Mets invite 17 non-roster players to major league Spring Training

The Mets announced on Wednesday that they have invited 17 non-roster players to Spring Training. The full list:

Right-handed pitchers Buddy Carlyle, Zack Thornton, Cody Satterwhite, Tyler Pill, Matthew Bowman, Chase Bradford, and Jon Velasquez, left-handed pitcher Scott Rice, catchers Johnny Monell, Kevin Plawecki, and Xorge Carrillo, infielders Brandon Allen, Matt Reynolds, Gavin Cecchini, and Daniel Muno, and outfielders Alex Castellanos and Brandon Nimmo.

Thoughts:

Of the 17 non-roster invitees, the only ones who likely have a legitimate chance to make the Opening Day roster are Buddy Carlyle, Zack Thornton, and Scott Rice, all of whom will be battling for a spot in the bullpen.

However, this list is more interesting because of the prospects on it, namely Kevin Plawecki, Matt Reynolds, Brandon Nimmo, and Gavin Cecchini.

Cecchini, the team’s first round draft pick in 2012, may open the season back with High-A St. Lucie, but should be promoted to Double-A Binghamton sooner rather than later.

Aside from Cecchini, all of the players above have a chance to make their major league debut in 2015, with both Plawecki and Reynolds all but certain to see time in the majors at some point during the season.

Both Plawecki and Reynolds will start the season with Triple-A Las Vegas, and there have been some reports that the Mets might be aggressive with Nimmo and have him open in Las Vegas as well.

If Nimmo does not open in Las Vegas – instead returning to Double-A Binghamton to start the year – he’ll likely only be there for a small amount of time before making the jump to Triple-A.

One of the things to keep an eye on during Spring Training will be how Reynolds looks at shortstop.

General manager Sandy Alderson has gone on record as saying that it’s unlikely Reynolds breaks camp with the team. However, if he proves able to play shortstop adequately and Wilmer Flores fails, there’s a chance the Mets give Reynolds the next chance – assuming they don’t upgrade shortstop between now and Opening Day.