Mets prospect Gavin Cecchini playing well in Arizona Fall League
The Mets might need Cecchini to step in at some point in 2017
Mets shortstop prospect Gavin Cecchini is playing well in the Arizona Fall League, hitting .250/.361/.429 with one HR and two doubles in eight games (28 at-bats) for the Scottsdale Scorpions.
The Scorpions are made up of players from the Mets, Yankees, Phillies, Angels, and Giants, some of whom are the best prospects in baseball.
The 22-year-old Cecchini hit .325/.390/.448 with eight HR, 27 doubles, and two triples in 117 games for Triple-A Las Vegas this past season.
He was called up to the Mets in September and had two hits in six at-bats.
Cecchini was once viewed as a player who would be solid –perhaps even above average — at shortstop defensively and offensively.
However, his error total (27 in 2014, 28 in 2015, 33 in 2016) is glaring. Lots of his errors in 2015 were attributed to him being over-aggressive, but that wasn’t the case in 2016. Writes John Sickels for Minor League Ball:
The defensive trends maintain as well: his error rate continues to get worse, not better, and his range metrics at shortstop have never matched his high school reputation as a strong glove. He’s not terrible, but the numbers simply aren’t those of an excellent defender. I continue to believe that he would be very good at second base, but he’s hardly played the position, with just three games this year, and would need some time to get the finer points down.
While the error totals are alarming, we’ve seen this before from young players who eventually turned became above-average defenders. So perhaps there’s still hope for Cecchini at shortstop.
But with Asdrubal Cabrera under contract through 2017 and Amed Rosario perhaps ready by late-2017 or early-2018, Cecchini could provide value at second base — especially if the Mets don’t bring back Neil Walker, who they need to make a qualifying offer decision on.
Aside from Cabrera, the Mets have Jose Reyes as an option at second base if David Wright returns healthy. They also have Wilmer Flores and T.J. Rivera.
Flores has mashed lefties but may be needed at third base if Wright isn’t healthy. And while Rivera excelled in 2016, his performance came out of nowhere and no one should expect him to replicate it in 2017. Additionally, If Cabrera goes down at any point, that would likely force Reyes to shortstop.
So, Cecchini could be a key player for the Mets in 2017. And despite his lack of experience at second base, that might be where he winds up.
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