Tom Brennan - METS MINORS DARK HORSES:
DALE BURDICK
Here's an update of an article I did, of a DARK HORSE that gets little mention...
Hmmm...let's see...
A .201 lifetime hitter.
Just .217 this past season.
A 40th round draft pick, too.
So why put the spotlight on Dale Burdick?
Good question - maybe I have nothing else to do? Nah, I am busy. So why then?
Well, the 40th rounder in 2014 signed a $150,000 bonus to keep him out of college and get him in the Mets system.
As an 18 year old, he hit .170 in 40 GCL Mets games. Yawn.
At 19, in 2015, he hit .256 in 14 GCL games and then .195 in 35 Kingsport rookie games. Some progress.
At 20, in 2016, he hit .189 in 58 games, mostly in Columbia, where he hit .229. Some more progress.
OK, but why put the spotlight on him?
Well, in 2017, he's hit .217 - isn't that enough?
Not really - so why are you writing on him, Tom?
Because:
1) the Mets think enough of Burdick to have him at age 21 playing 31 games in AA and 5 games in AAA already, as the youngest player on the team. Fellow teammate Kevin Kaczmarski started out in Kingsport in rookie ball - at age 23, 2 years older than Burdick in 2017 and he got a cup o' Joe in AAA. Adds perspective.
2) why would he be in AA/AAA at age 21 if they did not think a lot of his ability and versatility, despite the batting average?
3) he hit 7 HRs in 217 at bats this past season, showing some emerging power.
4) after a Grandy-like "frigid-in-the-spring" .128 season's start in April, he hit a far more respectable .241 the rest of the way. Better.
5) he's been a strong fielder, with just 14 errors in his career to date - 8 of those were at 3rd base, but just one miscue in 28 games at shortstop, where most Mets SS prospects average one every 5 or 6 games, and just 5 errors in 123 games at second base. Truly impressive defensively, compared to his peers.
"Because?" you ask?
Answer: That's why.
Which leads me to think:
Why can't he be really good by, say, 2018, as a 22 year old?
I know a dark horse when I see one, though others may say NEIGH!
Tom -
ReplyDeleteI love your 'dark horse' series, but...
Burdick has a 4 year combined .199 batting average and a 28.09 strikeout percentage.
Tom... tell me what I'm missing here?
Young and moving up fast... I just think he turns some heads in 2018 with an improved bat and tight defense. Could be way wrong, hope I am right.
ReplyDeleteSo, if Dale Burdick reached the event horizon of a black hole would his career still seem standing still to us, or would we not be able to see it because his horse is so black, or some such flapdoodle gewgaw? Nah, I wish him well! Shortstop, huh?
ReplyDeleteFuture utility type? I think Jeff McNeil is a better "dark horse", but I hope that DB proves us all wrong!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, too many Mets prospects end up finding a black hole. We need supernovas!
ReplyDeleteMike, Burdick has played and accomplished too little to get a good gauge...if he had played the whole season in Columbia, maybe his #s would have been really impressive. 2018 is his time to show what he has got. I also favor Jeff McNeil over Dale, but 2018 will tell the tale.
ReplyDelete