Wondering which young players could have an impact in the majors this year? Let MLB FanHouse guide the way in Better Know a Prospect. In this edition we look at three players from the New York Mets system.Jon Niese, LHP: With the Mets' rotation seemingly set, Niese will most likely start the season at Triple-A Buffalo, but if Tim Redding struggles, or if John Maine's injury woes from last season continue, Niese will be the guy to fill in. His cup of coffee with the Mets last season should prove to be beneficial to pitcher and team alike. He had three starts in September of '08, which included two stinkers wrapped around an impressive eight inning gem in a 5-0 win against Atlanta.
What you can expect from Niese is a guy who will rely on his curveball rather than his fastball, and a guy who has a competitive streak a mile long. His issue going forward will be keeping his pitch counts down. In his two starts which only lasted into the fourth inning, he approached the 80-pitch mark.
Fernando Martinez, OF: You may remember Martinez as the guy who the Mets wouldn't place in the Johan Santana deal. That's how much the Mets thought and still think of him. Statistically, he doesn't jump out at you. But the Mets rarely let prospects dominate the minor leagues before promoting him, and they've done no different with Martinez. In fact, it's been injuries more than stats that have been Martinez's downfall during his minor league career. He was impressing people during his stint in the Caribbean World Series before going down with an injury and was sent back to New York largely as a precaution.
The lefty power hitter is also due to start at Triple-A Buffalo, but a combination of a big start to the season by Martinez and the Mets' platoon of Fernando Tatis and Daniel Murphy becoming a bust could lead to Martinez reaching the majors this year at the ripe old age of 20.
Eddie Kunz, Bobby Parnell, RPs: Kunz and Parnell are listed together because it may take two prospects to stabilize the back end of that horrible Met bullpen. Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz go a long way toward stabilizing the later innings, but pretty much everybody else has been purged, with nobody brought in from the outside to replace them. That's where Kunz and Parnell come in. What the Mets lack are swing and miss guys. Kunz and Parnell average over 7.5 strikeouts per nine innings with their plus fastballs. Both had brief stints with the Mets last season, with Parnell impressing and Kunz struggling. But both are considered not only a big part of the future, but a big part of the near future, as they were both drafted out of college with the hopes that they would reach the bigs sooner rather than later.
For comprehensive coverage of the minor leagues, visit John Sickels at Minor League Ball and Baseball America. For minor league statistics, visit Baseball-Reference and Minor League Splits.
