Mets Prospect Shifts Over To Arizona Fall League

New York Mets prospect Cole Mathis will be on the move this fall, according to a report from Jesse Borek of MLB.com that has Mathis shifting over to the Arizona Fall League after the Met acquired him from the Chicago Cubs in the trade that involved starter David Peterson. 

Some logistics are involved here, so let’s review. Mathis is a corner infielder who was on the IL with a wrist issue, so he and his wife moved to Florida to continue rehabbing at the Mets spring training complex in Port St. Lucie, Fla. 

Mathis was a two-way player at the College of Charleston, and he had enough success to be drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the second round. But Mathis underwent Tommy John surgery after that, so that was the end of his pitching career. 

He picked up the bat full-time after that and served as a designated hitter during the regular season, and he impressed the Mets enough to make this trade. Mathis is now the No. 13 prospect in the Mets’ system.

Now he’s in the AFL, and Mathis made his debut for the Surprise Saguaros on Saturday, hitting a 99-mph RBI single and drawing a walk during the club’s win over Scottsdale at Scottsdale Stadium during the league’s Opening Day, per Borek. 

The key to his success is a new stance. Mathis is in a more pronounced crouch from the right-handed batter’s box, and it’s helped him up his line-drive rate to 28.6 percent line-drive rate, 14th out of 204 hitters in the High-A Midwest League with 110 or more plate appearances in that league, according to FanGraphs.

The 23-year-old advanced from Single-A as a result, and he also found success at High-A while posting an .860 OPS in his first 25 games for South Bend. 

The AFL is a big differentiator, so if Mathis can continue to have success he could at least be able to make up for the at-bats he lost due to his wrist injury, with the prospect says is fine now. That would set the stage for a possible promotion to Double-A, and the Mets are a team that’s hunting for more offense at the MLB level right now. 

The Mets have had success with prospects like Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing rising through their system based in part on their hitting prowess, and Mathis is also hoping to duplicate their feat.