Yonatan Henriquez
Week: 5 G, 25 AB, .360/.429/.920, 9 H, 2 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 3 BB, 3 K, 1/1 SB (High-A)
2026 Season: 87 G, 353 AB, .212/.273/.363, 75 H, 22 2B, 2 3B, 9 HR, 28 BB, 100 K, 21/30 SB, .266 BABIP (High-A)
It has not been a good season for Yonatan Henriquez. Assigned to the Brooklyn Cyclones for the entirety of the season, missing roughly a month early on because of an injury, the utilityman has hit .212/.273/.363 with 9 home runs, 21 stolen bases, a 7.1% walk rate, and a 25.9% strikeout rate.
Given a $104,000
signing bonus when he initially signed with the team out of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic on January 15, 2022, Henriquez was valued for his athleticism and versatility; the 17-year-old did not stand out in any one specific facet of his game, but because he could do so many things well enough, there variety of ways he might develop His career path highlights that, when a player so young lacks a true carrying tool, career progression can sometimes be a true uphill battle.
The 17-year-old Henriquez made his professional debut a few months after signing, hitting .247/.390/.344 in 31 games with the DSL Mets 1 with 3 doubles, 2 home runs, 5 stolen bases, and 18 walks to 27 strikeouts. In 2023, he came stateside, assigned to the FCL Mets and appearing in 43 games with them, hitting .221/.353/.300 with 8 doubles, 1 home run, 7 stolen bases, and drawing 29 walks to 34 strikeouts. He remained in the Florida Complex League for most of the 2024 season, appearing in 40 games and hitting .289/.464/.377 with 6 doubles, 2 triples, 0 home runs, 15 stolen bases, and 34 walks to 23 strikeouts. He was promoted to the St. Lucie Mets at the beginning of August and spent the last month of the season there, appearing in 26 games and hitting .169/.245/.202 with 3 doubles, 0 home runs, 0 stolen bases, and 7 walks to 26 home runs.
In 2025, the 20-year-old began the season with St. Lucie and appeared in 104 games with them, hitting .264/.354/.395 with 18 doubles, 2 triples, 8 home runs, 33 stolen bases, and drawing 51 walks to 72 strikeouts. He was promoted to Brooklyn at the end of August and appeared in 7 games for the Cyclones, going 7-28 with 1 double, 1 triple, 2 stolen bases, and 4 walks to 8 strikeouts.
At the plate, Henriquez has some pretty unique pre-swing mechanics, and as a switch hitter, he has different mechanics from either side of the plate. As a left-handed hitter, he stands extremely open and holding his bat low at the letters, almost perpendicular to the ground. As he begins his load, he closes off and raises his hands into proper hitting position. As a right-handed hitter, he also stands square, with his hands at the letters, almost resting the bat on his shoulders until his load. He has had more success in his career from the left-side, and is currently is hitting .226/.288/.383 in 274 at-bats as a left-handed batter and .169/.226/.299 in 77 at-bats as a right-handed batter.
Henriquez is a true Swiss army knife defensively, playing second base, third base, shortstop, left field, centerfield, and right field this season. This season, he has 182.0 innings at second, 213.2 at third, 35.0 at short, 63.0 in left, 201.0 in center, and 41.0 in right. He has been used similarly since turning pro and, in total, has accrued most of his time in the field in center (854.2 innings), with a third base a not-so-distant second (730.1 innings). His quick-twitch athleticism, reactions, and speed help both at the hot corner and in centerfield.
Xzavion Curry
Week: 2 G (2 GS), 9.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (Triple-A)
2026 Season: 13 G (11 GS), 61.0 IP, 57 H, 26 R, 26 ER (3.84 ERA), 14 BB, 36 K, .249 BABIP (Triple-A) / 7 G (0 GS), 16.0 IP, 14 H, 5 R, 5 ER (2.81 ERA), 7 BB, 10 K, .250 BABIP (MLB)
Xzavion Curry had a week bookended with two strong starts, throwing five scoreless, no-hit innings on Tuesday against the Worcester Red Sox and then coming back on Sunday and pitching an additional 4.2 scoreless. In total, he pitched 9.2 innings without allowing a run, scattering 2 hits, walking 1, and striking out 4.
The 28-year-old right-hander was signed to a minor league contract back at the beginning of May. He had elected for minor league free agency in November 2025 but received no offers at the time and signed a contract with the Tigres de Quintana Roo of the Mexican League when the 2026 season began. He has been one of Syracuse’s most consistent starters since. Additionally, not only has Curry looked good with Syracuse, but in the handful of MLB opportunities he has been given this season, he has been effective; appearing in 7 games out of the bullpen, the right-hander has a 2.81 ERA in 16.0 innings, allowing 14 hits, walking 7, and striking out 10.
The right-hander, who was initially drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 7th round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Georgia Tech, feels like he should not be having the success that he is, but yet here he is. All of his pitches- he throws a four-seam fastball, slider, splitter, curveball, and sinker- are hittable, he walks more batters than you’d like, his strikeout rate is nearly non-existent, and his batted ball breakdowns are extremely problematic. Everything says that Curry should be a lot worse than he has been, but the right-hander has almost 80 combined innings at the highest levels of professional baseball this season and he’s been making it work. I have no personal knowledge regarding how the Mets feel about the right-hander or if they might be interested in having him return for the 2027 season, but given how Curry has been able to thrive despite so many factors saying he shouldn’t, it might be worth looking into.
