Slugging Mets prospect Ryan Clifford continues May power surge
· Yahoo Sports
It’s been a bit of an up-and-down start to the season for Mets prospect Ryan Clifford, but the lefty has been showing off his power over the past few weeks in Syracuse.
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Clifford was able to do so again in Friday night’s extra-inning loss to Rochester.
With Syracuse leading 6-1 in the top of the third, the slugger stepped to the plate and lifted a third-pitch fastball up in the zone to deep right-center for a solo shot.
That accounted for Syracuse’s seventh run of the third inning.
It also marked Clifford's team-leading 12th home run of the season, and his seventh during the month of May.
He's gone deep on back-to-back nights, and five times over his last nine games.
Clifford went hitless across his other four at-bats on the night, but was sure to make his presence felt in the middle of things with the towering blast.
The 22-year-old also has a triple, four doubles, and 17 RBI across 25 May games.
While the game-changing power has certainly been there, the young slugger is still hitting just .218 with a .294 OBP and a 35.7 percent strikeout rate through 53 games this season.
The noise around a call-up has been there from the fans of late, but Clifford will likely need to show the Mets a bit more at the plate before they decide to give him a shot.