MLB

Mets, Yanks prospects blossom down South

For systems light on truly intriguing position-player talent, it’s a wonder the Mets and Yankees each mined a potential starter from the same swath of the Rocky Mountains in the 2011 draft.

That’s not all Mets center fielder Brandon Nimmo, the team’s first-round pick out of the baseball backwater of Cheyenne, Wyo., and Yankees first baseman Greg Bird, a fifth-rounder who hails from violence-scarred Aurora, Colo., have in common. Both are playing their first full pro seasons as 20-year-olds in the Low-A South Atlantic League, on the young end for regulars, and rank among the leaders in on-base percentage and strikeouts.

Of the two, Nimmo may be judged as the less polished prospect. He played American Legion ball because there is no high school competition in his home state, and after a short season last summer with the Brooklyn Cyclones, has been a streaky performer for Savannah. A broken hand interrupted a torrid start, then he went homerless from May to July — albeit in a tough home park for hitters — with a .228 average and meager .648 OPS. Yet, Nimmo went into last night batting .382 with as many walks as strikeouts (19) in August, and observers said he has progressed noticeably even from the spring.

“You can tell how hard he’s worked, how much better he’s become,” said Michael Ryan, manager of the West Virginia Power, a Pirates affiliate. “The tools … the way he swings, the routes he takes in the outfield, he’s a fun player to watch.”

One of the men who drafted Nimmo, Chad MacDonald, the Mets’ amateur scouting director in 2011 before becoming assistant general manager of the Padres, made some respectable comps.

“In one sense, his age may be 20, but his baseball age may be 17 or 18 based on the lack of reps he got in Wyoming,” MacDonald told ESPN’s Keith Law. “I think the power’s going to come. I think he has a chance to be an Andy Van Slyke, Andre Ethier-type guy. From what I’ve heard, the Mets are still excited. From the outside looking in, in my opinion, there’s still a lot of reasons to be excited about him.”

Savannah manager Luis Rojas suggested two areas in which Nimmo can improve. At the plate, the patient Nimmo can be “too timid,” getting deep into counts and setting himself up for strikeouts. And he was just 5-for-11 in stolen-base attempts despite good speed.

“He’s not challenging himself to do that,” Rojas said. “He’s still learning to have that base-stealing attitude.”

Where Nimmo projects to the top of the order, Bird is more of a classic slugger. The Yankees gave him a $1.1 million bonus to keep him away from college and converted the 6-foot-3, 215-pounder from a catcher to a full-time first baseman. Ryan praised Bird’s infield defense and footwork around the bag, but what really gets the attention of opposing managers is the power that produced 19 homers through 120 games for Charleston, along with 33 doubles, 95 walks and 126 punchouts.

“You see him walk from the on-deck circle to the batter’s box, you get that chills feeling,” said Rojas, who put Bird in a category with bopping Rangers prospect Joey Gallo. “He has quick hands. It’s a different sound off his bat.”

Said Ryan, “Any time you have a guy who can hit the ball out of any part of the field, that’s major league power.”