Several of the Mets' minor league players have been promoted from Single-A St. Lucie to the club's Double-A affiliate in upstate New York.
Following the end of the first half in the Florida State League, which the St. Lucie Mets missed out on winning by one game, the Mets have promoted several prospects to the Double-A Binghamton Mets: Brandon Nimmo, Steven Matz, Dilson Herrera, Randy Fontanez, and Bronx native T.J. Rivera.
Nimmo, a 21-year-old center fielder drafted by the Mets in the first round of the the 2011 draft, began the year with St. Lucie and raked. He hit .322/.448/.458 with 4 home runs and went 9-for-12 in stolen base attempts.
Matz, a left-handed pitcher drafted by the Mets in the second round of the 2009 draft, missed plenty of time early in his professional career because of Tommy John surgery and is now 23 years old. But he, too, started the year in St. Lucie and impressed, as he had a 2.21 ERA with 62 strikeouts and 21 walks in 69.2 innings. He did not yield a home run over that span, either.
The 20-year-old Dilson Herrera was acquired by the Mets in the trade that sent Marlon Byrd and John Buck to the Pittsburgh Pirates—and also netted the Mets relief pitcher Vic Black. Like Nimmo and Matz, he made his High-A debut to start this season. He hit .307/.355/.410 there, playing roughly two-thirds of his games at second base and the other one-third at shortstop.
Fontanez is 25 years old, but he earned his promotion with a 2.56 ERA, 33 strikeouts, and 7 walks in 31.2 innings of work out of St. Lucie's bullpen. And Rivera, a 25-year-old infielder, hit .341/.383/.452 with St. Lucie this year.