17-year-old Mets prospect hit 2 home runs in his professional debut

Who is this Jesus Baez kid? Any relation to Javier? If his debut in the Dominican Summer League is any indication of what’s to come for this 17-year-old New York Mets prospect, clear the path to the big leagues for him. He’s going to be a star.

Baez was signed earlier this year as an international free agent by the Mets. So fresh to professional baseball that he doesn’t even have a Baseball-Reference page or much content at all about him on the internet, it took Baez a single game to gain some notoriety.

What did he do? Baez hit two home runs.

Jesus Baez is the newest Mets prospect everyone is talking about

Baez happens to be another young international shortstop for fans to watch closely. Following in the footsteps of recent guys like Amed Rosario and Ronny Mauricio, we can already assume a position change could be in his future given that Francisco Lindor should still be in Flushing by the time he makes his major league debut.

That’s not the story today, however. Baez’s mighty bat that clobbered two home runs is. The Dominican Summer League isn’t followed closely by the casual fan. After this performance, we all may need to give it a little more attention.

The Mets are stocking themselves well internationally. According to MLB.com, four of their top ten prospects came to the franchise via international signing. Francisco Alvarez (1), Ronny Mauricio (2), and Alex Ramirez (4) are the most well-known ones. Pitcher Joel Diaz (10) is just beginning his journey up the pipeline.

The Mets haven’t been an especially powerful team when it comes to international free agent signings. Edgardo Alfonzo and Jose Reyes are their two best to actually perform for the franchise straight from the farm. The team also originally signed Carlos Gomez and Nelson Cruz but their best days came elsewhere.

From their class of free agent signings this past January, only Simon Juan made it into their top 30. Games like this for Baez could move him forward in the conversation. Going deep once is impressive enough for a debut. Depositing a pair of baseballs over the outfield wall is eye-catching.