Mike Carp's Jump Back On The Prospect Radar

by Duece on Jun 11, 2008 2:25 PM EDT

He might not of been a "top prospect" but Mike Carp was defeintley starting to appear on the radar after his 2006 season in which he "Hit .287 with 17 homers, 88 RBIs and 69 runs scored in 137 games with Class A Advanced St. Lucie. ... Finished third in the Florida State League in total bases (221), second in RBIs, fourth in hits (141) and second in games (137). ." Carp did all of this at the age of 20, which is a bit young (not by much) for A+. very impressive. The problem of course, was that he had a hard time hitting left handers, and wasn't the best 1B.

Then in AA during the 2007 season, Carp got off to a slow start, and later got hurt. He never fully recovered, and discovered a huge hole in his swing while watching video in winterball. Carp's been mashing in AA ever since, thanks to the help of teammate Daniel Murphy; who pointed out Carp was a much better hitter when he cut down his swing with two strikes--Carp now does that all of the time--

The biggest thing for me, is his new found ability to hit lefties--which probably comes with the shorter swing. So far this season he's hitting .321 against lefties, while hitting .355/.409/.555 with 9 HR, 15 DB, and 38 RBI in 211 AB overall. He has a decent k/w ratio, with 33 k's and 18 walks in those 211 AB's.

The thing to remember is even though he's repeating AA he's still just 22 year old. He's also gotten some reps in LF this year to make him more versatile.. What do you guys think about Mike Carp and his future?

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Look at his May

His power completely disappeared. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

by number_twentyone on Jun 11, 2008 4:54 PM EDT reply actions

June

And he’s hotter(with power) in June than he was in April.

by supermets on Jun 11, 2008 5:00 PM EDT up reply actions

May..

He missed a week in May, but nobody ever said what the injury was. If it was a hand thing again it could explain the power loss though, like it probably did last year. You struggle with it for a little while, give it a rest, then get strength back eventually. I doubt he just fell off a cliff for a month before remembering how to hit again…

To the original post though, I think the OF experiment is over. All reports say it was a pretty big failure, and Evans has been getting most of the time in LF. Most people seem to like Murphy more than Carp still too, even though he’s younger and outhitting him in every category besides RBI. All three of these guys are supposed to be below average with the glove, so finding positions might be a problem…

by MetfanBren on Jun 11, 2008 5:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Re

Carp had a rib injury. And from what I can tell the Mets like Carp a lot more then they like Murphy, and see Murphy as nothing but trade bait.

by Duece on Jun 11, 2008 6:23 PM EDT up reply actions

Murphy

I know BA(Callis?) ranked Murphy ahead of Carp on their recently updated Mets prospect list, but I feel that the Mets like Carp more than Murphy. Two years ago at the age of 20, they brought Carp to major league camp in the spring.

by supermets on Jun 11, 2008 6:55 PM EDT up reply actions

Yes

and the reason why he wasn’t there this year wasn’t because they were down on him, it was because he came to camp overweight.

by Duece on Jun 11, 2008 7:57 PM EDT up reply actions

They're

both trade bait to the Mets. It’s so easy to see. They are going to end up dealing both Murphy and Carp while they’re hot and send them of the a crappy team and get freakin Billy Butler or Xavier Nady (not really but you get the idea, someone worth more than Carp and/or Murphy).

by METSMETSMETS on Jun 12, 2008 10:45 PM EDT up reply actions

I would perfer Murphy a little more if the Mets weren’t set at 3B. Just my opinion but his swing seems to give me more reason to believe he’ll hit for Average…..but Murphy is a 3B and doesn’t really project all that well to a position change since he doesn’t hit enough power for 1B, doesn’t have the right frame for 2B, ect.

Carp is interesting though….I see him as a .270 BA, 25 HR bat. Will do most of his damage against RHP but will hit Lefties just enough to not need a platoon.

by adropofvenom on Jun 11, 2008 8:10 PM EDT reply actions

Carp

Carp was 3-4 tonight with his 16th double and drove in 3 runs, bringing him RBI total up to 41. He’s also playing LF

by Duece on Jun 11, 2008 10:11 PM EDT reply actions

Step forward

I think Carp has definitely taken a step forward. I wouldn’t mind seeing him make the jump to AAA by the end of the month. He’ll have had about a full season in AA and, let’s be honest, the Mets needs for bats are pretty huge right now.

by Lunkwill Fook on Jun 12, 2008 9:45 AM EDT reply actions

I think

He’ll end up as a decent first baseman. A guy who is certainly a reasonable option if you don’t have anything better but not a great player.

by was385 on Jun 12, 2008 10:26 AM EDT reply actions

Carp = Karim Garcia

by METSMETSMETS on Jun 12, 2008 10:46 PM EDT reply actions

Carp should be a top 100 prospect at this point

I think Carp has made the jump for me at this point into the top 100.

He’s currently leading the EL in runs created, and still only 21. His defense isn’t spectacular, but solid (and has won recognition as best at his position at lower levels). One thing that may keep him from ranking higher is that the shorter swing mentioned above, while helping his hitting, also means a bit less over the fence power projection. The raw HR potential is still good, but it’s less than a guy like Chris Davis, who will likely rank higher.

I think what has happened with Carp is he maybe got a bit too much attention in 2006, and may have let it go to his head. While he struggled some last year, the Mets were reportedly not happy with his conditioning. They didn’t invite him to ST this year because of that. I don’t think there are major make up issues there, just a kid who needed to be pushed a bit. I think the Mets themselves may have been under selling him recently for that reason.

Still, BA notes on the latest hot sheet that he may be the most dangerous hitter currently in the AA Eastern League. Combine that with his age, and you’d think he’d be in the discussion of some of the best hitting prospects in baseball. I’m not sure how Jim Callis squares that with ranking him the Mets 6th best overall prospect last week (counting Ike Davis, who isn’t yet signed).

Carp is defensively limited to 1B. Nick Evans has better hands, and along with Murphy, has better positional versatility, having shown some aptitude for LF as well as 3B. But Carp is the one at this point with a chance to hit enough to start for the Mets at 1B next year. Evans and Murphy both look like good platoon guys for LF or 3B. I think reports of poor defense from Carp may also be related to his conditioning last year. I really don’t see any reason why he shouldn’t be an average defender there.

by acerimusdux on Jun 15, 2008 2:22 PM EDT reply actions