Cyclones go back-to-back for Player of the Week

A big part of the Brooklyn Cyclones’ road success (4-3) in Lakewood, N.J., has been the recent offensive outburst of the Mets’ 20-year old shortstop-third baseman Jesus Baez.  That outburst made officials at the South Atlantic League take notice to announce that besides A.J. Ewing, the Cyclones had another player named Player of the Week (May 20-25) for the second week in a row. 

In the first game of a rescheduled mid-week doubleheader at Lakewood, Baez was at the top of his game for the Blue Claw series as he went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs in the opener for a 10-1 Brooklyn win. In the nightcap, Baez then topped his opening performance by going 3-for-3 with two homers along with five RBIs. Overall at Lakewood, Baez went 11-for-17 over a six-game set. Currently, Baez leads the league with 25 RBIs, along with a .278 batting average, five home runs and six stolen bases.

Starting out as a 17-year old in the Mets’ Dominican Summer League in 2022, Baez worked his way up to the Brooklyn Cyclones in June 2024, only to go down on the IL for the rest of the season in July with a torn meniscus. With Baez’s April 15 return to Brooklyn this season, the burgeoning infielder has gradually developed at the plate over the last month. Currently, Baez is rated as the Mets’ number 7 out of their list of top 30 minor league prospects.