Dillon Gee: - The Exception to The Rule

We Mets writers didn’t even spell his name correctly when he came to his first camp. I, and others, had his first name the same as Dylan Owen.


Specifically, I reminded his father that we had met before and he reminded me we hadn’t. Yeah, it was Owen’s Pop.



Dillon Owen… err… Dillon Gee has been the Rodney Dangerfield of Mets rotations since the day he arrived after being drafted in the 21st round of the 2007 draft. On a web site, http://www.athfbl.com/league/p6034.html , they had him as a closer and said his desire to win was “minimal”.



How do you determine that online?



According to scouting reports, he had a mediocre fastball, does not have a dominant secondary pitch. They said his high arm angle delivery did help a little, but still no dominance. The fastball only sat in the 89-91 area, with a little movement. Oh yeah, he had a “usable” slider.

He signed right after being drafted, was assigned to Brooklyn, and went to work: 3-1, 2.47, 14-G, 11-starts, 56K/9-BB.



2008 brought more of the same, with combined stats from St. Lucie and Binghamton of: 10-6, 2.92, 114-K, 24-BB.



And then, there was 2009. He was shut down on May 25th with a strained right shoulder which was initially  reported that he was going under the knife to repair his labrum (see… not only can’t they spell his name right, they also send out the wrong press release…). That changed almost immediately and it was decided he would heal without surgery. The 2009 season was over at 1-3, 4.10, in nine starts for Buffalo.



Well, 2010 rolls around and guess who’s back? That Gee guy with all those reasons he wasn’t going to go anywhere. The only problem, he once again proves everybody wrong, throws all his “mediocre" stuff, with “minimal” desire… and sets a team record with 165-K’s in 161.1-IP for Buffalo (13-8).



That’s okay, the AAA season was over and hopefully, this Gee guy will go away… err… what? Injuries in Queens? Who’s next up? Err..



And all Gee does is go out and start four games for the Mets in September, producing a 2.00 ERA.

Ya see, sometimes we just all get it wrong. Sometimes, sabermetrics is worth less than zero. And sometimes, someone comes along and just throws what God gave him and produces a lifetime minor league ERA of 3.76 and a 1.18 WHIP. Oh, yeah… and 377-Ks in 426-IP.



You’re right everybody. Dillon Gee is not a prospect.



He’s a New York Met.