The Mets drafted Zach Rheams out of Texas Tech last year in the 27th round. He hasn’t popped up on any major sites top 30 prospect lists yet and wasn’t on my radar at all until I got a copy of Baseball America’s 2019 Prospect Handbook.
Rheams is listed as the best power hitter int eh Mets organization. He had 17 homers in his senior season in college. In Columbia last year he hit 8 homers in 176 PAs (45 games). The part that caught my eye – according to BA, his exit velocities are close to Pete Alonso. He was also listed as a Best Late Round pick (with Adolph who has since been traded and Jaylen Palmer).
The concern, as a minor league OF/DH – where will he play and will he hit consistently enough or just be a homer hitting machine? Between his 45 games in Columbia and 6 in Kingsport last year, Rheams hit .223/.307/.402 in his pro-debut. In his senior year he slashed .341/.461/.713.
As for fielding, his results leave something to be desired. Overall in the outfield he had a .957 Fielding percentage in 128.2 innings with 1 error in 23 chances. As far as I could find in regular season games in Texas Tech he was the DH almost every game between his junior and senior year.
I’m writing this article to remind myself to constantly check in on how Rheams is doing. If he starts get on base more often, or improves at all defensively, he’ll appear on top 30 lists by the end of the season. His burst of power in Columbia was eye-popping, let’s see what he does next!
