Mack - From The Desk - Ryder Ryan, Thomas Farr, Mets Rotation, Tim Tebow, 1962

24. Ryder Ryan, RHP Video

Drafted: 30th Round, 2016 from North Mecklenburg HS (NC) (CLE)

Age     23.7    Height 6′ 2″    Weight            205     Bat / Thr         R / R    FV       35+

Ryan stood out as a prep sophomore for his big raw power and arm strength, both as a catcher and a pitcher in the low-90s on the mound. He peaked early in that regard, signing for $100,000 late in the 2016 draft when his catching and hitting didn’t progress and he was mostly just a mid-90s arm that occasionally showed command or a breaking ball. That projection has mostly held, as three years later Ryan has reached Double-A as a short reliever, but his breaking ball is consistently average to above and his command has improved, so there’s a clear path to becoming a middle reliever. The Mets acquired him in late 2017 in the Jay Bruce deal with Cleveland.

2019 MLB JUCO  Draft Targets –

            2. RHP Thomas Farr -

Thomas Farr might not be as talented as Stewart, but is still one of the top JUCO players in the country. The Peach State pitcher signed with the Northwest Florida Raiders straight out of high school. He is currently a sophomore at NFSC and is their top pitcher. In the 2019 season, Farr has a 2-1 record with a 1.38 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 13 innings pitched. Farr has also signed with the South Carolina Gamecocks.

The South Carolina signee has a fastball that sits in the low 90s and tops out at 96 mph. Farr has some really nice movement on his fastball and has a nice breaking pitch and changeup to go with it.

Farr could be an option for the Fish on Day 2 of the MLB Draft. He projects to be a back-end relief pitcher or starter at the professional level.

2019 Positional Power Rankings: Starting Rotation -

            Few teams can run out a top four like the Mets, with the reigning Cy Young winner in deGrom, a legitimate Cy Young candidate in Syndergaard, and two potential studs in Wheeler and Matz. Thor has yet to put up that elite 200-inning season, but he arguably has the best stuff in baseball and if he gets a fully healthy season, New York’s 1-2 punch will be absurd. Wheeler broke out last year on the heels of an elite fastball and the projections like him to hold most of those gains.

Matz quietly made a career-high 30 starts last year and finished really strongly after a quick stint on the DL for a strained flexor pronator. In his final nine starts, he posted a 3.11 ERA and 1.04 WHIP with a 28% strikeout rate. If he builds on that and maybe goes full Wheeler in 2019, the Mets could have four arms with a mid-3.00s ERA or better. Vargas is a perfectly cromulent fifth starter … or at least he has been throughout most of his career. His 5.77 ERA last year won’t fly again, but he did close with a useful 3.81 ERA in 54 innings down the stretch.

Tim Tebow   Talks Demi-Leigh Engagement and New CBS Show –

PC - Ed Delany

“It was a great opportunity,” Tebow says of his turn before the camera. “The more I heard about the show, the more epic I knew it was going to be. And it’s awesome. It’s great family entertainment where you watch world-class athletes as they compete.”

1962:  The Bumbling Beginning –

      

     The original Mets were created from the ashes of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants, both of whom had deserted New York City after the 1957 season. Now, five years later, National League baseball was back, so to speak. For it was quickly apparent that the Mets’ roster, put together mostly from players left unprotected by the other National League teams, was a mess.

Left to do the best he could with it was baseball’s most colorful manager, Casey Stengel, who had won seven World Series with the Yankees but had been dismissed after the 1960 season, at the age of 70, because the Yankees felt he was too old. Now, he was even older, but on the Mets that hardly mattered because they had plenty of players past their prime.