The Mets are desperate, obviously. They had to try something, anything to give angry fans a reason to cling to any sort of hope at Citi Field as a six-game homestand opens Tuesday night. Or, in truth, a reason not to boo from the jump.
So here come A.J. Ewing, and under ordinary circumstances David Stearns wouldn’t be calling up a 21-year old kid with all of 12 games at Triple-A under his belt. But under these circumstances it’s the right move to make, and not just because Stearns knows that fans want to run him out of town.
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That is, it’s right because Ewing might just have the game to make it pay dividends.
At least that’s the opinion of scouts I’ve spoken to, before and after Monday night’s decision, via sources, to call up Ewing.
“If you’re looking for a spark, like they are, he’s got the game to bring energy,” one scout told me Monday night. “He’s got great speed. He’ll steal a base, he’ll make a diving play. He gets really good jumps in the outfield — he’s a natural in center field.
“Whether he’ll hit major league pitching right away, that’s always the toughest thing to project. But he’s got the tools for it. His swing is short and quick to the ball, and he has a knack for fouling off pitches to keep at-bats alive until he gets a pitch he can handle. He adapted quickly to Triple-A pitching, so I wouldn’t bet against him.”
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As the Mets’ fourth-round pick out of high school in Ohio in the 2023 MLB Draft, the left-handed-hitting Ewing has exceeded projections as he has excelled offensively and moved up quickly in the minors.
Last season Ewing moved up two levels as he put up numbers, finishing the season in Double A, where he hit .339 in 28 games. He began this year in Double A and was hitting .349 with a 1.051 OPS after 18 games, forcing his way to Triple-A as he began to show power in addition to his contact skills.
He was hitting everything his first week in Triple-A, and though he cooled recently, he was still hitting .326 with a .392 on-base percentage at the time of his call-up, with five stolen bases — and never caught stealing.
In short, he profiles as an obvious leadoff hitter, and you’d have to think he’ll be in that spot on Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers, which would allow Carlos Mendoza to slide Juan Soto back to the No. 2 or 3 spot, especially considering Soto has been slumping since being moved to leadoff himself.
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“He’s got leadoff skills,” a second scout said of Ewing. “He gets into deep counts because he fouls off tough pitches and doesn’t chase a lot, but he’ll see a different caliber of pitching now, and that’s always the X factor, especially for someone making the jump so quickly.
“He could use more at-bats in Triple-A, where you usually see more spin, better command than you do in Double-A. So it’s not ideal, rushing him to the big leagues, but I understand why they’re doing it. He’s got a good approach, and he’s short and quick to the ball, which gives him an advantage over a lot of guys as far as having immediate success.”
Indeed, Ewing has made an impression with his ability to adapt at every level of the minors and continue to improve his offensive game.
For example, he recently made a huge jump in Baseball America’s ranking of prospects throughout the minors. He moved from No. 83 to the No. 37 overall prospect, based on the way he was tearing it up early this season.
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After what Ewing did last season, the Mets were convinced he was keeper. Still, they weren’t thinking he’d be at Citi Field this soon, considering they made the gamble to trade for injury-prone Luis Robert, who is currently on the IL — surprise, surprise.
In any case, I got a sense of just how high the Mets were on Ewing during spring training. I happened to be talking with a Mets’ person in the seats behind home plate when Ewing came to bat late in the first game of the Grapefruit League season.
The bases were loaded with one out the time and Ewing worked a long at-bat, fouling off a few pitches before hitting a fly ball to center field, deep enough to score a run with a sacrifice fly.
“I love that at-bat,” the Mets’ person said. “He’s up there grinding, just trying to put the ball in play to get the run in, like he’s in a pennant race. He plays the game that way. He’s going to be our center fielder at some point.”
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The person who was speaking certainly didn’t expect it to be just a few months later, in mid-May. Nobody did. Ewing is getting a chance only because Stearns couldn’t stand by and watch the season crumble without trying something.
And logic says it’s too soon. Yet Ewing’s fast rise through the minors, with success at every level, says maybe it’s not.
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