Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com lists Zack Wheeler, Matt Harvey, and Jeurys Familia among his top 100 prospects in baseball.

Mayo lists Wheeler as the 28th best prospect, Harvey as the 38th best prospect, and Familia as the 90th best prospect.

Mets vice president of scouting and player development Paul DePodesta told Anthony DiComo of MLB.com he is impressed with Harvey’s maturity and focus, saying:

“[Harvey] has really impressed me just with how mature he is. How dedicated and how focused he is on the task at hand, how willing he is to work on things, when he knows that they’re not going to benefit him immediately, but they may benefit him down the line.”

In addition, DePodesta spoke about Familia, and was also impressed with his focus, saying:

“Familia has impressed me on a lot of different fronts. For such a young guy, I’m impressed with his mental discipline and mental focus in addition to the stuff.”

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Michael Baron: I talked with people close to Harvey last year, and they also seemed extremely impressed with his concentration and ability to focus for such a young pitcher. I saw Harvey pitch with St. Lucie and while his stuff was electric, he was dominating mostly with a hard fastball and not much else. He struggled after jumping to Double-A primarily because his secondary pitches were still raw. However, he clearly began to harness that stuff towards the end of his season with Binghamton, and the results were indicative of such growth.

I do not expect Harvey to make the team out of camp, despite being invited to Major League Spring Training this year. I expect Harvey to start his year in Double-A or Triple-A, which is where he belongs to start the season. However, if he gets off to a great start and is able to sustain that success into mid-season, I expect him to at least get a cup of coffee with the Mets during the year.

Regarding Wheeler, I asked him last year about some of the adjustments he made to regain his control, and he said the Giants tried to slow his mechanics down and as a result, he struggled with his command and with the movement of his pitches. After reverting back to the mechanics he used in high school, he was able to rediscover some of the electricity and, most importantly, his command. I expect Wheeler will begin the season with Double-A Binghamton but hopefully he is able to maintain those mechanics and command this winter and continue his strong progression through the system.

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Toby Hyde: Does 96 strikeouts in 87.2 innings and a 3.49 ERA at age 21 in AA work for you? How about mid-upper 90s heat? Familia is one of the Mets big four pitching prospects, and I expect him to make his MLB debut sometime this year. Mayo’s comment on Familia was plenty interesting, writing “Famillia’s pure stuff will be good enough to pitch near the top of a rotation. How he harnesses that stuff will determine his ultimate ceiling.” Considering his age, performance at Double-A and mid-90s fastball, I think Familia gets underrated a little. It’s all nitpicking I suppose, but so it goes.

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Harvey went 13-5 with a 3.32 ERA in 26 starts between Single-A St. Lucie and Double-A Binghamton last year, striking out 156 batters in 135 2/3 innings. He went 5-0 with a 2.68 ERA in his final seven starts for Binghamton last year.

Wheeler went 9-7 with a 3.52 ERA in 22 starts for Single-A San Jose and Single-A St. Lucie last year, striking out 129 batters in 115 innings. He went 7-5 with a 3.99 ERA with 47 walks allowed in 88 innings with San Jose, but went 2-2 with a 2.00 ERA with just five walks allowed in 27 innings with St. Lucie.

Familia went 5-5 with a 2.90 ERA in 23 starts for Single-A St. Lucie and Double-A Binghamton last year, striking out 132 batters in 124 innings. He went 4-4 with a 3.49 ERA in 17 starts with Binghamton, allowing 35 walks while striking out 96 batters in 87 2/3 innings.

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To read Michael Baron’s Q&A with Wheeler from last summer, click here.

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For complete coverage of the Mets minor leagues, be sure to check out SNY’s Mets Minor League Blog.

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