The New York Mets have a good stockpile of position player prospects in their farm system, a group they strengthened when they drafted Colin Houck with their first pick in the 2023 draft. While most experts agree that the Mets need to find more pitching, the fact that the organization has been developing good position players is a solid step towards Steve Cohen’s goal of becoming the East Coast version of the Los Angeles Dodgers. While players like Houck and catcher Kevin Parada generate all the headlines, the key to a good farm system is developing more depth options like Luke Ritter, who is the focus of this week’s edition of Minor League Mondays.
Ritter, the Mets’ seventh-round pick in 2019 out of Wichita State, has always had a reputation as a hit-first second baseman since he was drafted. The Mets saw Ritter play a key role in Brooklyn’s 2019 New York-Penn League title before the COVID year slowed his development. While it is fair how much more development a 26-year-old middle infielder can have, Ritter has showcased at least one late-blooming skill this season: power.
The Mets assigned Ritter to AA Binghamton to start the season and he torched the Eastern League, batting .240 with 14 home runs and 29 RBIs in 43 games for the Rumble Ponies. That strong performance helped earn Ritter a promotion to AAA Syracuse, where he has contributed another seven homers and 17 RBIs in 40 games.
There is a lot of swing and miss in Ritter’s game as he has 103 whiffs in 282 at-bats, but he has shown a good eye at the plate by drawing 49 walks across AA and AAA. The question here is whether or not the newly found power that Ritter discovered is sustainable, which would give him a ticket to the majors as a utility man.
No one is expecting Ritter to turn into a starter for the Mets but if he can be a competent fill-in or bench piece that would be a helpful outcome for the big club. Depth has often been a problem for the Mets, who have shown the ability to develop major leaguers but have had trouble filling gaps when injuries occur. Ritter is a guy who can solve that problem, especially if he can build on his strong start at AA Binghamton in Syracuse.
The Mets will let Ritter finish the year in Syracuse and then have a decision to make in terms of whether to add him to the 40-man roster or expose him to the Rule V draft this winter. There is a good possibility Ritter is left unprotected since most teams won’t want to gamble on a prospect without much more development, but he can change that with a solid finishing kick.
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