Nine prospects who can help the Mets in 2022 (2024)

Despite a relative lack of high-profile rookies, the Mets have steadily received important contributions from homegrown prospects over the last few seasons. Jeff McNeil started 2018 off the prospect radar and finished it as the starting big-league second baseman. Pete Alonso was expected to be a starter in 2019, though not the level of star he immediately became. Andrés Giménez and David Peterson arrived a year earlier than expected in 2020, and Tylor Megill was a rotation regular for more than three months in 2021.

The Mets are finally approaching the point where their most prominent prospects are getting close to the majors, with ETAs in front of the horizon instead of beyond it.

With that in mind, who might be able to help the Mets in 2022?

Khalil Lee

Lee is one of two players on this list who’s already debuted in the majors; however, his brief cameo last May was brought on by a spate of outfield injuries that rushed him to the bigs barely two weeks into his minor-league campaign. As such, the Mets haven’t put too much stock into Lee’s 1-for-18 performance in the major leagues and are looking far more optimistically at the .274/.451/.500 slash line he posted for Triple-A Syracuse in 2021. His walk rate and his power both jumped up from his career track record in the Royals’ system, and he routinely made outstanding plays with his glove.

Lee’s strikeout rate in the minors also climbed, and his batting average on balls in play with Syracuse was better than .400. He’s not a plug-and-play everyday starter in the majors yet, and the Mets aren’t treating him as such, having added Starling Marte and Mark Canha this winter. But Lee has a reasonable chance, depending on what else New York does if and when the lockout is over, to break camp with the major-league club as its fourth outfielder. Even if he isn’t that guy on Opening Day, he will be at some point this season. How he performs this year could also inform how the Mets go about making longer-term decisions on their outfield; Brandon Nimmo is a free agent at the end of 2022.

Mark Vientos

Of the next wave of high-profile Mets prospects, Vientos became the first to reach Triple A at the end of last season, and he was added to the 40-man roster in November. It was a just reward for an excellent season in which the right-handed hitter slugged 25 homers to go along with a healthy .352 on-base percentage.

Vientos is thus on the radar to make a major-league impact this season, if not one right from the start of the year. The question with Vientos is where he fits defensively, now and into the future. He’s played the majority of his time in the minors at third base — where the Mets also have Brett Baty just below him in the system — while also being introduced to the corner outfield (13 games) and first base (11) last year. As with most anyone on this list, the adoption of a universal DH would help clear the path for some playing time. In Vientos’ case, if the Mets were to move on from J.D. Davis in the coming months, he’d move up the hierarchy as one of the organization’s best right-handed power bats.

Hayden Senger

Baseball Prospectus recently ranked the 2018 24th-round pick out of Miami (Ohio) in the organization’s top 10 prospects — an opinion the Mets didn’t seem to share by leaving Senger exposed to the Rule 5 draft. The offensive numbers don’t jump off the page, and like so many catchers, Senger’s path to the bigs goes through his glove. At the moment, he’s fourth on the Mets’ catching depth chart, behind mainstays James McCann and Tomás Nido as well as Patrick Mazeika, who debuted last season. The usual churn at the position — the Mets have used at least four catchers in nine of the last 10 seasons — figures to open up a spot for Senger at some point this season. That is, of course, provided he’s not taken in the Rule 5 draft, whenever that happens.

Carlos Cortes

Cortes continues to hit. He posted 41 extra-base hits for Double-A Binghamton last season and hit about 20 percent better than the league average. Almost all of that production came against right-handed pitchers, as Cortes displayed some pretty steep splits in 2021.

That could potentially play as the long side of a platoon. However, Cortes’ defensive path narrowed in 2021, as he didn’t play at all on the infield and spent all his time as a corner outfielder. A super-utility player who mashes righties has an easier time finding himself big-league at-bats than a left fielder who does so, especially given the makeup of the Mets’ current roster. Long shallow in the outfield, the Mets have built themselves some depth there in the past two years: Not only did they sign Marte and Canha this winter, but they also brought in Nick Plummer to go along with last year’s trade for Lee.

Like Senger, Cortes wasn’t protected in advance of the Rule 5 draft. Provided he’s still in the organization, he could be a mid-season call-up to provide a bench bat in a pinch.

Nick Plummer

Plummer is this winter’s Sam McWilliams, which probably leaves a sour taste in the mouth of most fans but shouldn’t. Like McWilliams, Plummer was signed to a major-league deal despite having no big-league experience — the exact kind of low-risk move that, even when it doesn’t work out as in the case of McWilliams, costs the Mets very little.

A first-round pick in 2015, Plummer comes over from the Cardinals system, where he routinely compiled excellent on-base numbers. For the first time in 2021, he complemented his terrific eye with a solid batting average (.280) and power (15 home runs). If that’s a sign of things to come, Plummer could become a contributing part of the outfield mix alongside Lee.

Jake Mangum

The SEC’s career hits leader from his time at Mississippi State, Mangum is another outfielder who could play his way into a bench role this coming summer. He can differentiate himself from the others by his defense: Whereas Lee and Plummer have played some center field in addition to the corners, Mangum has played almost all his time in center, and deservedly so.

Mangum also delivered an intriguing season with the bat in 2021, making a ton of contact and hitting for moderate power (nine homers, 35 extra-base hits overall).

Thomas Szapucki

Like Lee, Szapucki had a brief and forgettable cup of coffee in the majors last season, getting hit hard in a lone long relief appearance against Atlanta. Two weeks later, the lefty needed nerve transposition surgery, which ended his season.

Szapucki has dealt with his share of injuries over his time in the professional ranks: He’s thrown all of 190 1/3 innings since being drafted in 2015. Most of those innings have been very good, but one has to wonder if now — when the options clock is ticking for Szapucki — is the time to think more seriously about a switch to the bullpen. The Mets lack left-handed relief options on the 40-man roster right now, and Szapucki has the stuff to potentially succeed in that role. That’s probably his quickest path to being a big-league contributor in 2022.

Adam Oller

A selection in the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 draft two years ago, Oller emerged as the organization’s Pitcher of the Year last season. He was good for Double-A Binghamton and great down the stretch for Triple-A Syracuse, opening enough eyes to get promoted to the 40-man roster in the fall. At the moment, he’s probably right behind Megill, Peterson, Trevor Williams and Jordan Yamamoto as depth starter options; that may seem like a lot, but New York used 19 different starting pitchers last season (13 not counting openers).

Eric Orze

Like Mangum, a senior signing out of the draft, Orze put himself on the radar with terrific work across three different levels in his first professional season in 2021. He struck out 67 in 49 2/3 innings, posting a 3.08 ERA for the season — although that mark got better with each of his promotions.

The Mets are not going into 2022 counting on Orze to be a major-league contributor. But the club rostered 22 different relief pitchers last season, and each passing year invites teams to dive deeper and deeper into their pitching depth.

(Photo of Khalil Lee: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)

Tim Britton is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the New York Mets. He has covered Major League Baseball since 2009 and the Mets since 2018. Prior to joining The Athletic, he spent seven seasons on the Red Sox beat for the Providence Journal. He has also contributed to Baseball Prospectus, NBC Sports Boston, MLB.com and Yahoo Sports. Follow Tim on Twitter @TimBritton