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1/25/22

Player Profile - Connor Grey

Conner Grey - MiLB.com

Background, Stats, Videos.

Background: 

Connor Grey. Starting Pitcher, Bats Left, Throws Right, 6'1", 195 pounds; DOB 5/6/1994 in Frewsburg, NY, USA, Drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks 2016 June Amateur Draft - Round: 20, Pick: 13, Overall: 599 from St. Bonaventure University (St. Bonaventure, NY). Eligible for the Major League version of the 2021/22 Rule 5 draft (currently postponed due to the lockout).

COVID-19 meant no minor league baseball in 2020.  For some minor leaguers it also meant the unemployment line.  The Arizona Diamonbacks decided to release 64 minor league pitchers, including Connor Grey, despite the fact that he threw a 100 pitch Perfect Game for them in 2017.  

Luckily, the Manager of his 2017 team and former Mets Minor League Manager, Butch Hobson, was now managing an Indy Ball team and gave Connor a call.  Conner signed with the Chicago Dogs with the hope of getting the chance to hook on with a major league organization again.  The Mets liked what they saw and signed him as a starting pitcher.

Connor Grey told Spectrum Local News.com: "Once I get going, I'll be better on the back half of the game, rather than early on, when you're trying to get your feet set," he says. "I like starting better than relieving, and I think that's one of the biggest things. Your mentality of 'I need to go 5-6 innings to give my team a chance to win."

Case in point, I saw him pitch @ Hudson Valley against the Yankees affiliate.  He had a rocky first inning allowing 4 runs, 2 earned, (thought ump was squeezing him) but settled down after that.

He hit 94 with his fastball and showed good movement with his curve and off speed pitches.

His next game, he took a no hitter to the ninth going 8.1 innings, 1 run, 9 Ks, 2 walks.

Overall he made just 11 starts between Brooklyn and Binghamton but showed enough that the Mets sent him the Arizona Fall League where he went 1-2 in 6 games with a 3.00 ERA, 18 innings, 17 Ks, 2 walks. 

He is Rule 5 eligible this winter, and he was 3.7 years older than the average player in Brooklyn and in Arizona.  However, he gives the Mets another quality arm in the minors.  In recent years, the Mets have been forced to sign and trade for guys just to get buy.  I think Connor can be an upgrade over recent options.  I look for him to start 2022 in Binghamton with a call to Syracuse later in the year.

Mets Minors.net: Three Unheralded Mets Arms Set To Defy Expectations - "The biggest thing to note about Grey is that he’s throwing harder than he ever has in his career. Now topping out at 93-94 mph...Gray does two other things extremely well – he throws tons of strikes, and he really gets down the mound."

Amazing Avenue: "He throws from a high-three-quarters arm slot, dropping and driving and getting a lot of extension. His delivery features a distinct step, tapping the rubber multiple times with his back foot when starting his windup."

Michael Mayer of Metsmerized.com had Conner Grey as his #43 prospect.

Conner Grey’s Baseball Savant page.

Conner Grey’s FANGRAPHS page.

Stats: 

Standard Pitching -


2021 Pitching Splits -




Videos:

You Tube: Connor Grey on AZFL, No-Hit Bid and More.










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4 comments:

  1. Mack AdeJanuary 25, 2022 at 12:38 PM

    Sent to Connor.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tom BrennanJanuary 25, 2022 at 1:03 PM

    He sure looked very good in a lot of that video. MLB quality.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tom BrennanJanuary 25, 2022 at 1:21 PM

    John, what might be cool is to do an occasional article (or repeat the article, say, monthly) that has one really good, clear clip of each of the highlighted players.

    A lot of times, all we see is a pitcher's stats. We don't see how good they look - when I saw Oller and Grey, for instance, I was VERY impressed with both. One picture is worth a 1,000 words.

    ReplyDelete
  4. TexasGusCCJanuary 27, 2022 at 5:56 AM

    Hoping these kids all take time to master their control and not worry on just overthrowing.

    ReplyDelete