4/24/08

Minor league possibilities

I received a comment asking for a report on any minor league players that can fill in at first base, possibly sometime this season due the the decline of Carlos Delgado. For that, I will grab a quote from my buddy Tejesh, one of the guys from Mets Prospect Hub, and build off of that.

From last night's Minor League Report:
Mike Carp may be the hottest hitter on the planet (not named Chase Utley, that is) - he had another 3 hits, including a double and 2 RBI, and is now hitting an absurd .442/482/.727/1.210. What is very encouraging, and it's something we've pointed to for as long as the blog's been in existance, is his numbers vs LHP. Right now, he's 14 for 33, with 9 runs, 2b, 3 HR, 7 RBI vs LHP, .424/.441/.727/1.168. He was 19 for 110 vs LHP last season.
Carp is a 21-year-old out of Long Beach, California. The Mets drafted him in the 9th round (254 overall) of the 2004 amateur draft. Clark is rebounding off an injury and a terrible year. Last year, Carp broke his finger last season, and when he returned, only hit .251/.337/.387/.724 (AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS).

This season has been a bit of a different story. Carp, along with Dan Murphy and Nick Evans have been tearing up AA ball. Murphy, who can play third, first, and even second, is bringing down some hefty numbers of .342/.383/.603/.985. Evans, also playing third, first, and the occasional OF, completes what MPH has dubbed "The Trinity." Evans is batting .392/.438/.532/.970.

In our "Ideal Lineup" discussion on Mets Lounge, my buddy Ryan Punzalan, who will be contributing some articles here in the near future, projects both Carp and Evans to be in the 2010 Mets starting lineup.

Of the three, I can see Carp getting called up sometime this year. If Delgado continues his downward slide, and the Mets are unable to find a decent first baseman on the cheap, Carp could get a call sometime this year.