Continuing on with my Top 25, having listed my Top 16-20 and Top 21-25 in the past two weeks, on we go to my Top 11-15:
(11) RHSP Josh Wolf - the
Mets selected the Wolf Man in the 2nd round of 2018. The 6’3” 170 righty just turned 19 on Sept 1.
The Mets used him gingerly in his debut season with the GCL Mets. He had 5
short outings, 4 of which were excellent – in those 4, he threw 7 innings,
allowing 5 hits, 1 walk (excellent), and fanning 10.
It is hard to project exactly where he
will start out 2020, either in Kingsport, Brooklyn or Columbia. My guess? Short
season Brooklyn, skipping Kingsport.
He
was up in the 95-97 MPH range as an 18 year old, and his exhibited control so
far tells me he is likely up for the challenge.
My guess? He might have been the
#1 pick in the 2020 draft.
My second
guess? He is part of the Mets starting rotation in 2023.
(12) LHRP Blake Taylor
– it’s my list, and Blake Taylor is in my Top 25 - so deal with it!
Here’s a guy (former 2nd
rounder in 2013) who the Mets acquired long ago in the Ike Davis deal, who was
4-17 in 2017 and 2018, almost all as a starter.
Looked like a complete bust.
2019?
A whole different story for Taylor.
In 39 relief outings in A and AA, he was 2-3, 2.16, 10 of 11 in saves, a
1.10 WHIP, and 74 Ks in 67 IP. He
allowed just 3 homers. He also got to
pitch to one batter in AAA and retired him in his 40th outing. After his promotion from A to AA, in AA he
was in 18 games, 0-1, 1.85, 0.95 WHIP and just 12 walks in 39 innings. This is the same guy who walked a very high
54 in 87 innings in 2018, so his control improvement is remarkable. So, he is the same guy…but clearly not the
same guy.
He ate lefties alive in AA and spit out the bones – 14.2 IP,
0.89 WHIP, 24 Ks.
My take on why he was not promoted to
AAA sooner? After such non-success in
2017 and 2018, they did not want to rush him.
I see the just turned 24 year old Taylor starting out in AAA in 2020,
and being ready for the phone to ring during the season.
Taylor reminds me of a guy whom Mets
fans hated – Oliver Perez – as a terrible starter, who turned into a fine major
league lefty reliever as a post-Met. We’ll
see in 2020.
(13) LHSP David Peterson
– the 2017 first round selection for the Mets just turned 24, and had a mixed
2019 season in AA. There is no way to
sugar coat the fact that he was just 3-6 in 24 starts, with a mediocre 4.19 ERA
and 1.34 WHIP. He allowed 9 homers, too,
in 116 innings, not terrible, but somewhat concerning to me.
It was heartening to see his last two
starts, though, in which he went 5.1 innings, allowing 6 hits, 2 runs, no
walks, and 4 Ks, followed by a 6.2 IP outing in which he allowed 3 hits, no
runs, walked none and fanned 10. In
neither game did he get the W, in part because Binghamton’s offense was so-so.
He ended up with a somewhat high 37
walks in his first 104 innings, but none in his last 12. And, if you dropped
his one bad outing in his last 5 games, in the other 4, he went 23 innings, 15
H, 5 BB, 20 Ks and just 3 earned runs.
So it seemed that at the end of an
unimpressive season, it was starting to click for Peterson.
His 243 hits allowed in 248 innings as
pro (and 119 in 116 innings in 2019) is concerning to me. He needs simply to be
a lot less hittable. Also concerning was
his 1.51 WHIP against lefties in 2019, a breed of hitter that he as a big
southpaw needs to dominate to be a successful big league pitcher some day.
Despite his being a first rounder, I
see too many caution signs to have him in my top 10 at this point, although
most everyone else has him in their top 10. Maybe I am wrong, maybe I am not. But there are no maybes when it comes to
saying that he needs to do a lot better to justify his first round selection.
(14) RHRP Ryley Gilliam – Gilliam
was a reliever everyone loved.
He was rising after a fine 2018 Brooklyn debut quickly
through St Lucie in High A ball.
In AA, the hard throwing pen righty started to encounter some
adversity (3-0, but 4.34 in 19 innings), and had a very rough go of it briefly
in AAA before being shut down with injury.
Overall, he fanned 56 in 39 innings, but despite a 5-0 season
record, he ended up with a 6.05 ERA, with 18 walks, and an unsightly 14 runs in
under 10 innings with a WHIP of 3.00 in AAA.
In 2020, we will find out how much of the latter disaster was
due to pitching while injured, and how much might be the result of being pushed
too far, too fast.
Still, the fact that Gilliam got to AAA in his first full season
at all has to leave open the possibility of Gilliam pitching for the Mets at
some point during 2020.
(15) RHSP Junior Santos - My nickname for the 6'8" youngster is Whopper Junior. Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce, but plenty of mustard, please.
He had a heckuva debut in 2018, with great control for a 16 year old. Having pitched in 2019 mostly as a 17 year old, just turning 18 late in the 2019 season, he had a spotty and somewhat disappointing season, going 0-5, 5.09 in 41 IP.
Results aside, he throws hard, and has great potential for his slider, change up, and potential to throw even harder (into the high 90s).
I think his potential starts to show up in results in 2020.
A real possibility for the Mets starting rotation in 2023 or 2024.
Where we will hear at Citifield the chants of the fans:
Where we will hear at Citifield the chants of the fans:
WHOP-PER JUN-IOR!!
WHOP-PER JUN-IOR!!
WHOP-PER JUN-IOR!!
2 comments:
There are others in the Rule V draft I would protect ahead of Taylor but lefties seem to get preferential treatment.
Ton -
As you know, I have posted my top 25 but it will not post up until after yours is done.
I too have my concerns for Peterson.
I don't remember where I have Taylor but I don't think I even rank him in the top 5 relievers in the system.
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