PORT ST. LUCIE — Jake Mangum grew up in a soccer household, and he tries to convey that sport’s mentality to the baseball discipline.
“Simply play each single sport prefer it’s my final,” Mangum, an outfielder who reached Double-A Binghamton final season, stated Tuesday at Mets minor league camp. “I’m assured that anybody who has ever watched me play via a time frame would agree that if it’s a groundout to the pitcher, I'm going to present you my greatest effort to first.”
Mangum’s father John performed 9 seasons within the NFL with the Bears as a defensive again within the Nineteen Nineties after a collegiate profession at Alabama. An uncle, Kris, performed tight finish for the Panthers, and Jake Mangum’s grandfather John performed defensive deal with for the Patriots within the Sixties.
Jake Mangum stopped taking part in soccer early in highschool to focus on baseball. The 25-year-old’s first breakthrough on the skilled stage got here final yr, when he slashed .285/.337/.454 with 9 homers and 47 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in 84 video games for Excessive-A Brooklyn and Binghamton.
Earlier this week, Mets director of participant growth Kevin Howard talked about Mangum because the participant — past the group’s high six or seven prospects — he's most trying ahead to watching this spring.
“He’s been right here for the final two months on the advanced; no person goes to outwork him,” Howard stated. “He’s received a whole lot of pure capacity. I simply actually assume that he’s a man that folks have underestimated and I feel he's going to emerge as a type of high seven guys earlier than the yr is over.”
At Mississippi State, Mangum received drafted thrice. The primary name got here from the Yankees within the thirtieth spherical of the 2017 draft. Mangum returned to high school and was chosen by the Mets within the thirty second spherical of the following draft. Mangum once more returned to high school and after his senior yr was chosen within the fourth spherical by the Mets in 2019.
“I wasn’t too shocked I got here again for my senior yr,” Mangum stated. “It harm my emotions, positive. I didn’t essentially need to, however I used to be grateful for my fourth yr at State for positive. I'm very grateful [the Mets] took me within the fourth spherical. That could be very form of them and I hope I've made them proud up to now.”
Mangum struggled in 53 video games for Brooklyn in 2019, however devoted the following spring and summer season — the pandemic worn out the minor league schedule — to altering his swing.
“I had an ideal faculty profession, nevertheless it wasn’t what skilled groups search for,” Mangum stated. “It was a really slap-the-ball, get-on-base method, and lots of people didn’t ever assume I'd ever translate into an expert hitter. I'm grateful that in 2019 brief season in Brooklyn I didn’t have the yr I wished.
“Final yr early on I confirmed indicators of hitting the balls more durable, however I didn’t have the precise method. I'm grateful to the Mets, halfway via July they sat me down, they stated, ‘We like what you might be doing, it’s there now, however how can we alter that method?’ And at any time when I alter that method now it’s nice.”
Nick Plummer and Khalil Lee are outfielders on the 40-man roster forward of Mangum as organizational depth. Whether or not Mangum begins this season at Binghamton or Triple-A Syracuse, it’s clear he might be within the dialog sooner or later if the Mets want an outfielder.
It most likely doesn’t harm Mangum’s case that he shares Mississippi State as an alma mater with supervisor Buck Showalter. Others within the group with Mississippi State roots embody prospects J.T. Ginn, Cole Gordon and Rowdey Jordan and space scout Jet Butler, who signed the 4 gamers.
“[Butler], everybody he's bringing in appears to be the precise match, not simply good baseball gamers … he’s capable of finding the precise guys for the group, the clubhouse, simply which are all making an attempt to battle for a similar factor, to win championships if we will get there,” Magnum stated. “And Buck Showalter is a legend. His title simply speaks for itself.”
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