The forgotten Mets prospect
Also,Nolan McLean gets the ball for Team USA in tonight's WBC title game, and the Mets lost on Monday
What’s Up with the Mets? 🌴
The Mets fell to the Nationals on Monday night by the score of 12-6 (Box)
Carson Benge was again the story for the Mets, reaching base in all four at-bats
Mark Vientos’ miserable spring continued as he went 0-4 with a strikeout—-lowering his spring training average to a paltry .040
Cristian Pache and Christian Arroyo both homered for the Mets - Pache’s OPS for the spring is 1.302
LHP David Peterson started for the Mets and struggled, surrendering four runs on five hits and two walks across four innings
RHP Christian Scott took the loss, after allowing three runs in three innings of relief
RHP Nolan McLean will start for Team USA in tonight’s WBC Championship Game vs Venezuela
Manager Carlos Mendoza said on Monday that RHP Huascar Brazoban will be on the opening day roster - the one bullpen spot will come down to LHP Bryan Hudson or RHP Craig Kimbrel
OF Mike Tauchman has a 3/25 opt out in the minor league deal he signed with the Mets (Athletic)
Monday, March 16:
OF Nick Morabito (Italy) —Did not get in the game last night
Schedule | Standings | Scores
The Just Mets Podcast 🎙️
On the latest episode of the podcast, Rich and Andrew discuss Francisco Lindor’s return on Sunday, and the great number retirement debate.
SUBSCRIBE: YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Today’s Game 🏝️
Match-up: Mets (11-9) @ Marlins (8-12)
Where: Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium - Jupiter, FL
Starters: LHP Sean Manaea (0-2, 6.35 ERA) vs. RHP TBD
When: 1:10 EDT
Where to Watch: n/a
Remember Colin Houck?✍️
Young, talented players have been the talk of Mets camp this spring.
Carson Benge is making a stronger case by the day that he belongs in the big leagues and should be the team’s opening-day right fielder.
A.J. Ewing opened eyes every chance he got before being reassigned to minor league camp the other day.
Jacob Reimer and Ryan Clifford made a positive impression in big league camp. Jonah Tong draws a crowd everywhere he goes, and even lesser-known arms like Jack Wenninger and Ryan Lambert put themselves on the map as future contributors.
For all the attention the Mets’ top prospects have generated this spring, though, I’m positive there’s another name the organization wishes was part of that mix.
Infielder Colin Houck.
The Mets selected Houck in the first round in 2023, coming out of Parkview High School in Lilburn, GA—the year before they chose Benge.
They knew Houck would be more of a long-game play than a more polished collegiate player, but it’s difficult not to be disappointed with the start to his professional career.
Houck played in only nine rookie-level games the summer after he was drafted, but then struggled through a miserable first full professional season in 2024.
In 112 games with Single-A St. Lucie, he slashed just .206/.304/.306 with 26 extra-base hits.
He spent the majority of last season repeating the Single-A level in St. Lucie and did play better before being promoted to High-A Brooklyn. But the uptick in competition dramatically threw cold water on his campaign.
In 54 games with the Cyclones, he slashed .198/.269/.289 with only two home runs.
This time last year, Houck was invited to participate in the Spring Breakout Game. Twelve months later, he’s not even listed among the Mets’ top 30 prospects.
For a team that more often than not has hit with its high draft picks, Houck is unfortunately trending seriously towards being the outlier.
Let’s look at the Mets’ last ten first-round selections.
Peterson is the Mets’ longest tenured player and a longtime member of the club’s starting rotation.
Kelenic never developed into the player he was projected to be, but when his stock was at its peak, he was able to be traded to Seattle to net the Mets Edwin Diaz.
Baty is a critical part of the current Mets and is coming off a career season.
Crow-Armstrong is the one that got away, now an All-Star in Chicago after being traded to the Cubs for Javier Baez in an ill-fated deadline deal.
Rocker is a little bit of an outlier here because he did not ultimately sign after the Mets were concerned with his medicals. Now a member of the Rangers, he made 14 Major League starts a year ago.
Parada is another guy the bust label has been kicked around in reference to, but he still spent most of March in big league camp and is a piece of New York’s organizational catching depth.
Williams was touted as one of the best prospects in baseball and was the centerpiece in the deal that allowed the Mets to land Freddy Peralta.
We all know about Benge. And the club has high hopes for Voit entering his first full professional season in 2026.
Houck is clearly the one that’s left the most to be desired on this list, and heading into ‘26 he simply needs to have a resurgent campaign to avoid being buried on the Mets’ organizational depth chart.
Around the League 🚩
Venezuela beat Italy 4-2 to earn its first ever trip to the WBC championship game, while ending Italy’s dream run through the tournament
Jack Flaherty gave up five runs in five innings but still got the win in Detroit’s game with the Phillies thanks to 13 runs from the Tigers offense
Drake Baldwin blasted a three run homer and drove in four in Atlanta’s 11-2 rout over Tampa Bay
The Brewers beat the Dodgers 24-9 in a game that’s scored looked more like a Packers/Rams contest
Vientos is a liability. I wouldn't hesitate to leave him out of the opening day lineup. It's an underutilized position, and he's already been given too many opportunities.
Good piece. Interesting theme. Another former blue chip prospect, Pache, has done everything we could ask this spring. But there's no room in the inn. First call up if there's an injury, I guess?