11/17/11

The Keepers: - #33 - RHSP - Greg Peavey


33.                   Greg Peavey:          P

Peavey was drafted by the New York Mets in the sixth round of the 2010 draft. Throws a 90-92 fastball, plus hard slider.

He had been drafted twice before this, first as the 24th pick by the Yankees in 2007, and thenas the 32nd pick in 2009 by Houston.

4-5-11: - had lunch with Greg in Savannah at the kickoff media luncheon. He’s very excited about the upcoming season and getting back to pitching.

4-7-11: - first pro start:  5.0-IP, 2-H, 0-R, 8-K… he’ll take it

5-6-11: - In my continuing discussion about the importance of a catcher to a pitcher, I spent some time with Savannah Sand Gnats SP1, Greg Peavey, and discussed it with him. Peavey agreed with me that it very important for a pitcher to have chemistry and history with his catcher, but, in the end, it’s the pitcher that is responsible for what he throws. Greg spends time with his catcher before every game to make sure they are both on the same page. He also told me that every pitcher wants his catcher to know what his “go-to” pitch is so both of them are calling for the same pitch when the need becomes apparent. Peavey’s is his nasty, hard slider, which he backs up with a 92-94 fastball and a change-up. We also talked about the importance of not living or dying on stats in the minors. Greg never threw a change-up in high school and relied mostly on blowing away inferior competition with his fast ball. He learned fast in his freshman year at Oregon State that he needed more than two pitches to stay a starter, and the change was added while pitching for the Beavers.  Right now, the Gnats have him on a minimum amount of change-ups that must be thrown every outing. Obviously, that is his weakest pitch, and it will stay that way if he doesn’t use it in game conditions. Will his A-level stats be affected? You bet they will, but who cares? This is what you do in the minors with pitchers you project having a future in your organization. You don’t change, you tweak.

5-10-11: - SP1 Greg Peavey took the mound again. Did an excellent job of keeping the ball on the ground. Gave up 3 hits, one which was a bunt (Rome’s reading my column) and another was an infield hit. 10:1 GO/FO ratio. You can’t do better than that.

5-27-11: - Toby Hyde – http://www.metsminorleagueblog.com/greg-peavey-has-been-outstanding-in-may - The Mets 6th round pick out of Oregon State last June, was ordinary in April, but has been excellent in May.  I was a little surprised that the Mets assigned the 22-year old to Savannah to start the year at all, but the way he’s throwing, he won’t stay in the South Atlantic League too much longer. Yeah, that’s right, he has a K/BB ratio of 12 (24/2) this month.  He’s just stopped walking batters, and no, he’s not getting hurt when he’s been in the strike zone either.

6-1-11: -      There’s a couple of pitchers on the Savannah Sand Gnats that really don’t have that much more to prove at this level. 22-year old RHP Greg Peavey threw his 11th outing Tuesday night, pitching six scoreless innings, giving up zero runs and striking out seven. He’s 5-2 on the season and his ERA is 2.85. One reason he may stay around in Savannah is the fact that he has had three bad outings this season in which he gave up 14-ERs in 15.0-IP. That leaves eight other starts in which he gave up 5-ERs in 45.0-IP. Greg does turn 23 in July and I’d like to see him do St. Lucie for the remainder of 2011, so he can catch up next season with his old extended camp roommate, Matt Harvey, in Binghamton.

6-25-11: - Peavey pitched his first A+ outing tonight, going 5.0-IP, 1-ER, 3-K. 3-BB, 1.80. Peavey has had the luxury of under-mirroring Mets prospect Matt Harvey. Both were drafted last year and roomed in camp, but eventually parted ways when each was assigned to different teams. Harvey gets all the attention (and the increased signing money) and both are even promoted levels on the same day. Once again, the Met world is waiting to see how Harvey does while Peavey sneaks into his St. Lucie slot. I love it.

7-7-11: - The bump from Savannah to St. Lucie doesn’t seem to be negatively affecting Greg Peavey. He pitched Wednesday night, going: 7.0-IP, 1-ER, 4-K, 2-BB. His A+ ERA is now 1.59. 



7-11-11: - Top 10 Minor League Performances in 2011 - 10. Greg Peavey – SP – A/A+: - 8-2, 2.84, 17-ST, 95.0-IP, 76-K, 16-BB – Peavey is making the conversion to A+, but we all know the journey is only beginning. Needs to pick up the K/IP ratio, but has had a wonderful 2011 so far. Look for him to finish the season with St. Lucie.

7-12-11: - Greg learned Monday night that there is a big difference between a pain in the ass and total rectal destruction.  Everything was rolling along just fine and then came the fifth inning. Eight runs later, his A+ ERA soared to 4.15 and Greg wished he was back in Savannah with his old team, who were off watching the home run derby.

8-3-11: - Stock Up – Peavey continues to pitch below the hype radar (hypdar). He went into Wednesday’s game 10-4 combined for A/A+ and had pitched 5-of-7 A+ starts with 1-ER or less. Well, he did it again on Wednesday, pitching a seven inning complete game shutout. Greg had a couple of rocky outings earlier this season for St. Lucie, but he has easily passed the rotation test while, at the same time, leaving all the prospect hype… err…  hypdar… to others.



10-25-11: - http://www.minorleaguerundown.com/2011/10/25/2011-top-20-new-york-mets-prospects  - 2011 Top 20 New York Mets Prospects - 18.Gregory Peavey, RHP (Low/High Class A): The righty is not a big time strikeout pitcher, but his impeccable command and solid ground ball rates make him a future back-of-the-rotation option. Peavey’s 78 innings of Low A 2.62 FIP baseball were a product of his control (11 walks), solid stuff (69 Ks), and limiting the longball. His 10 High A starts (3.12 FIP) were somewhat less easy to project on as he only struck out 39 in 59 innings, walking 15. As long as Peavey can throw somewhere in between his Low and High A results, he could very well be a quality prospect. His strong ground ball tendencies will be key.

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