Well-Rounded Drew Gilbert Eyes MLB Debut For Mets
Outfielder Drew Gilbert’s 35 games at Double-A Binghamton last summer, after arriving in a trade with the Astros, reinforced to Mets officials that they had acquired a player lacking glaring weaknesses.
“He plays very good defense, he’s a good baserunner, he’s coming into some power, he makes contact and he controls the zone,” Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “You add all of that up and you have a player whose floor is pretty high.”
The 23-year-old Gilbert hit .325/.423/.561 with six home runs in his 154 plate appearances for Binghamton. The Mets acquired him with prospect outfielder Ryan Clifford in the Aug. 1 trade that sent Justin Verlander and at least $35 million to Houston.
Gilbert will begin the season at Triple-A Syracuse as the center fielder, according to Stearns.
The Astros drafted Gilbert 28th overall in 2022 out of Tennessee. The 5-foot-9 outfielder is one of several Mets top prospects—including Jett Williams and Luisangel Acuña—who is short in stature. But Stearns doesn’t view that as an issue.
“You look up the middle of a diamond on a major league field and there are plenty of successful big leaguers who aren’t 6-foot-2,” Stearns said.
“You get to the corners and sometimes you see guys who are a little bit taller and lankier, but I don’t have concerns with having really skilled players up the middle who are under six feet.”
In 116 total games last season, Gilbert hit .289/.381/.487 with 18 homers and 12 stolen bases. He spent time at High-A and Double-A prior to joining the Mets.
Though Gilbert doesn’t possess an elite arm, he compensates with his approach, according to Stearns.
“I think increasingly we’re understanding that pure arm strength isn’t the end-all be-all,” Stearns said. “So much of this is how quickly you get to the ball, how quickly you release the ball, accuracy—all of that—but he’s got plenty to play all three positions of the outfield if necessary.”
