4/23/18

Some 'Minor' Observation: Starting Pitchers






Good morning.

Las Vegas -

Corey Oswalt  -   

We spent all week trying to get someone to tell me why Oswalt seemed to have missed his turn and I was starting to figure it out when the Mets confirmed my suspicions. Oswalt was put on the shelf, waiting for the call to Queens, which came this past weekend.

            We will remove him from this weekly post until he returns to Vegas.

Chris Flexen  

            Wednesday:  4-IP, 3-H, 0-R, 3-K, 5-BB, 3.60

An excellent bounce back outing for Flexen, even if he did show some control issues (seasons WHIP: 1.73). Three starts, 15 innings pitched, only 11 strikeouts. A ways to go but a step forward in a non-pitcher’s league.

P.J. Conlon   

            Friday:  3-IP, 8-H, 7-ER, 3-K, 2-BB

Conlon totally blew up this past Friday and now has a 10.22-ERA. I’m not sure if he deserves to remain on this list anymore. I’ll give him one more start to determine it.

Marcos Molina

Molina has not pitched well so far this season. He went 4-IP, 6-H, 2-ER, 2-K, 2-BB, 6.00, 84-P for Binghamton this past Tuesday and was 0-1, 6.00 in two starts this season. So what did this earn him? Well, due to the vacancies in the Las Vegas rotation, he was promoted to pitch there this past Sunday.
Sunday:  4-2-IP, 3-H, 4-ER,  5-K, 4-BB, 1-HR, 7.71

His woes in AA are now extended into AAA. Does this mean he will be promoted to Queens now?
           
Binghamton -    
     
            Nabil Crismatt

                        Friday:          6-IP, 6-H, 0-ER, 9-K, 1-BB

Crismatt is now three for three in outstanding outings for the season. His seasonal stat line is 3-starts, 2-1, 1.10, 1.16, 16.1-IP, 21-K, 3-BB. I’ve raised him to a red prospect which is what he is earning so far this season.
           
St. Lucie:

            Justin Dunn –

                        Tuesday:       4-1-IP, 8-H, 3-R, 2-ER, 5-K, 3-BB, 95-P, Loss (1-1), 1.26

Like Molina, a pitch count this high over less than five innings is close to criminal. Easily Dunn’s worst outing this season, but walking away with a seasonal 1.26-ERA is far better than what he was doing the same time last year.

Harol Gonzalez –

            Friday:          4-IP. 8-H, 4-ER, 3-K, 1-BB, 3.21

Easily, Harol’s worst outing so far this season. Hopefully, he can bounce back next week.

Columbia:   

Anthony Kay –

            Sunday:        6-IP, 3-H, 0-R, 5-K, 1-BB, 1.69

Kay just continues to impress, pitching six scoreless runs this time. I think we can safely say that he is past his 2017 woes.

David Peterson –

            Wednesday:  6-IP, 4-H, 1-ER, 4-K, 2-BB, 1.50

Wow! What a nice surprise. We had no idea that Peterson was ready to pitch yet and he was quietly slipped into Wednesday’s rotation. I expected around four innings for his seasons debut, especially coming off an injury. No, he went six and pitched superbly.

The entire future of the Mets rotations will change if this guy turns out to be the real deal like he was in college.

Chris Viall (helium alert)

            Monday:  5-IP, 2-H, 1-ER, 11-K, 4-BB, 2.00

Viall is a 6th round draft pick in 2016 out of Stanford. We need to keep an eye on him. Hell, how can we miss him. He’s 6’9”. He was primarily a reliever in college with both a very high ERA and K/9 ratio. The Mets obviously drafted him as a project.

So far, his conversion to a starter is working. Last year, for Brooklyn, he went 9-G, 5-ST, 0-3, 3.42, 1.18, 26-IP, 31-K, 14-BB (4.78 BB/9) and, so far this season, he is 2-ST, 1-0, 2.00, 1.44, 9-IP, 17-K, 6-BB.

He obviously needs to work on his BB/9 results, but, as long as he can throw 11 strikeouts in five innings, he will continue his way up the chain.

His FB hit as high as 101 in college, but is currently sitting in the 96-97 range. 96-97 from a 6-9 pitcher is just fine by me.
Not a blue prospect yet… but, he’s working on it.

Joe Cavillaro (more helium)

            Friday:  6-IP, 2-H, 0-ER, 6-K, 2-BB, WIN (2-0), 1.42
            I never had Cavillaro on my radar screen. He was a 24th round pick in the 2017 draft, out of USF, where he came out of the pen last season (30-appearances,5-3, 2.28). The Mets were obviously impressed with his 11.68-SO9 and converted him to finish the season as a starter in Kingsport.

            This year is all gangbusters… 3-starts, 2-0, 1.42, 0.89, 19-IP, 18-K

            We’re going to keep an eye on him as well.

Current rankings…

           Three great pitchers…  Peterson, Crismatt, Kay

           Work Needed…   Conlon

11 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Some pitching promise in this list, certainly.

Dunn's outing was disappointing, though.

Vegas is a pitchers' wasteland - team is 5-13 with a 7.59 ERA. let that sink in.

I think 2 of Molina's runs were coughed up by his relief pitcher, so that made his numbers look a little worse.

Mack Ade said...

Tom -

I am not sure if Molina has a future in Queens anymore... unless... he goes to change his game as a reliever.

Tom Brennan said...

Mack, I guess the fastest way for a Molina to progress is to start and throw a lot of innings - then switch to the pen.

It all depends on what Molina's velocity could be coming out of the pen.

Two guys who did not impress ERA-wise in the minors, especially in Vegas, were: Gsellman and Lugo. Cold and all, I cannot wait for our AAA pitchers to be in Syracuse next year.

That said, a team 7.59 ERA after 18 games is exceptionally awful. The 1962 Mets were barely above 5.00!

Mike Freire said...

I think Conlon belongs in the bullpen......he has future lefty specialist written all over him (which would look odd if you took that literally).

Oh and Vegas has gotten off to a horrible start!

Tom Brennan said...

Crismatt is intriguing - 403 Ks in 380 career innings, only 89 walks. Also only 23 years old. Looks like a real possibility to be a # 5 starter next year at some point.

Mack Ade said...

Crismatt is a perfect trade chip in a deal for Realmuto

Eddie from Corona said...

well said Mack...

Anonymous said...

BigMack:

How about...Dom Smith (due to Peter Alonso busting out), Marcos Molina, and then either Travis or Kevin for backup Houston Astro catcher Max Stassi and Houston MiLB Framber Valdez?

Maybe something like this.

Anonymous said...

Observations from afar...

Noticed something recently, the NYY have by far a much younger team than these NYM. Bodes well for their Yankees future I think.

1B, 2B, SS, 3B, LF, CF, RF, and Catcher.

Bird, Torres, Gregorious, Drury, Stanton, Hicks, Judge, Sanchez

versus

Gonzales, Cabrera, Rosario*, Frazier, Cespedes, Conforto*, Bruce, d'Arnaud

Eight younger players versus the NYM having just two.

Tom Brennan said...

Anonymous, age is the mortal enemy of a baseball player and a baseball team...let's hope the Mets don't age drastically as the season goes on.

Simply put, the Yankees are stocked and set. Yankee fan swagger is likely for the next decade.

Anonymous said...

TB:

Houston catcher Max Stassi rumor heating up online now as several websites. I think trying to get him is smart for these NYM. d'Arnaud gets hurt every season and is out for huge chunks of time. He or Plawecki could back up Stassie, while the other is traded or sent down. Why not get lefty reliever Framber Valdez from Houston too. See what they want back for these two pieces we need.

I don't see Tomas Nido learning how to hit for awhile yet, and Lobaton never really could hit if you check his stat sheet.

The Mets need a solution.

BTW, who is the batting coach here now? I have no clue. I am seeing batting things that should be made corrected but are not.