Colin Houck

Week: 5 G, 17 AB, .353/.478/.882, 6 H, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 4 BB, 5 K, 0/1 SB (High-A)

2025 Season: 46 G, 167 AB, .228/.328.437, 9 2B, 4 3B, 6 HR, 23 BB, 55 K, 6/7 SB, .296 BABIP (Single-A)

A Stockbridge, Georgia native, Colin Houck attended Parkview High School, where he hit .421/.517/.780 over the course of his 130 game, four-year varsity career with 33 doubles, 8 triples, 29 home runs, 39 stolen bases in 41 attempts, and 70 walks to 80 strikeouts. His senior season was particularly good- he hit .487/.589/.857 in 40 games with 14 doubles, 3 triples, 8 homers, 16 stolen bases in 17 attempts, and 27 walks to 27 strikeouts- and won the Georgia 2023-2024 Gatorade Georgia Baseball Player of the Year Award, adding his name to a impressive group that includes some of the top prospects of today- Druw Jones (2021-2022), Dylan Lesko (2020-2021), Jordan Walker (2019-2020), C.J. Abrams (2018-2019), Kumar Rocker (2017-2018)- as well as an assortment of All-Stars and Hall of Famers- Byron Buxton (2011-2012), Matt Olsen (2010-2011), Zach Wheeler (2008-2009), Buster Posey (2004-2005), Dexter Fowler (2003-2004), Adam Wainwright (1999-2000)- and Anna Benson’s husband (1992-1993).

An accomplished football player who played varsity football at Parkview for four years as well and set the school’s record for passing yards and touchdowns as a quarterback, Houck was also considered a legitimate football recruit. In addition to weighing going pro out of high school as opposed to playing collegiately, he also needed to consider football scholarships as well. A strong showing in the summer tournaments between his junior and senior seasons eventually convinced him to focus on baseball, and getting drafted by the Mets in the first round of the 2023 MLB Draft eventually convinced him to turn pro instead of honoring his commitment to Mississippi State University.

Houck signed for a $2,750,000 signing bonus, just a bit over the MLB-recommended slot value for the 32nd overall player of $2,607,500. The infielder was assigned to the FCL Mets, where he got into a handful of games at the end of the summer, but it hasn’t been an easy start for Colin Houck’s professional career. Appearing in 9 games, he hit .241/.389/.310 with 1 triple, 0 stolen bases in 1 attempt, and 7 walks to 8 strikeouts. He was controversially ranked 19 on Amazin Avenue’s 2024 Top 25 Prospect list but did nothing but reinforce the low ranking during the 2024 season. Appearing in 112 games for the St. Lucie Mets, Houck hit .206/.304/.306 with 16 doubles, 5 triples, 5 home runs, 8 stolen bases in 12 attempts, and 49 walks to 171 strikeouts, the latter of which were tied for most in the Florida State League with Tampa Bay Rays prospect Roderick Arias. His poor performance left him unranked completely on the 2025 Top 25 Prospect list.

The infielder remained in St. Lucie to start the 2025 season and got off to a sluggish start. The 20-year-old hit .190/.273/.405 in 21 games in April with 4 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, 0 stolen bases, and 8 walks to 28 strikeouts, but had a better May. Appearing in 25 games, Houck hit a much improved .261/.374/.466 with 5 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, 6 stolen bases in 7 attempts, and 15 walks to 27 strikeouts.

Houck stands 6’2”, 190-pounds, with room to grow and fill in. In 2024, he stood slightly open, holding his hands high and wrapping his bat head behind his head. He modified his stance at the plate a bit this season, opening up a bit more, lowering his hands slightly, and, most notably, holding his bat at 1:30 as opposed to wrapping it behind his head almost parallel to the ground. Houck has much less hand movement with this new set-up as opposed to his 2024 set-up, giving him a much cleaner and efficient hand path to the ball. His swing was balanced, loose, and easy through the zone and remains so with these slight changes.

When Houck makes solid contact, he can do plenty of damage; his high-water mark this season is 108.9 EV, a sharp line drive single off of a Ignacio Briceno slider, and he has recorded 30 100+ MPH exit velocities in 98 recorded batted ball events and 46 95+ MPH exit velocities, an incredible 47% off his total 2025 batted ball events.

He has been unable to maximize on how hard he can hit the ball because he has shown himself to be too much of a free swinger. He is in the 37th percentile of Selectivity Percentage and the 67th percentile of Hittable Pitch Taken Percentage, resulting in a 38 SEAGER Score; in other words, too few positive outcomes have come from being selective and taking pitches he should not have offered at and too many negative outcomes have come from being too selective and taking pitches he should have offered at. His 29.8% Chase Rate, 83.4 Z-Contact Rate, 39.4% Whiff vs. Secondaries and 28.2% overall Strikeout Percentage are all improvements as compared to 2024 (30.3%, 74.8%, 55.5%, and 36.3%, respectively), but they all are below-average as compared to the Florida State League average and certainly are underwhelming for a first-round draft pick.

When Houck puts the ball in play, his batted ball data is encouraging. He uses the entire field, pulling the ball at roughly a 50% rate and going back up the middle and to the opposite field at about 25% apiece. His line drive, groundball, flyball, and infield fly ball rates are all solid- 27.7%, 33.9%, 38.4%, and 16.3%- and mark improvements as compared to the numbers he put up in 2024- 28.2%, 38.9%, 32.9%, and 24.7%, respectively.

While it is easy to be dismayed with Houck’s performance and write him off, the infielder is still 20-years-old and still has a few years to develop as a baseball player before any kind of important roster decisions need to be made. Likewise, as the 32nd overall pick, it’s not like there are any slam dunk players that were available when the Mets made their selection that should have been no-brainer picks over Houck. Kevin McGonigle (Detroit Tigers), Thomas White (Miami Marlins), Ty Floyd (Cincinnati Reds), Yohandy Morales (Washington Nationals) have all certainly outperformed Houck and would have not been reaches as 32 overall. Likewise, the other six players selected after him who haven’t exactly lit the world on fire for one reason or another- Josh Knoth (Milwaukee Brewers), Charlee Soto (Minnesota Twins), Kendall George (Los Angeles Dodgers), Myles Naylor (Oakland Athletics), Ryan Lasko (Oakland Athletics), Mitch Jebb (Pittsburgh Pirates)- were also considered reasonable picks for that area of the draft.

Smoking ribs takes hours upon hours upon hours. The meat might look nice and tender, the spice mix might look perfect, and the wood in the smoker might seem like it’s going to add a lot of flavor, but it still takes a long time before you can tear into those delicious bad boys. Sometimes, the end result is heavenly, but sometimes, the end result is meh, too.

Wellington Aracena

Week: 1 G, (1 GS), 5.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 K (Single-A)

2025 Season: 9 G (3 GS), 28.2 IP, 23 H, 17 R, 12 ER (3.77 ERA), 19 BB, 39 K, .324 BABIP (Single-A)

Wellington Aracena was born the Dominican Republic and signed with the Mets on January 15, 2022, the first day of the 2022-2023 international free agent signing period. The Mets assigned the right-hander to the Dominican Summer League a few months later and the 17-year-old right-hander appeared in 12 games for both Mets DSL teams, posting a combined a 6.84 ERA in 25.0 innings, with 26 hits allowed, 23 walks, and 28 strkeouts. He remained in the Dominican Summer League for the 2023 season and pitched more of a starter’s workload, appearing in 11 games and making 10 starts, and throwing 43.0 innings. He posted a 3.77 ERA with 33 hits allowed, 23 walks, and 46 strikeouts and was named a Dominican Summer League National League All-Star.

In 2024, the Mets sent Aracena stateside and he opened the season with the FCL Mets. Appearing in 11 games and making 9 starts, the right-hander posted a 6.26 ERA in 27.1 innings, allowing 26 hits, walking 26, and striking out 36. He was promoted to the St. Lucie Mets on August 1st and finished out the season in the Florida State League. The 19-year-old posted a 9.45 ERA in 13.1 innings in St. Lucie, allowing 13 hits, walking 16, and striking out 20. He began the 2025 season in St. Lucie, his role once again undefined. Used occasionally as a starter and primarily as a reliever, the 20-year-old has begun the season posting a 3.77 ERA in 28.2 innings, allowing 23 hits, walking 19, and striking out 39.

The 6’3”, 180-pound right-hander throws from a three-quarters arm slot, folding his torso low and throwing with downhill plane. The right-hander has the size and stamina to log more innings but has been very limited in the number of innings he has thrown and the number of pitches he has thrown per appearance due to his role, age, and below-average command.

Aracena is mainly a two-pitch pitcher, both within the same family. His fastball sits in the mid-to-high-90s, topping out at over 100 MPH. Not only does the pitch have a high amount of octane, but it also has a high spin rate, averaging 2505 RPM so far this season and an induced vertical break of 13.4 inches. He has used the pitch 45% of the time this season, which is a similar ratio to his usage of the pitch last season. Batters make less contact with it when it is in the zone, but Aracena has had trouble throwing it in the zone and thus far in the season, batters are expanding the zone and chasing it less than league average. Florida State League hitters are batting .333/.472/.381 against it with a 31.9% Whiff Rate.

His cutter has been a much more effective pitch. Thrown 33% of the time, batters are currently hitting .172/.286/.172 against it, with a 41.9% whiff rate. The pitch sits in the low-to-mid-90s, topping out at 96 MPH so far this season, and is averaging a spin rate of 2545 RPM. Aracena throws the pitch to right-handers and left-handers, but it has been a bit more effective versus righties, where the late, glove-side hop is darting away from them, as opposed to left-handers, where it is boring into them, as left-handers have been more willing to take the pitch for balls.

Rounding out his arsenal is a slider and a changeup. Aracena’s slider sits in the mid-80s and has averaged 2,725 RPM of spin. Featuring gyroscopic break with very little horizontal movement and sharp downward break, the pitch has been effective in its limited use, holding Florida State League batters to .050/.095/.050 batting line with a 29.4% Whiff Rate, but similar to his fastball, he throws the ball outside the zone far too much and batters generally do not have problems laying off of it when it isn’t in the strike zone. His changeup is barely used during in-game situations, but in its limited uses, it sits in the low-90s with a low spin rate that has resulted in somewhat consistent tumble but inconsistent fade.

Players of the Week 2025

Week One/Two (March 28-April 6): Joey Meneses/Zach Thornton

Week Three (April 8-April 13): A.J. Ewing/Zach Thornton

Week Four (April 15-April 20): A.J. Ewing/Zach Thornton

Week Five (April 22-April 27): Jon Singleton/Jonah Tong

Week Six (April 29-May 5): Jacob Reimer: Felipe De La Cruz

Week Seven (May 6-May 11): Ryan Clifford/Jonah Tong

Week Eight (May 13-May 18): A.J. Ewing/Jonah Tong

Week Nine (May 20-May 25): Jesus Baez/Zach Thornton