Youth Movement

[ljshorty89]

Yesterday, 23–year-old Daniel Murphy had one hit, two RBI and scored a run, while striking out once in four at bats.

Meanwhile, 24–year-old Mike Pelfrey pitched a complete game and moved to 12 wins on the season, while 26–year-old Argenis Reyes, who was 1 for 4, is batting .290 in his last 30 at bats.


The day before, 22–year-old Nick Evans had two hits and scored a run in three at bats.


By the way, Jose Reyes is 25 years old, as is David Wright, both of whom will likely be considered in voting for the National League MVP this season.



In the New York Post, Joel Sherman said:

“Last night was yet another reminder that - forecasts to the contrary - the Mets’ young players are outdoing their Yankee counterparts in 2008…Murphy appeared on no Top-100 - or even Top 300 - prospect lists before the season and Pelfrey - not Hughes or Kennedy - seemed the pitcher most likely to end up back at Triple-A. But here they both are playing major roles on a first-place team…
“The Yankee system got the praise, yet the Mets had enough pieces not only to land Santana, but to sprinkle their roster with youngsters thriving in late August.”

Even Wallace Matthews, who typically bashes the Mets at every opportunity, went as far as to make a joke out of the entire youth situation.

Joba who?

Phil Whatsisname? Ian Whooziwhatsis?

Matthews writes an intiguing article (see link below) about how of all the young starters in NY, Pelfrey had the least chance at being a big part of a playoff competitor, and yet he's the one outperforming everyone except (it's debatable) Joba.





I completely agree with both of these journalists. I had been arguing for a while that despite the Mets not having the stud prospects, they had a fair amount of depth lower in the minors(as shown by the 4 call ups from AA ball). So, while Murphy, Argenis Reyes, Evans, Kunz, and those guys may not be the most talented players in the minor leagues, they have certainly had a great positive impact on this New York team.



Mets' Pelfrey evolves into one good pitcher -- Newsday.com

[NYgiantsfan5689]

The Mets are beginning to show some Tampa Bay-like youth contribution. It's really fun to watch these guys, because they don't have huge contracts or aren't giant stars (besides Reyes and Wright). It's fun to be able to say you witnessed somebody rise from the minors to become a great player

[ljshorty89]

Exactly. It's nice to have those studs...and I'm sure that Joba and Hughes will turn out to be very good ML players(not so sure about Kennedy). But to see these guys come up and play such fundamentally sound baseball. To see Daniel(He refuses to go by Danny) Murphy hitting .403, to see Argenis Reyes fielding his position and hitting .290...it's a lot of fun to watch this team right now(except, of course, the bullpen).

The interesting thing, as I said, is that the guys who are producing are not only from AA ball, but they were completely NOT hyped. They understand their role, and they're taking the opportunity to show the Mets why they deserve to remain on the roster. That's the reason Luis Castillo hasn't been activated....they don't want to lose Argenis Reyes.