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3 Mets prospects on the verge of becoming irrelevant

By Tim Boyle |
New York Mets v Washington Nationals
New York Mets v Washington Nationals / G Fiume/GettyImages
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This year will be a big one for New York Mets prospects. We already have Francisco Alvarez and Brett Baty in the big leagues. We should expect to see others up here at some point, too.

The Mets farm system is incredibly top-heavy with those two and a few others many of us believe can be MLB contributors. Unfortunately, not everyone will have as much success as them. These three prospects are on the verge of becoming irrelevant with the system. Can any salvage their career before it’s too late?

1) NY Mets prospect Matt Allan is on the verge of becoming irrelevant

It’s a huge disappointment how Matt Allan’s career has gone. He has already undergone Tommy John Surgery and more recently in early 2023 a UCL revision surgery. It’s a big bummer that we may never actually get to see him pitch in the majors at all.

Although just 22, Allan was a 2019 draft pick who has logged only 10.1 innings as a professional. All of them came in the months after he was taken in the third-round by Mets General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen who practically built the whole draft around Allan. After selecting him, the ball club only took “underslot” players in the draft which allowed them to give Allan a bigger signing bonus.

It hasn’t worked out so well only because of the health issues Allan has faced. Think about how much has changed since he last pitched a game. Mets ownership has changed. You may have gotten a new job. A kid who keeps you up at night might not have even been a thought.

Allan is becoming irrelevant in the Mets farm system for no other reason than he isn’t getting on the field. There is a great comeback story in there somewhere. We just hope he can author it in time before the Mets part ways.

2) NY Mets prospect Khalil Lee is on the verge of becoming irrelevant

Meanwhile, there’s Khalil Lee in a much different spot. His career was already trending downward. It took an unexpected turn when he was accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend earlier in 2023. The Mets acted rather quickly and chose to designate him for assignment and allow an investigation to begin. While they didn’t part ways with him completely, a slow start to the 2023 season is another reason why this once promising prospect is on the verge of becoming irrelevant.

Lee has tasted the big leagues already and even went 1 for 2 last season with his first home run. The problem is he had a miserable 18 plate appearance stretch with the club a year earlier that included only one hit and 13 strikeouts.

His 2022 season was strikingly bad with a .214/.330/.370 slash line at the end of it. Add in 150 strikeouts in 108 games, it’s hard to see how he would fit in on a big league roster beyond a fifth outfielder who might run a bit and play defense.

Lee’s 2023 season has started with a 7 for 32 performance and .219/.350/.406 slash line. He has been a much different player since the Mets acquired him from the Kansas City Royals. The 53 stolen bases he had in Double-A back in 2019 aren’t coming back. Lee is a good OBP guy with a decent glove but not much else. Having already been DFA’d by the Mets, we can expect him to play somewhere else next season if he doesn’t show any sort of progress at all. Overseas might even be his only option.

3) NY Mets prospect Eric Orze is on the verge of becoming irrelevant

Less known and talked about compared to Allan and Lee, we find pitcher Eric Orze who seems to have hit a brick wall. A fifth-rounder taken in 2020, Orze jumped through the minors quickly in 2021 during his first professional season. He went from High-A Brooklyn all the way to Syracuse. His ERA dropped at each level he reached, too.

Pitching exclusively in relief since joining the Mets, there was plenty of reason to think he could become a bullpen option for the big league club in the future. Unfortunately, a 5.13 ERA in 47.1 innings at the Triple-A level last year wasn’t what we had hoped to see. He has gotten knocked around in his first 4 appearances in Triple-A again this year. Orze is quickly becoming an afterthought in the farm system.

Other pitchers like Josh Walker who has converted to a reliever and found some success and Grant Hartwig look much more ready for MLB action than Orze. If there is one good thing Orze has going for him it’s that even through his struggles he can strike batters out at a high rate.

Home runs were what hurt Orze most last season. He allowed them at a rate of 2.1 per 9 innings of work which made his respectable 1.18 WHIP useless. 

Orze turns 26 this August. It’s an age where you usually like to see a guy up in the big leagues. He’ll need to show the Mets a little more in the minors before he gets the call.

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