47. Ryan Coultas – SP – AAA – 28/yrs.
I love stories like this.
Coultas was a sixth round heralded draft pick in 2004 by the Mets, who received a $135,000 bonus to play shortstop.
From 2004-2007, Coutlas played 123 games at SS, 103 at 2B, 16 at 1B, eight in the outfield, and seven on third base. He rose as high as AA, but his combined stats were .243/.286/.339/.625, not what it takes to make it to the majors.
So, let’s make him a pitcher.
2008 was his first full season as a pitcher, going 1-5, 4.17 in 47 relief appearances for St. Lucie. Not super numbers, but fantastic for a shortstop.
2009 brought a conversion to a starter and a bump up to Binghamton, where he was easily the best pitcher on the staff until he went down with a bum wing. His stats, for a very bad team, were 4-3, 2.78, in 11 starts.
From: http://www.metsminorleagueblog.com/: - One of the pleasant surprises in the Mets system in 2009 has been the work of AA RHP Ryan Coultas, who leads the B-Mets in IP (64.2) and in ERA (2.78) among pitchers who have called Binghamton home since Opening Day. It wasn’t supposed to be like this for Coultas, who the Mets drafted as a shortstop out of UC Davis in the 6th round in 2004. However, the 2002 DII Player of the Year hit just .243/.286/.339 over four seasons as a SS.
Then, on May 11, 2007, fortune smiled on Coultas in a Florida State League game. Bobby Parnell started for St. Lucie in Tampa, against the Yankees, but lasted just three innings. After four more relievers had come and gone, the game was tied 7-7 in the 11th, and the Mets were out of available pitchers. Coultas told his skipper that as he put it, he’d “briefly thrown in college and could possibly be an emergency guy.” Of his first professional pitching performance, Coultas recalls, “It was two innings. I think I walked the first guy, which was the last thing I wanted to do. …. We ended up coming back and winning the game. I actually led off the top of the 13th – and I singled. I remember Jose Castro doubled me home and I ended up scoring the go-ahead run and then went back out and closed it out in the bottom of the inning. It was a fun day.”
Forecast: Nobody ever writes shit about this kid (sort of like Jake Ruckle), and yet, he seems to have created a new future for himself in baseball. A control pitcher, you won’t see a lot of strikeouts here, but I expect him to be back healthy in the Buffalo rotation this spring.
Coultas is a freak athlete who always had a cannon as a middle-infielder...above all else, he has a great head on his shoulders and was one of the more inteligient teammates I played with. After catching him for parts of 2007/2008, I thought he was going to be a surprise Rule V pick as a guy the Mets couldnt rightfully protect, but that someone would take a flier on. Unfortunately, he ran into his arm issues, but there is no reason why Ryan can't come back and earn a living in the Big Leagues once he's healthy.
ReplyDeleteGreat arm side run with heavy sink...his fastball comes in like a grenade as opposed to some guys who throw harder but its soft (i.e. Matt Lindstrom). Keep an eye on Ryan as he recovers Mack