Post Draft: MM's Top 25- #6 LHP Jack Leathersich

Now that the draft is over, Mack’s Mets will be reviewing the performances of our organizational Top 25 prospects and re-ranking them based on their individual performances, perceived place on the depth chart, and recent draft signings.

Look to the top of our page to find the current rankings that we have done already

Mack’s Mets #6 organizational prospect is……

#6 LHP Jack Leathersich (LR: #14)
Bats: R Throws: L
Height: 5' 11″ Weight: 205 lb
Acquired: 2011 Rule 5 Draft, 5th round, University of Massasschusetts- Lowell

2013: (AA/AAA) 4-0, 2.83 ERA, 6.0 BB/9, 15.9 K/9, 1.385 WHIP
2012: (A/A+) 2-6, 3.00 ERA, 4.0 BB/9, 14.1 K/9, 1.153 WHIP
2011: (SS-A) 0-0, 0.71 ERA, 2.1 BB/9, 18.5 K/9, 0.711 WHIP

The Leather Express just keeps on rolling. After starting the year in Binghamton and absolutely dominating the Eastern League to the tune of a 1.53 ERA, 16.9 K/9 rate, and a 5.8 H/9 rate, The "Leather Rocket" earned a promotion to the extremely tough AAA Pacific Coast League.  His basic stats have not looked as good since his promotion with a 4.91 ERA but in this League you really need to read in depth on the peripherals in order to get the sense of a player's ACTUAL performance.

His BB/9 rate has jumped from career norms of around 4.5 to an astounding 7.9 per 9 innings. But as Zack Wheeler eluded to in his interview with John Harper of the New York Daily News, the lack of humidity makes it extremely tough to grip baseballs which in turn leads to wild control bouts which will adversely effect all other pitching statistics. A lengthy adjustment period is usually needed in order to combat this issue and 18.1 innings is surely not enough time. For now we'll just have to assume that Leathersich will be able to bring that rate back to career norm levels.

A very encouraging sign however is the fact that his K/9 rate is still sitting at an unbelievable 14.2 K/9 innings in Vegas. Some of you here know that when it comes to relief pitchers, I want to see K's, and Leather fits the bill to a tee. His combination of a motion that causes the baseball to be difficult to pick up out of his hands and good fastball/slider movement gives him a ceiling of a shutdown 8th inning reliever who will put up sub 2.00 ERA's each season. Frankly, I'm still not convinced that he wouldn't make a successful closer despite only average velocity for a LHP. What I do know is that, like DeGrom, it's only a matter of weeks before Leathersich is pitching in Queens with the only difference being I think Leathersich has a long Mets career in front of him.