This is the second year where we are walking through the previous season’s Baseball America’s Top Prospect handbook, looking at the all the Mets to see how they are developing against Baseball America’s Projections.
Between spots #20-#30 on BA’s Top 30 Mets prospects list in 2019 there were only two position players. The first was a teenager who plays third, #29 William Lugo. The second is Carlos Cortes, who the Mets are developing as a second basemen. BA notes multiple times in his write up that Cortes doesn’t have a “defensive home” although he can play outfield and second. He’s short, 5’7″ (I’m still a good three inches shorter than he is) and gets around his height/range/speed by playing “workmanlike” according to BA. They specifically note that scouts think he should be a catcher but the Mets have pretty much decided that it’s secondbase or bust for Cortes.
Also an important note, he’s ambidextrous. Throws left when he’s in the outfield, throws right when he’s at second. That’s pretty neat!
Obviously, his defense is not why the Mets drafted him and gave him significant contract. It’s his shitting. He hits for power and has a decent average.
2018 South Carolina (NCAA): 278 PA, 230 AB, 15 HR, .265/.385/.500, 885 OPS
2018 Brooklyn: 202 PA, 178 AB, 4 HR, .264/.338/.382, 720 OPS
2019 St. Lucie: 526 PA, 458 AB, 11 HR, .255/.336/.397, 733 OPS
Cortes has hit so far in pro ball. In 2018 he was the exact average age in his league and last year he was slightly below the average age. From college to each level in the pros he has hasn’t seen too dramatic of a dip (yes there’s a big dip in OPS but power is going to change from the NCAA to the minors). Let’s see if the trend continues for him this year. I really don’t have any insight for Cortes in terms of predicting what level he should play at next year. If the pattern continues, at 23 he should be at Binghamton (no slips so far in every step he’s climbed), I don’t know if there is a logjam ahead of him. I guess we’ll find out in a couple of months!
