Mets Prospect - SP - Tobi Stoner

Tobi Stoner P S R 6-2 185 12-3-84 Davis & Elkins College

Stoner played for at Southern, and the Rams went 43-3 in Stoner’s two years as a starter. They were 22-2 and region and WMIL champs in his junior year and 21-1 and Area and WMIL champs in his senior season. He was 4-0 with a 1.40 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 20 innings as a junior, and 5-1 with a 1.89 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings as a senior. A first-team All-Area second baseman, Stoner batted .337 with 8 doubles and 27 RBI as a senior. He had batted .388 with 6 doubles and 18 RBI as a junior. Stoner finished his college career at Davis & Elkins. He batted .465 with 8 homers and 29 RBIs at Davis & Elkins in his last year there, and his .465 mark was ninth best in the nation in NCAA Division II.

Stoner was picked in the 16th round of the 2006 draft. Before thant, he played SS and 2B for David & Elkins college and was a transfer from Garrett Community College. He posted 15 wins and 5 saves in the 2 years he pitched for D&E. Also, a career .406 hitter, he hit .465 in his senior year, with 8 HRs, 28 RBIs 4 steals and 3 triples. At the same time, his pitching record was 8-6, with 10 complete games and a 2.90 ERA. Stoner won Male Athlete of the Year in his senior year.

Stoner’s first year (2006) in the Mets organization was quite impressive, posting a 6-2, 2.15 record for Brooklyn. He allowed only 5 Ers in is final 8 starts. Opposing hitters managed just a .219 batting average against him.

Baseball America posted their draft review in October 2006 and tagged Stoner (tied with P Joe Smith) as the ‘best pro debut’ of all Mets draftees. Stoner is ranked as the 19th top 2007 Mets prospect by John Sickles, with a C rating, and the comment “control artist dominated New York-Penn League.”

Stoner throws a fast ball, curve, slider and change-up and has good command of all four.
In February 2007, Stoner got his first ‘taste’ of prospect ranking by Scout.com, putting him at #16. In May 2007, Top Prospect Alert updated their 2007 New York Mets Top 10 Prospects and Stoner was ranked 9th (previously unranked). He started the 2007 season with Savannah, where he was impressive, even though he had little team support when he pitched (3-3, 4.58). He was the 1st player from the Sand Gnats to get a bump up to St. Lucie and progressed throughout the year (4-5, 4.90, 1.39 in 16 starts).

In November 2007 Scouts.com named Stoner the 16th top Mets prospect.

In September 2008, Stoner was assigned to the Peoria Saguaros team in the Arizona Winter League.

Tobi had another no-support year, combining a 5-11 record at St. Lucie and Binghamton, but holding down a 3.64 ERA.

In October 2008, Toby Hyde on Tobi Stoner:

Another late round pick made good, Stoner found AA a whole lot tougher than A-ball. His K/BB rate declined from 5.33 to 2.03 as he moved up a level while his strikeout rate dropped from 8.31 K/9 to 6.72 K/9. Likely 09 start: AA. AAA is a possibility as dictated by organizational need in spring training, but I view AA as the likelier scenario.