A full listing of our Top 25 Prospects is on the right hand side of our website.Without further ado....The Mack's Mets #1 organizational prospect is......
#1 RHP Zack Wheeler
Bats: L Throws: R
Height: 6' 4" Weight: 185 lb
Acquired: Trade, 7/28/2011, for RF Carlos Beltran
2012: (AA/AAA) 12-8, 3.26 ERA, 3.3 BB/9, 9.1 K/9, 1.164 WHIP
2011: (A+) 9-7, 3.52 ERA, 4.1 BB/9, 10.1 K/9, 1.322 WHIP
2010: (A) 3-3, 3.99 ERA, 5.8 BB/9, 10.7 K/9, 1.449 WHIP
Via Adam Rubin's Twitter Feed. Turner on @wheelerpro45: “He’s got some late life on his fastball. It kind of jumps on you...like that late explosion that Strasburg has."
That's really all you need to know. The highly prized former 2009 Top 10 draft pick was stolen from San Francisco in a deal that sent an aging Carlos Beltran for a future top of the rotation ace. He possesses a mid 90's fastball that can be cranked up to 98 mph, a top flight curveball, and a developing but still league average change-up. His progression through the minor league system has been perfect so far. At each level he has shown improvement in his walk rates, his WHIP rates, and his K/BB ratios. Even more exciting is that during his brief time in Buffalo last season he held opponents batting average to .205 with an 8.5 K/9 rate which shows that this kid is pretty much major league ready right now. Alas the Mets are going to be smart about this and wait till mid June when they will be assured an extra year of control on Wheeler. In the meantime, Wheeler should get about 10-12 starts to tighten up the command a bit and improve on his pitch mix and gameplan on the mound. Even more important is that he'll get time to get used to working with d'Arnaud as his battery mate since they'll be throwing to each other for at a bare minimum the next 6 years.
Anticipated Assignment: (AAA) Las Vegas rotation ace with a call-up after June 15th.
I want to thank Chris for the wonderful job he did creating this series.
ReplyDeleteIt was a a bunch of work and we greatly appreciate it.
Mack