew past the Cyclones’ all-time games and at-bats records, which were both set by Joe Holden from 2005-06 — almost 20 years ago.
When asked if the plan going into the year for Ramírez, after spending about half of last season in High-A, was for him to not spend all of 2023 in High-A again, Newell said that was accurate. He did say that he is not the decision-maker when it comes to that, but he thinks everybody expected Ramírez to finish the year in Double-A, possibly even Triple- A.
Stanley Consuegra
Consuegra, in a lot of ways, had a season very similar to Ramírez. He started the season in the bottom half of the Mets top-30 prospects list on Pipeline, only to fall off come the midseason update. He also spent about half of 2022 in High-A with the Cyclones, only to spend the entire 2023 season in High-A as well.
In 97 games, Consuegra hit .230/.296/.481, good for a .777 OPS, with 23 home runs, 16 doubles and 4 triples. His 23 home runs set a single-season record for the Cyclones, breaking the mark of 22 set by Francisco Álvarez in 2021. That was also the career record, which Consuegra broke a few weeks earlier thanks to another five home runs with the Cyclones last season.
The power is very real. By the eye test, Consuegra by far hits the ball harder than any other Cyclones player when he squares it up. Newell said he’s never seen anybody hit the ball harder than Consuegra, and Cyclones hitting coach Richie Benes said he thinks he’s hit the ball as hard as 115 mph this year. He’s also a good defender, primarily playing right field, and has a cannon for an arm.
However, the strikeouts are an issue. In 409 plate appearances in 2023, Consuegra struck out 113 times with just 31 walks.
“I’ve seen a lot of home runs, I’ve seen a lot of assists from the outfield, I’ve seen a lot of good plays from the outfield,” Newell said. “I’ve also seen, between [Omar] De Los Santos, Consuegra, Ramírez and some other guys — they’ve got more strikeouts combined than Steve Cohen has money — and that ain’t a good thing.”
Newell said he thinks it’s imperative that they really work on it during the offseason, and if they can’t fix it, then they’re going to have a tough road ahead.
“But in the meantime, they’ve been integral parts of what we accomplished last year, and where we’re at this year,” Newell said. “If it wasn’t for those guys, we may not be here.”
Ryan Clifford
Acquired by the Mets at the trade deadline in the deal that sent Justin Verlander back to Houston, Clifford played 32 games with the Cyclones over the final six weeks of the season. In that span he wasn’t great, hitting just .188/.307/.376, though it’s not uncommon for a minor league player to initially struggle after a mid-season trade.
His season numbers, which span across Houston’s Low-A and High-A affiliates as well as High-A Brooklyn, finished at .262/.374/.480, a .854 OPS, with 24 home runs and 20 doubles. Brooklyn is very much not a hitter-friendly park, especially for lefties, but Clifford still managed to smack a couple of home runs while aiming at the beach. He also struck out 140 times with 64 walks in 511 plate appearances.
The No. 6 prospect in the organization on Pipeline, Clifford sits right between Keven Parada and Colin Houck. Dykstra said that while Clifford is not in the MLB top 100 yet, he’s someone who is “knocking on the door.” Parada is No. 89, so Clifford would be the next Mets prospect to enter the top 100 after any potential prospect graduations.
Clifford played both left field and first base with the Cyclones, and Dykstra said ideally he sticks in the outfield. If he ends up being a first baseman, he said, he’ll have to hit
more than he is showing right now. He also played two games in right field, but saw his starts there significantly decrease after he was traded to the Mets.
Clifford was the subject of The Brooklyn Cyclones Report in August.
Jacob Reimer
Just 19 years old, Reimer was promoted from Low-A to High-A at the same time as Jett Williams after similarly impressing. Both players said it was nice to move up together, as they had gotten close in their time playing in St. Lucie.
The No. 13 prospect in the Mets system on Pipeline, Reimer hit .265/.399/.375 with eight home runs and 13 doubles over 102 games in 2023. He approach is not quite as otherworldly as Willimas but still very impressive one for someone his age, walking over 17% of the time when he got to High-A.
Newell, when talking about why Reimer and Williams have been able to make the jump to High-A while still just teenagers, said the approach is one of the big reasons why.
“I’m not gonna mention names, and I don’t get caught up in all that chase stuff and all that other stuff, but the one thing I know, there’s a guy that hasn’t yet gotten there yet because of the chase, and he’s a pretty damn good player,” Newell said. “So yeah, it matters, and it’s the reason why [Reimer and Williams] were able to gain the trust of the hierarchy to move them up. … If they weren’t ready they wouldn’t be here.”
Reimer was the subject of The Brooklyn Cyclones Report in August.
Rhylan Thomas
Thomas entered 2023 as one of the more unheralded prospects on the system. He’s still not in MLB Pipeline’s top-30, but he had a season that has definitely opened some eyes.
An 11th round pick in the 2022 Draft, he made the jump from Low-A all the way to Double-A in his first season of professional baseball. In 91 games between the two levels, Thomas hit .328/.407/.425, which works out to a .832 OPS. He doesn’t have a ton of pop, hitting just three home runs on the year, but he also has a wildly impressive 40 walks to just 28 strikeouts.
Thomas, simply, just does not swing and miss, and it earned the admiration of Newell while he was in Brooklyn.
Newell went as far as to bring up Thomas unprompted while talking about Jett Williams, and how the two manage to get on base so frequently.
“Anybody that tells you that striking out is okay, they’re lying to you, or they don’t know the game, because it’s not okay,” Newell said. “I guess it is part of the game because it’s in the stat column, but give me a guy who puts the ball in play. We’ll go back to Rhylan Thomas, we’ll go back to Jett Williams, these guys don’t strike out, and they’re difference makers. We were lucky to have two of them in the lineup at the same time, because in this day and age, most teams, they don’t even have one of those guys. And you give me nine of those guys and I might go undefeated.”
He also was just awarded the organizational outfield gold glove. Thomas was the subject of The Brooklyn Cyclones Report in August.
Blade Tidwell
A 2nd round pick by the Mets in 2022, Tidwell is the No. 10 ranked prospect in the Mets system on Pipeline. He started the season in Brooklyn and ended up spending about two-thirds of his season there in High-A before earning a promotion at the beginning of August.
His start to the season was rough, a lot of which was due to the number of walks he was giving up. However, he really started turning it around over the final two months he spent with the Cyclones. Particularly, over his last seven starts, he had a 1.47 ERA with 52 strikeouts and just 13 walks over 43 innings, an average of over six innings per start.
His first taste of Double-A wasn’t as successful, with a 4.72 ERA over eight starts. However, much like Brooklyn, he got better as he went along. If you take out his first three starts with the Rumble Ponies, he had a 3.32 ERA over his next five games.
Tidwell dealt with a shoulder injury coming out of college, so it is encouraging to see him throw 116 innings in 2023.
Tidwell was the subject of The Brooklyn Cyclones Report in July.
Christian Scott
Maybe the breakout star on the pitching side of things for the Mets in 2023, Scott has skyrocketed up prospect boards in 2023. Now the No. 12 ranked prospect in the Mets system on Pipeline, Scott is firmly in the conversation with Tidwell and Vasil as the best pitching prospects in the organization.
“Just somebody who needed innings,” Dykstra said. “… He was a reliever at Florida, but the Mets have always believed in him as a starter. I think now we’re getting to that point where he’s added innings the last few years, worked around some injuries, and now he feels comfortable as a starter.”
After appearing in six games for the Cyclones in 2022, Scott appeared in six more in 2023 before it was very clear he was ready for Double-A and earning a promotion. He was also named the organizational Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
Scott, to put it simply, has been nothing short of fantastic. In 87.2 innings, he has 2.57 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 107 strikeouts to just 12 walks. He has the best WHIP of anyone with at least 70 innings pitched in the minor leagues.
Scott was the subject of The Brooklyn Cyclones Report in June.
Tyler Stuart
Like Scott, Stuart really emerged this season as one of the top pitching prospects in the organization. After starting the year not in the Mets top 30, he is now the No. 17 ranked prospect in the system on Pipeline.
He spent longer in Brooklyn than Scott, making 14 starts for the Cyclones and dazzling, putting up a 1.55 ERA and 1.04 WHIP with 84 strikeouts and 23 walks over 75.2 innings. He wasn’t quite as dominant when he got to Double-A but was still very good, posting a 3.60 ERA over seven starts.
Over his full season sample, Stuart had a 2.20 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 112 strikeouts and 32 walks over 110.2 innings. His ERA was the best among all qualified minor league pitchers pitchers who played in at least Low-A.
“I’m really fascinated by Tyler Stuart, given how tall he is, 6-foot-9, it’s kind of insane how well he’s able to throw his stuff, the fastball and the slider are really good” Dykstra said. “He uses his slider a lot, and I’m wondering how that’s gonna work at the upper levels, but it seems to be working really well for him so far. … He’s certainly put himself squarely in the middle of the radar which is a pretty good spot to be for a guy who was a sixth-round pick last year.”
Stuart was the subject of The Brooklyn Cyclones Report in May.
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