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The Mets are promoting top prospect A.J. Ewing to boost fan morale during a tough homestand. Despite limited experience at Triple-A, scouts believe Ewing has the potential to succeed.
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The Mets are desperate, obviously. They had to try something, anything to give angry fans a reason to cling to any sort of hope at Citi Field as a six-game homestand opens Tuesday night. Or, in truth, a reason not to boo from the jump.
So here come A.J. Ewing, and under ordinary circumstances David Stearns wouldnāt be calling up a 21-year old kid with all of 12 games at Triple-A under his belt. But under these circumstances itās the right move to make, and not just because Stearns knows that fans want to run him out of town.
That is, itās right because Ewing might just have the game to make it pay dividends.
At least thatās the opinion of scouts Iāve spoken to, before and after Monday nightās decision, via sources, to call up Ewing.
āIf youāre looking for a spark, like they are, heās got the game to bring energy,ā one scout told me Monday night. āHeās got great speed. Heāll steal a base, heāll make a diving play. He gets really good jumps in the outfield -- heās a natural in center field.
āWhether heāll hit major league pitching right away, thatās always the toughest thing to project. But heās got the tools for it. His swing is short and quick to the ball, and he has a knack for fouling off pitches to keep at-bats alive until he gets a pitch he can handle. He adapted quickly to Triple-A pitching, so I wouldnāt bet against him.ā
As the Metsā fourth-round pick out of high school in Ohio in the 2023 MLB Draft, the left-handed-hitting Ewing has exceeded projections as he has excelled offensively and moved up quickly in the minors.
Last season Ewing moved up two levels as he put up numbers, finishing the season in Double A, where he hit .339 in 28 games. He began this year in Double A and was hitting .349 with a 1.051 OPS after 18 games, forcing his way to Triple-A as he began to show power in addition to his contact skills.
He was hitting everything his first week in Triple-A, and though he cooled recently, he was still hitting .326 with a .392 on-base percentage at the time of his call-up, with five stolen bases -- and never caught stealing.
In short, he profiles as an obvious leadoff hitter, and youād have to think heāll be in that spot on Tuesday against the , which would allow to slide back to the No. 2 or 3 spot, especially considering Soto has been slumping since being moved to leadoff himself.
The Mets are promoting A.J. Ewing to provide fans with hope and excitement during a challenging period for the team.
Scouts believe A.J. Ewing has the game to succeed in the majors, despite his limited experience at Triple-A.
A.J. Ewing has played only 12 games at Triple-A before his promotion to the Mets.
David Stearns is the Mets' decision-maker who is responsible for calling up A.J. Ewing amid the team's struggles.
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āHeās got leadoff skills,ā a second scout said of Ewing. āHe gets into deep counts because he fouls off tough pitches and doesnāt chase a lot, but heāll see a different caliber of pitching now, and thatās always the X factor, especially for someone making the jump so quickly.
āHe could use more at-bats in Triple-A, where you usually see more spin, better command than you do in Double-A. So itās not ideal, rushing him to the big leagues, but I understand why theyāre doing it. Heās got a good approach, and heās short and quick to the ball, which gives him an advantage over a lot of guys as far as having immediate success.ā
Indeed, Ewing has made an impression with his ability to adapt at every level of the minors and continue to improve his offensive game.
For example, he recently made a huge jump in Baseball Americaās ranking of prospects throughout the minors. He moved from No. 83 to the No. 37 overall prospect, based on the way he was tearing it up early this season.
After what Ewing did last season, the Mets were convinced he was keeper. Still, they werenāt thinking heād be at Citi Field this soon, considering they made the gamble to trade for injury-prone Luis Robert, who is currently on the IL -- surprise, surprise.
In any case, I got a sense of just how high the Mets were on Ewing during spring training. I happened to be talking with a Metsā person in the seats behind home plate when Ewing came to bat late in the first game of the Grapefruit League season.
The bases were loaded with one out the time and Ewing worked a long at-bat, fouling off a few pitches before hitting a fly ball to center field, deep enough to score a run with a sacrifice fly.
āI love that at-bat,ā the Metsā person said. āHeās up there grinding, just trying to put the ball in play to get the run in, like heās in a pennant race. He plays the game that way. Heās going to be our center fielder at some point.ā
The person who was speaking certainly didnāt expect it to be just a few months later, in mid-May. Nobody did. Ewing is getting a chance only because Stearns couldnāt stand by and watch the season crumble without trying something.
And logic says itās too soon. Yet Ewingās fast rise through the minors, with success at every level, says maybe itās not.