The Keepers: - #28 - LHSP - Darin Gorski

28.                   Darin Gorski P

     Gorski was a 7th round draft pick in 2009, out of Kutztown University.

     Pitched Brooklyn in 2009 (3-4, 4.91, 13-G, 11-starts) and Savannah in 2010 (6-8, 4.58, 25-G, 18-starts).       

4-27-11 - SP Kyle Allen has been removed from the rotation with no explanation. His slot was replaced by Darin Gorski. Gorski started for Brooklyn in 2009 (3-4, 4.91) and Savannah in 2010 (6-8, 4.58). So far this season, as a relief pitcher, he’s 0-0, 4.09. I take it we should expect the other team to get at least four runs. So, what the hell happens? Gorski goes out and smokes it: 4.0-IP, 3-H, 1-R, 10-K. We’ll keep an eye on this development.

5-9-11: - The good news… Dan Gorski has another great outing:  5.0-IP, 0-ER, 3-H, 8-K, 1-BB, 3.00.  Bad news… 2 unearned runs from the 6th error of the season by both Wilmer Flores and Jefry Marte.

5-27-11: - SP Darin Gorski A+ St. Lucie – BABIP is a funny stat that needs to be looked at carefully. A good BABIP is below 3.00. Here’s Gorski’s problem. He strikes out one out of every three batters he faces. Of course his BABIP will be high. He’s already reduced the base number in third. The Mets didn’t even start him out this season in the rotation, which changed when Kyle Allen hiccuped a few times. Last night, he decided to up his BABIP even more by striking out almost 50% of the batters he faced. That translated into 13-Ks in 7.2-IP which gives him a seasonal total of 63-Ks in only 41.2-IP. That’s crazy. Did I mention he’s a 6-4 lefty?

5-27-11: - Toby Hyde - http://www.metsminorleagueblog.com/thursday-in-the-system-gorski-has-career-night-vaughn-and-peavey-carry-savannah-to-fifth-straight-w - I’ve heard his velocity is up from a number of sources, and that coupled with always good feel on his secondary stuff has him rolling through St. Lucie right now.  The Mets felt that Gorski, who’s long and lean had room to add velocity when they made him a 7th round pick in 2009 out of Kutztown (PA) University.  It’s showing up now.  Gorski is third in the FSL in ERA (2.16) and second behind Shelby Miller in strikeouts (63). While much of the focus this season has been on the big arms of Jeurys Familia and Matt Harvey, there have been some other very nice pitching surprises, notably Gorski and Chris Schwinden.

6-2-11: - St. Lucie RHP Darin Gorski is developing his own personal fan club over at NYFS. Gorski continues to impress at St. Lucie, throwing seven shutout innings, while striking out three and walking none. Overall season: 12-G, 6-starts, 3-0, 1.85, 66-K, 48.2-IP. Everybody is trying to figure out what is different about his game than last year when he went 6-8, 4.58 in Savannah. He did have 109-Ks in 114.0-IP, but he was nowhere near the pace he’s setting now. I don’t remember much about his game last season and even Toby Hyde is puzzled over this good development. Obviously we, and the Mets, will take it.

6-2-11: - http://www.minorleagueball.com/2011/6/2/2203028/minor-league-notes-june-2nd-2011  has jumped on the Darin Gorski train:  “New York Mets lefty Darin Gorski has had two excellent starts in a row for High-A St. Lucie, fanning 13 in seven innings and allowing three hits and a walk on May 26th, then throwing seven shutout innings with three strikeouts on June 1st. Overall, the southpaw has a 1.85 ERA with a 66/13 K/BB in 49 innings with 43 hits allowed. Gorski was a seventh round draft pick in 2009 from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. Although he's a big guy at 6-4, 215, his velocity was mediocre until this year, usually in the 85-87 range. This year he's hitting 88-91 MPH, and the increase in fastball oomph combined with his already-solid secondary pitches has led to big success. Let's see if he can maintain it in Double-A.”

7-3-11: - http://metsmerizedonline.com/2011/07/best-mets-minor-league-surprises-mid-season-edition.html  - Darin Gorski – St Lucie, the fastest rising prospect you probably never heard of. For a 6’4″ lefty, he doesn’t really throw too hard, but all he has been doing is being unhittable in the Florida State League this season. At the start of the season, Gorski found himself in the bullpen for his first 6 games, after a very mediocre 2010 season at Savannah. An injury got him a start, and he never looked back. In 10 starts he is a perfect 6-0 with a 1.55 ERA. Even more astounding: in 75.2 IP, he has given up only 60 hits, while striking out 87 and walking only 15. The league is hitting only .214 against him with 4 HR’s, and his WHIP is a cool 0.99

7-8-11: - The Darin Gorski dream continues. Last night, he went 6.0-IP, 1-ER, 4-K, 2-BB and lowered his seasonal ERA to 1.56. He’s 1.01 in his last 10 starts and his record now stands at 8-0. There has been considerably more chatter about him on the net lately and some say his fastball is up a notch or two, while others say he’s having much more success with his secondary pitches. We haven’t seen this kind of dominance since Mark Cohoon turned in a 7-1, 1.30 stint in 2010 for Savannah, but Mark would be the first one to tell you there still is a long road to go (6.48 so far in AAA this year for Cohoon) for Darin. Fans are clamoring for him to be bumped to Binghamton, but he seems blocked.

7-11-11: - Top 10 Minor League Performances in 2011 - 2. Darin Gorski – SP – A+/St. Lucie – 8-0, 1.56, 1.04, 86.2-IP, 96-K – A simply magical season for Gorski, who has added a couple of MPH to his fastball. I’ve been told he also changed rubber positions, which might be the kicker here. Deserves to be promoted, but who do you bump out?

7-16-11 – http://www.baseballdigest.com/2011/07/16/minor-league-report-five-players-to-watch-3 - Darin Gorski, LHP, St. Lucie Mets, Florida State League – Gorski has dominated the league all season. He has not had a loss yet and collected 9 wins. He’s also leading the league in strikeouts with 102 and his 1.82 ERA is the FSL lowest. Between June 12th and mid-July he has been a revelation: 9 hits, 10 earned runs, 29 strikeouts in 37 innings. He finished June with a 0.79 ERA. Highlight: A one-hitter on June 27th against the Charlotte Stone Crabs.

8-12-11: - http://7traintoshea.com/?p=6386 - Gorski features a 90-93 mph fastball along with an average 12-6 curve ball and change-up. However, while he doesn’t posses the blow it by you ‘stuff’ such as fellow teammate Zack Wheeler, Gorski does the have the ability to throw strikes and mix speeds similar to current Met pitcher Dillon Gee. Down the road, I could see Dorski has a left-handed specialist out of the bullpen (opposing left-handed batters are hitting .188 against Gorski). But for now, I’m really interested to see if Gorski continue his success moving forward once promoted to Double-A Binghamton, since at the age of 23-year Gorski is considered to be too old for the Florida State League.

8-12-11: - Stock Up – SP Darin Gorski – We’re running out of great things to say about this guy. It was six more scoreless innings Friday, with 1-H, 6-K, 0-BB. His record for St. Lucie is now 11-1 and you kust know we’re read about him again on Baseball America this week.

8-23-11: - #21: - SP Darin Gorski – I have to recognize the results this year, even though I haven’t completely signed off on this guy yet. I had the privilege of watching him pitch during the 2010 season and I have to tell ya… there just wasn’t much there. Then 2011 comes, he’s now throwing 92-93 and no one in the FSL can hit him.  I want to a half a season at Binghamton before I add him to the futre Mets rotation list, but I still need to rank him this high for what’s going on right now. ETA: 2014 bullpen

8-29-11: - http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110829&content_id=23898742&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb - Gorski's dominance has not translated into a promotion, at least not yet, but it did earn him Pitcher of the Year honors. A Mets lefty who made the mid-season All-Star team, Gorski leads the league in ERA (2.15) and WHIP (1.02) and ranks third with 11 wins and 136 strikeouts in 26 outings (20 starts) for St. Lucie. New York's seventh-round pick from 2009 was undefeated until July 24, when he allowed three runs over seven frames to Brevard County. He was 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA in May and improved on that in June, when he finished 4-0 with a 0.79 ERA in five starts.

10-12-11: - http://baseballinstinct.com/2011/10/12/prospect-instinct-darin-gorski-lhp-new-york-mets - His .270 BABIP and his 3.18 FIP both indicate that there is already some regression to the mean that will take place for Gorski. He was a bit lucky on both counts. Add in that he will leave the FSL, he will begin to face more patient hitters and he will be 24 when he enters 2012 spring training and you have a very limited upside for the big lefty. If all breaks right and he’s able to master the changeup and work more exclusively lower in the zone then he does have an upside of a back of the rotation starter. Unfortunately, his downside, if he can’t make it long term as a starter, is falling off of the map. Because while we now know that he’s more successful as a starter, we know this because he’s not very successful as a reliever. 2012 will be very telling for Gorski as he enters Double-A. If he can continue anywhere near his 2011 performance he could be in Flushing by 2013. I just don’t know if that’s going to happen and I’m not in the crowd that has the confidence to say that it’s possible