The Rockaway Wave
Originally published June 21, 2024
No one has played more games in a Brooklyn Cyclones uniform than Stanley Consuegra.
No one has more at-bats. No one has more home runs. No one has more hits, more runs scored, more runs batted in, or more extra-base hits than Consuegra. It’s an achievement, but it’s not necessarily a desirable one.
“It’s good to know, I don’t really think about it,” Consuegra said through Cyclones manager Gilbert Gómez, who was translating. “Obviously, I wish I don’t have a couple of those records so I can continue to move up. It’s good to know it, but I’m not really thinking or super prideful of it.”
Consuegra played his first game with the Brooklyn Cyclones on July 4, 2022, almost two full years ago. He was even profiled for The Brooklyn Cyclones Report a few weeks after his High-A debut.
On Wednesday, he played his 205th game for the team, breaking the all-time record formerly held by Jaylen Palmer.
Consuegra is a complicated prospect. He has some of the most power in the Mets system, can play all three outfield spots, and has a rocket of an arm.
“He’s probably the most athletic guy in the organization that we have, top to bottom,” Gómez said. “Can throw a ball 100, can hit a ball 110-plus, can range in the outfield as few other outfielders can.”
He has seven home runs in 2024, bringing his franchise-leading total to 35. However, he also has 81 strikeouts in 239 plate appearances, a staggering 33.9% strikeout percentage.
Consuegra has always had high strikeout numbers, but never quite this high. With the Cyclones, he had a 24.9% K-rate in 2022 and a 27.7% K-rate in 2023. He’s already about three-quarters of the way to his strikeout total from last year in just over half of the games.
“Strikeouts are a part of the game with guys who can hit the ball as hard as he does,” Gómez said. “He’s done some really good things defensively, some really good things offensively over the past month or so. The biggest thing for him is consistency, getting to a spot where he’s able to put all the tools he has in play day in and day out.”
On the whole this season, Consuegra is hitting .236/.347/.399, good for a .746 OPS. He posted a .690 OPS in 56 games with the Cyclones in 2022 and a .783 OPS in 93 games with the Cyclones in 2023, so he’s been more or less in the same range in 2024.
Consuegra has also made some adjustments to his stance. Cyclones hitting coach Eduardo Núñez said Mets director of hitting development Jeff Albert and coordinator of hitting development Kevin Mahala were with the team and had Consuegra lower his hands.
“It’s gonna allow him to be in a better spot when he starts swinging,” Núñez said. “Sometimes when he has his hands up, he kind of disconnects the hands off his body which correlates to a long swing or a lot of chase.”
Keeping the hands close to him, Núñez said, will allow him to be more connected and behind the ball.
“It puts [me] in a better spot to be able to be direct to the ball,” Consuegra said through Gómez. “It’s something that, with collaboration from [me] and the hitting coordinators, it’s something that we thought was gonna work out, and so far it’s been better.”
Consuegra has also had some highlights in the field in 2024. On June 4, three Cyclones pitchers combined to throw the first nine-inning no-hitter in Cyclones history — which was the subject of last week’s Brooklyn Cyclones Report. However, the no-hitter almost fell 27 outs short if not for Consuegra, who made a leaping catch in right field on the very first batter of the game.
“Really, really excited to be a part of it,” Consuegra said through Gómez. “It’s something that I’ve only watched other teams accomplish, other teams post on Instagram or X … so pretty excited that I was able to contribute with a couple of plays.”
Consuegra made a very similar catch again in the sixth inning, one that he said was actually harder because the ball was carrying more at that point in the game.
“Stanley’s been playing unreal defense for us in the outfield, left-center-right,” Cyclones bench coach John Vaughn said. “Obviously the arm plays, it’s a super tool for him, like a [70-grade] arm. He’s been really, really great. He’s been great to have. We’ve got a lot of young guys in the outfield now, so they’re all kind of learning from him, and he’s been awesome in the outfield. Really fun to have him in the outfield as a coach.”
It’s something that Consuegra said he takes a lot of pride in.
“Not only doing my job but also being able to help out others, if you help, they’re gonna help you at some point,” Consuegra said through Gómez. “Being able to give advice, or making sure they’re in the right spot, it’s always beneficial because you’re building more team culture.”
Ranked No. 21 on MLB Pipeline’s Mets Top 30 Prospects list to open up the 2023 season, Consuegra fell off the list by the end of the season and has not returned. Part of that has to do with the volume of prospects the Mets acquired between then and now, from the trade deadline to the MLB Draft, but it’s also because Consuegra has kind of stalled at High-A.
Now even on his third manager, Consuegra already has most of the Brooklyn Cyclones franchise hitting record. The longer he stays with the team, the more space he will put between himself and second place.
“I think it’s no doubt he will be at Double-A at some point this year,” Núñez said. “But, like we say to them, you control what you can control, and he’s doing that … So we’re glad the decision to repeat High-A didn’t affect him in that way because sometimes it affects those players. But he has a good mindset and he has been able to do his thing.”
Both Núñez and Gómez commended his work ethic and said he’s ready to go every time he steps into the clubhouse and onto the field. Gómez said maybe it’s in the back of his mind every once in a while, but Consuegra is a “consummate pro”
“I just come in and do my job,” Consuegra said through Gómez. “I’m not a big thinker, I do what I have in front of me. I can’t control what the team or what other people are thinking, or when am I gonna get promoted or not. My thing is to come out here and play the game that I love and just stay motivated.”
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