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Mets' Ryan Clifford: Improving with glove in outfield
Rotowire
Clifford is looking to build on the progress he made last season with his outfield defense, Tim Britton of The Athletic reports.
Specifically, the 22-year-old worked on improving his reads, jumps and first step. "We put a lot of thought into the prep step stuff, and the numbers backed up that I got better out there," Clifford said in camp this week. "I'm hoping to build on it this year as well... Just continue to try to become more explosive. I don't have the highest top speed, obviously, so the first couple steps are really important to me." Twenty of his 34 starts with Triple-A Syracuse last season came in an outfield corner, and with the Mets not yet settled on the identity of their starting right fielder, a strong showing by Clifford in spring training on both sides of the ball could give him another route to a big-league debut in 2026. His most likely future position for New York remains first base, however, and his bat could play in either spot after slashing .237/.356/.470 with 29 homers in 139 games last year between Syracuse and Double-A Binghamton.
The Mets promoted Clifford from Double-A Binghamton to Triple-A Syracuse on Sunday, Pat Ragazzo of SI.com reports.
Clifford will make the jump to Syracuse after slashing .243/.355/.493 with 24 home runs and four stolen bases over 437 plate appearances in 105 games with Binghamton. Along with Clifford, fellow top prospects Jett Williams, Carson Benge and Jonah Tong will move up to Syracuse during the upcoming week.
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Mets' Ryan Clifford: Goes yard twice at Double-A
Rotowire
Clifford went 2-for-5 with two solo home runs for Double-A Binghamton on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old leads all Double-A hitters with 23 long balls on the season, and Clifford has shown overall improvement in his second stint at the level, slashing .250/.363/.503 over 101 games with a 25.8 percent strikeout rate. He'll never be a threat to hit for a high average, but Clifford's power is legit, and he's in line to be the Mets' first baseman of the future if Pete Alonso departs in free agency this winter.
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Mets' Ryan Clifford: Sent down to minor-league camp
Rotowire
The Mets reassigned Clifford to minor-league camp Tuesday, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.
Clifford spent most of last season at Double-A Binghamton, where he slashed .231/.359/.456 with 18 home runs and 58 RBI across 404 plate appearances. The Mets may send Clifford back to Double-A to begin the 2025 season, though he likely isn't too far away from a bump up to Triple-A Syracuse.
Clifford is slashing .231/.359/.456 with 18 home runs, a 15.6 percent walk rate and a 28.9 percent strikeout rate in 98 games for Double-A Binghamton.
Power and patience are Clifford's top traits, but his lefty power was largely suppressed by the pitcher-friendly dimensions of the High-A Brooklyn park, as he managed just seven homers in 63 games with the Cyclones dating back to 2023. His pop has been on full display at Double-A however, as his .225 ISO is the third-highest mark among all qualified Double-A hitters. Clifford is the fifth-youngest qualified hitter at Double-A, and he projects to do enough damage to at least occupy the strong side of a first base or designated-hitter platoon for the big club in a couple years.
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Mets' Ryan Clifford: Elevated to Double-A
Rotowire
The Mets promoted Clifford from High-A Brooklyn to Double-A Binghamton on Monday.
Clifford hit just .216 and posted unremarkable counting stats over his 31 games with Brooklyn (one home run, one stolen base, 13 runs and 10 RBI), but he earned the bump up to Double-A largely on the back of his discerning eye at the plate. He drew walks at a prolific 23.9 percent clip with Brooklyn, enabling him to maintain a .412 on-base percentage across 136 plate appearances. Racking up free passes has been a hallmark of Clifford's statistical profile at every stop of his professional career, but since he's limited defensively to first base and the corner outfield, he'll likely need to tap into more power at the upper levels of the minors to improve his long-term fantasy outlook by the time he hits the big leagues.
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