00:03Sammy Steffer was one of the more intriguing young players the Mets added at the trade deadline
00:08acquiring a 21-year-old shortstop from the Pirates in the deal that sent Luke Weaver to Pittsburgh.
00:13The numbers and scouting reports tell us about the power, the speed, and defensive ability
00:18that have made Steffer one of the more interesting prospects in the Mets system.
00:22But what does he actually look like when you watch him play every day?
00:25How much did his game grow during his time in Greensboro?
00:28And if everything comes together, just how good can he become?
00:32To help us answer those questions, I'm joined by somebody who had a front-row seat to his development.
00:38Greensboro Grasshopper's play-by-play voice, Andrew Allison, here with me now from Greensboro.
00:43Andrew, how you doing, my friend?
00:46I'm doing pretty well. Glad to be on. Glad to talk about Sammy, one of the better players that I
00:51have seen play in my time in Greensboro.
00:53And yeah, glad to help you guys know him a little better.
00:57Yeah, I want to get the Mets fans to know him a little bit better, Andrew.
01:01So let's start here. Let's start with your first impression of Sammy Steffer.
01:05When he arrived in Greensboro last season, what was the first thing about his game that made you say,
01:10OK, there's something different about this kid?
01:12Was there anything that gave you a good first impression or a bad first impression?
01:16Whatever. What was the first impression that you had of Sammy Steffer?
01:19The first impression I had was I reached out to some people that had known him from Travel Ball and
01:26just from my college connections.
01:29And everything I immediately got was he's a great defensive player.
01:34And if the kid can ever get the bat going, well, then watch out because he can go skyrocket as
01:41quickly as anyone can.
01:42And I talked to Blake Butler, who was our manager at the time.
01:46He's now the Marlins infield coach.
01:49And he echoed those sentiments from what he had seen.
01:53And Sammy kind of proved that he made great defensive plays.
01:57And it wasn't just, oh, well, he made a defensive play.
02:00You know, he just happened to get lucky or something.
02:02It was always a he was in the right spot at the right time.
02:05He just kind of had a knack for it.
02:07And, yeah, we did see he struggled offensively to end the season last year in Greensboro after he came over
02:14from the trade with Cincinnati.
02:16And we kind of saw that to begin the year.
02:19But he was coming off of an injury.
02:20So he kind of got a pass there.
02:22And then, well, we saw what happened once he got healthy this year.
02:27Yeah, we did.
02:28We're going to get into that, too.
02:29But I love talking about the growth with players like this, especially you've seen him after he got traded from
02:33Cincinnati and then playing in Greensboro.
02:35He's still only 21 years old, Andrew.
02:37He's already been traded twice.
02:39You watched him arrive in the Pirates organization last summer, as you just talked about.
02:42How did you see him grow both as a player and a person during his time in Greensboro?
02:50Really, he came in and he was mature from the first conversation I had from him.
02:55And I think that goes back to the fact he was drafted out of high school.
03:00So he was a player that he was, yes, 20, now 21.
03:06But he wasn't just coming out of college.
03:08He had been in the minor leagues for a while.
03:11So he was very mature.
03:13And I think the one thing that I saw that it may have been there to begin with, but I
03:20didn't see it until this season, was he had the mindset of, OK, let's lock in.
03:28Let's do what we need to do to get better.
03:30Let's let's figure out what we can to make him the best player that he can be.
03:36And I think that is where I've really seen on the personal growth side where the big change came from.
03:44So, Andrew, you saw this and maybe some Mets fans do not know this.
03:49So hopefully this is helpful.
03:50But you recently saw a hot stretch or a power surge, I would say, from Sammy Stafford.
03:5614 home runs in 18 games during July.
03:59That's the kind of stretch where I have to ask you, the person who's actually watching it every night, what
04:04in the world did that look like?
04:06Was he just locked in or did you see a real change in his swing or approach where he had
04:11power that you hadn't seen from him before?
04:14Yeah, it was interesting because going into that month when he had 14 home runs in July, he had five
04:22on the season coming into that.
04:24So it was one of those where it started and it goes, OK, like we had seen him have the
04:30ability to leave the yard.
04:31Maybe he's just kind of finding it. And then it turned into I don't know if they're just throwing him
04:36meatballs down the middle.
04:38And then it turned into, OK, well, this is actually consistent. What is going on here?
04:42So I went and talked in Greensboro. We actually have two hitting coaches, Quentin Brown and Jonathan Ruth.
04:46I went and talked to him. They said it was a mindset change.
04:51They got him to flatten out his swing.
04:53They got him to attack specific parts of the zone that he felt he was comfortable at.
04:59And as a result, they just saw it start to soar out of the park.
05:04I mean, he he went from batting 257 with five home runs and 16 RBIs coming into the month of
05:10July to what is now after July.
05:15He was batting 303, 14 home runs, eight doubles and 35 RBIs.
05:20That was just in the month of July.
05:22It was crazy to watch.
05:24I personally loved it because as a broadcaster, I got a lot of home run calls and a lot of
05:31them you knew off the bat were going to be home runs.
05:33There was nothing that crawled over the wall. It was all off the bat.
05:38Sometimes the fielder didn't even move.
05:40I'm glad you added that detail there because sometimes people will see those numbers, right?
05:43At the 14 home runs in the 18 games and say, OK, how many of those were no doubters?
05:47How many did you know off the bat this was gone?
05:50And he had a lot of those.
05:51So that's really interesting.
05:53And also that you said it was from the hitting coaches.
05:55It was a mindset shift.
05:56That's really fascinating to see him do that and then apply it in that month of July is really impressive.
06:02So let me ask you this, Andrew, because when people read the scouting report on Stafford, they're going to see
06:08the power they just saw in July, speed, defense, the ability to stay at shortstop, which he's mainly played.
06:14After you've watched him regularly, if you could pick just one tool that gives him the best chance to become
06:20a major league player, which one of those tools would you take with Sammy Stafford?
06:26I think it is his defense, even if, you know, even if the offense stays where it's at, his defense,
06:32both Blake Butler, our manager last year and Jose Mascara, who is our manager this year.
06:37And Jose was the manager of Team Columbia in the World Baseball Classic as well.
06:42So he's seen a lot of good players, seen a lot of baseball.
06:45He said, or both have said, actually, Sammy's defense already is just shy of major league level.
06:55It is already, like, you could justify that if you wanted him on a major league roster, that his defense
07:02is already there.
07:04That's what I think really is going to be his calling card.
07:07And when I talked to him before he had been traded and early in the month of July, he said
07:14that he, growing up, really loved to practice his defense and get better at his defense.
07:21So that just kind of checks out and explains why he's so good.
07:25And, yeah, I would say his defense is by far what is going to be the main thing that gets
07:32him up to Major League Baseball when the time comes.
07:35And that offense, if it stays at a pace where he was hitting 14 home runs a month, that's going
07:43to be a bonus as well.
07:44But I could see him being a guy that sticks around because he's just such a great glove.
07:52That's the thing I was wondering if you would go there.
07:54I was wondering if you would go with defense because David Stearns, a president of baseball operations here with the
08:00Mets, he said Steffer's glove, quote, jumps off the page, right?
08:03So for everything that you saw with him in Greensboro, that goes with defense, right?
08:07The range, the arm, the footwork, the instincts.
08:10Here's the question, though.
08:12Do you believe he has the defensive ability to stay at shortstop all the way to the major leagues?
08:17Is that the position you see him playing?
08:20Yeah, I think, you know, shortstop, second base, middle infield, somewhere along that line.
08:24I could absolutely see him staying at shortstop.
08:27We had Connor Griffin with us last year, and now he's the Pirates everyday shortstop.
08:33You know, I see things he did.
08:35I see things he does now in the Pirates roster.
08:38And I go, yeah, Sammy can absolutely do those things.
08:41So I could 100% see him sticking at shortstop.
08:46And, you know, maybe right now the Mets have Lindor at shortstop.
08:50So, okay, maybe move him over to second, depending on who's there.
08:53But, I mean, he has the capability to absolutely be an everyday shortstop defensively.
08:57All right.
08:58That's very good news for Mets fans.
09:00I hope they have Lindor there, but he's got the talent for it.
09:02So, Andrew, I guess last thing for me here.
09:05Let's try to fast forward a few years.
09:07I know it's hard when we're trying to project these things with young players.
09:10But if Sammy Stafford puts everything together and maximizes the talent that you saw down
09:15in Greensboro, what type of major league player do you believe he can become?
09:19Are we talking about a solid everyday shortstop, or do you see a ceiling for him with the defense
09:24and where, if the power stays, do you see a ceiling even higher than that for Sammy Stafford?
09:31If the power stays and the offense gets going, I mean, yeah, I think the guy can be an all
09:35-star.
09:36I think the guy could be more than an everyday shortstop.
09:39You know, if the offense levels out to being an average player, then I think he has a very
09:47long career for him and maybe a few all-star appearances in there just because of the defense
09:53and, you know, average offense will get you there sometimes.
09:56But, yeah, if he gets an average offense, easily every day, every day shortstop.
10:01If he continues to progress the way we have seen, yeah, Hall of Fame, not Hall of Fame,
10:06all-star, sorry, all-star preannually.
10:08I like that.
10:09Andrew's like, hey, I'm not going to go to the Hall of Fame.
10:11That might be too much.
10:12Too much too soon there to go to the Hall of Fame, but you can at least see a multiple
10:15-time
10:16all-star there.
10:16Very interesting.
10:17I think the other interesting thing here, too, Andrew, is the fact that he grew up a
10:22Mets fan, big Mets fan.
10:23That's something that Mets fans are excited about, and we'll see how that translates if
10:27he's able to play for the big club.
10:28But I know he is excited to be with the organization.
10:32Andrew Allison.
10:33He is the play-by-play voice of the Greensboro Grasshoppers.
10:36He saw Stammy Stafford up close and personal, and he got a lot of great home run calls for
10:41him, especially in the month of July.
10:43Andrew, I appreciate you joining us here on Straight Outta Flushing, man.
10:45We got to do this again in some time.
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