Each year at 213 we look through the Non-Roster Invitees to spring training and get to know them a bit. Are they in camp to get a look at big league hitting/pitching to aid their development? Are the Mets just trying to get a better look at a future rookie? Are they a veteran trying to get back to the major league level? What can we expect from them this season?
This isn’t the first time or the second time we’ve written about Patrick Mazeika. Just to quickly catch you up on the long time Mets farm system catcher, Mazeika was drafted in 2015 with a .348 batting average from Stetson University. In his first season he dominated hitting .354/.451/.540 at Kingsport. For the next several years he would continue to hit well, with numbers dropping a bit each way up the ladder in the minors. In 2018 he hit just .231/.328/.363, a steep decline from his previous year, at Binghamton. Last year we ended our NRI with, we have no idea where he’s going to play in 2019.
And the answer was Binghmaton. He went back to Binghamton. In 462 PA’s, 413 AB’s he hit .245/.312/.426. So, improved greatly with power, slightly with batting average and saw a dip in OBP. The Mets then sent him to the Arizona Fall League where he hit .174/.208/.239 over 48 PAs (a league where he was 2.9 years older than the average player). At 26, I guess he’s going to Syracuse next year? Maybe?
Again tricky for Mazeika is where all the catchers are in the system. Wilson Ramos is a lock as the starter. Then Rene Rivera and Tomas Nido, despite, Rivera not being on the 40 man, are battling for back up. That leaves Mazeika and David Rodriguez battling for next in line but the Mets need a long term solution, they also have Ali Sanchez, who is going to next defensive long-term back up solution. So we are just back to where we were last year, not knowing where Mazeika fits, and looking forward to the spring to figure it out.
