Hey all, Joe here again with some more live looks from June… better late than never, right? Right. This time we’re into the St. Lucie Mets (Low-A) who came through Fort Myers in early June and taking a look at a sextet of prospects with Major League aspirations. In the words of history’s most famous plumber: Here we go!
J.T. Ginn - Right-Handed Pitcher
This was Ginn's first start as a pro and first game action since tearing his UCL in early 2020. First, the arsenal: His fastball sat 91-94; Ginn primarily uses a sinker that gets solid arm-side run. It's a pitch that gets more weak contact than whiffs and that's exactly what it did last night. Expectedly, he had issues finding the zone with it, but that's common for pitchers recovering from TJS as the command is typically the last thing to "come back" as pitchers ramp up.
The slider (81-84) was his calling card prior to surgery and was his most effective pitch last night. It's a gyro slider with good depth and little if any cut, meaning it drops nearly straight down. He threw about 10 on the night, missed a few bats, and landed some for strikes. His slider didn't have consistent bite last night (some rolled in rather than breaking hard), but again, first start in more than a year. Patience.
Lastly, he threw 2 changeups on the night with decent tumble at 87. Pitch was a bit firm, only about 5 MPH off the fastball, and showed the same run with just a little more depth. I'm guessing he has little to no feel for this one at the moment given the circumstances.
The mechanics are simple and repeatable. It's a drop & drive delivery with moderate effort from a 3/4s slot. Longer arm action with average extension. All in all, it was a promising night for Ginn. He was effective despite the lack of control and even his muted stuff was inducing a lot of weak contact on the ground. There's good upside here for a 4-5 starter assuming the velo comes back. Changeup development will definitely impact his ceiling if he’s not going to miss many bats. He’ll need a second weapon to get hitters out on days his slider isn’t at its best.
Shervyen Newton - Shortstop
Newton is 22 now and looks to have grown into his adult body. Looks every bit of 6’4” and 200+ pounds; looks powerful and athletic. Bluntly, I didn’t see him square up one ball in 3 games and he only made contact with 3 or so pitches. What’s concerning is that he wasn’t selling out for power — it’s a controlled, moderate effort swing and he still swung through many pitches. That does not bode well for the hit tool.
He looked pretty comfortable at short and didn’t really stand out much, good or bad. He should be able to stick there as long as he doesn’t continue to add weight since the frame is nearly maxed out at this point.
Overall, the tools look like they’re still there and he’s grown into an impressive athlete, but the feel for contact may never come.
Junior Santos - Right-Handed Pitcher
Hulking presence on the mound with XL 6’7” frame. Live arm that touched 96 on the fastball and sat comfortably 92-94 with sink and run, aided by low-3/4s arm slot. Slider was 79-83 with more depth than sweep; flashed average. Changeup sat 85-88 with some fade but often looked firm without a ton of separation from the fastball. The delivery is fairly low effort, but often looked stiff and disconnected — as if he was thinking through the motions on the fly rather than moving naturally — looked very arm heavy rather than using the body. Crossfire delivery that he had trouble repeating and in turn had trouble commanding his pitches.
Plenty to like about Santos, but he needs a lot of refinement to remain a starter. Seems like the arm talent alone may be enough for a low-leverage relief floor though.
Alex Ramirez - Outfielder
The body immediately stands out for Ramirez - long and lean but athletic, not awkward. He moves well and appears to have decent body control for a lanky teenager. I clocked an average run time (4.32) on the only good look I got -- As you might expect, he’s a little slow getting up to speed but might be above-average once he’s underway. I’d expect him to drop at least a half grade as he matures and fills out.
At the plate, it was a lot of what you’d expect from an 18-year old squaring off with pitchers 3-5 years his senior. He didn’t pick up breaking balls out of the hand and swung through many. Guys sequenced him enough to keep him off the fastball. Everything came off the bat on the ground minus a pop-up.
Ramirez’s swing is a bit long with an aggressive hitch before whipping the bat through the zone, but the bat speed is there (above-average). The swing plane was a bit choppy, really swinging down on the ball which tracks with the contact he was making -- it will be tough for him to lift the ball with authority without an adjustment. All that said, I was impressed by his approach. He attacked pitches he liked rather than swinging at everything and showed some feel for the zone.
In the field, it was a bit of an adventure for Ramirez. He took some poor routes and struggled to track the ball more than once. You could easily chalk that up to a cloudy Florida night sky, so I didn't want to hold that against him too much.
I know this sounds like a very negative outlook, but I came away with plenty to like about Ramirez. You have to keep in mind he’s 18 and getting his first taste of pro ball against former college arms (in my look) in his pro debut. The bat speed and approach, when he recognized the pitch, were good. He’s got some good bat-to-ball ability, as well. I don’t know how long the speed will stick around, so it’s possible he’s destined for a corner even if he reads in center improve, but you don’t have to squint hard to see how he could develop into an impact bat considering he’s already having success at the plate against advanced competition.
Joander Suarez - Right-Handed Pitcher
Suarez has a large, proportional, muscular frame with thick thighs that stand out. It’s a moderate effort delivery from a 3/4s arm slot; he repeats reasonably well but has issues maintaining the release point which results in bouts of wildness, often missing up armside or low gloveside.
The fastball is a four seam with fairly average ride that flashes good run, but is mostly average to above-average while sitting 92-94, touching 95. It’s a solid pitch and while he doesn’t command it especially well, there’s enough velo and movement that he can simply muscle it by guys in Low-A. The rest of the arsenal is a curveball at 73-80 and a changeup at 84-90. The change is the better of the two and shows real promise with some depth while flashing plus fade. Like the fastball, he doesn’t have great feel or consistency right now, but the stuff is there for it to develop into a true out-pitch. The curve was up and down, showing above-average depth with sweep and tight break at times, but humped out of the hand and rolled in at other times. More inconsistent than the other offerings and a clear 3rd pitch for me. While walks weren’t a problem, Suarez struggled with command enough that he was inefficient and he’d have to come over the heart after falling behind and gave up some loud contact when he did.
Development is needed, but Suarez shows potential for a legitimate 3-pitch mix with an outside shot as a 5th starter or high-octane arm out of the pen.
Jaylen Palmer - Third Baseman/Second Baseman
Long, strong frame with a high waist and broad shoulders. Easy to project more strength coming for Palmer and he already has a wide back. Hands are pretty quiet in the swing; bat path has some steepness to it with average bat speed. Palmer’s feel for the zone was pretty average in my look; he watched strike 3 more than once on pitches that were too close to take, in my opinion. He didn’t swing and miss much, but he also didn’t square anything up across 2 games -- that said, the ball carries off his bat a little, even on mishits; there’s some average or better pop in the bat. I didn’t see much of him in the field, but he’s a good athlete who moves well; I would just assume he puts on too much weight to stick at second and would be forced to 3rd or a corner OF spot.
