Prospect suffering some growing pains
Gavin Cecchini insists he didn’t have a down year at Triple-A Las Vegas, despite numbers that clearly state otherwise. Mets manager Terry Collins said he believes the former first-round pick can be an everyday player in the major leagues, though the Mets keep looking elsewhere at a time when they are playing out the string and are evaluating young players.
Something is clearly amiss regarding the 23-year-old infield prospect who was drafted (12th overall) ahead of Corey Seager, Marcus Stroman and Michael Wacha in 2012, and he isn’t sure what to make of it.
“I have no clue,” Cecchini said, when asked Friday of his standing within the organization before the Mets hosted the Marlins at Citi Field. “You got to ask them that. All I can do is control what I can control, and focus on me getting better every single day.”
Cecchini and fellow infielder Matt Reynolds were called up by the Mets on Thursday when Jose Reyes (left oblique strain) was placed on the disabled list. When asked about Cecchini on Wednesday, general manager Sandy Alderson pivoted to Reynolds, who has struck out in more than a third of his major league at-bats, 55 times in 142 trips to the plate.
“[He] hasn’t really gotten a chance to play on an everyday basis up here,” Alderson said of Reynolds, who was hitting well in Las Vegas, slashing .320/.396/.484 with an .880 OPS in 33 games.
Reynolds has been given many more chances than Cecchini, who can’t even crack the starting lineup of a team going nowhere and has stated the goal is to find out about some of its prospects.
“[There’s] a little frustration,” said Cecchini, who has cut down on his errors this year, from 34 to 13, improving a major weakness. “I can hit — I’ve always hit — and I’ve proven that at every single level.
“Of course I would love to have [an] opportunity. I think anyone would. This game is all about opportunity and you just got to have one to be able to show what you can do.”
Reynolds started Thursday at third base and was in the lineup there for Friday’s game. Collins has made it clear that had Wilmer Flores gone on the disabled list — he was back in the lineup Friday night at first base — Reynolds would get the bulk of the playing time. Collins did say Cecchini would get a start this weekend against the Marlins, and the organization remains hopeful he can be an everyday player.
“There are some things that I know the guys on the offensive side want to work with him a little bit,” Collins said. “This year he’s made a couple of changes they are trying to fix.
“We got to get him going offensively, because that’s the one thing about him, was everybody thought he would hit, and he always has hit, and this has probably been as rough a year as he’s had in the minor leagues.”
Cecchini said he didn’t have a down year in Las Vegas, and that he hit for more power, even if the numbers tell a vastly different story. In the hitters’ haven known as the Pacific Coast League, he produced an underwhelming .267/ .329/.380 slash line with a .709 OPS (his lowest since 2014), six home runs and 39 RBIs. Compare that to the previous season, when he slashed .325/.390/.448 with a .838 OPS, eight home runs and 55 RBIs.
“The guy has bat potential,” Collins said. “I still think he’s got a chance to be an everyday player.”
But does anyone else in the Mets organization share that opinion? Clearly, Alderson and company are down on Cecchini. He isn’t sure what he has to do to prove to them he deserves a long look.
“I don’t know,” Cecchini said. “No clue.”