Close-Up of J. B. Brown

The Mets seem to be stockpiling second basemen. Not a bad idea for a team that has Juan Castillo as its starter.

The latest addition to the mix is J. B. Brown, who played for the last three seasons at the University of the Pacific and will now be playing for the Brooklyn Cyclones. The Mets drafted him in the 14th round. (He was the 13th Big West Conference player drafted.)

On paper, Brown doesn't appear to be fleet of foot. During his last two seasons with the Pacific Tigers, he didn't stretch one of his 27 doubles into a triple though he did manage to steal 12 bases in 18 attempts.

Brown is large for a second baseman: he's 215 pounds. Unfortunately, his size hasn't converted into long-ball power. Over the past two seasons, he hit only 13 homers in 106 games.

He can get on base. The past two seasons his OPS's were .971 and .909.

Average-wise, he's been consistent, hitting .378 and .376. The latter figure ranked him third in the Big West Conference among hitters with at least 200 at bats. Nationally, however, his average didn't even qualify him for the NCAA's top 100 list of Division 1 batters. But there's no denying he can get on base, though he doesn't walk a lot. In 2009, he walked 15 times; in 2010, only eight — Brown doesn't appear destined to be a lead-off batter.

He does make contact. In both 2009 and 2010, he struck out only 31 times in each season, striking out about once in every seven at bats.

His Mets career could begin today with the Cyclones opener. It will be interesting to watch his performance.

John Sickels has written an interesting review of the Mets 2010 draft.

Cyclones win opener: View the boxscore.

Minor League Baseball Cap - Brooklyn Cyclones Road Cap by New Era (6 7/8)