Mack - Five Starters That May Be Available at 1.32

 

 Yes, it’s early, but here is where the Mets stand right now. 

The Mets pick at 1.32. 

Five pitchers that, right now, looks to be in that range (research by Prospect Live) are:

 

RHP Juaron Watts-Brown Oklahoma State 

"JWB" broke out in his first full season at Long Beach State, showing off his tantalizing skillset and upside as a starter. He transferred to Oklahoma State for 2023. He features a highly projectable frame with long limbs and a loose and easy arm action. His entire operation is smooth and effortless, boding well for a future starting role. 

He has feel for a standard four-pitch mix all with distinct shape. His fastball has big ride while averaging around seven feet of extension from a low launch. Both of his breaking balls have distinct shape, one being a tight slider, the other a hammer 11/5 curveball. 

The slider is nasty with fantastic tunnel off the fastball and sharp, late break. Watts-Brown has been up into the upper-90s and will routinely sits in the low-to-mid 90s during his starts. 

There's a lot of reasons to buy this arm in July and scouts have taken notice.

 

LHP Ross Dunn Arizona State 

A Florida State transfer, Dunn features a low-to-mid 90s fastball, up to 96 with a low-80s slider and a mid-80s changeup. It's a super-projectable lefty with a big, strong body and a loose arm action and operation on that mound that certainly points to a future starter at the next level. 

Dunn does a great job utilizing his lower half, sinking into his glutes and exploding to the plate. There's some deception is his delivery that really allows the slider to play up too. It's the sort of mechanism that should lend well toward performing at the next level.

 

RHP Teddy McGraw Wake Forest 

McGraw doesn't have the prototype size of some of his peers, but his sublime feel for a 4-pitch mix has evaluators drooling. He offers a four-seam and a two-seam fastball, the latter being more consistent, though McGraw showed a willingness to elevate the four-seamer on the Cape last summer. 

Given his low release and mid-90s velo, there's definitive swing-and-miss upside if he can find consistency up there. McGraw has a high-spin slider that's exceeded 3000 rpm in the past, though more comfortably lands in the 2800-range. It's a two-plane sweeper with impressive depth and a bat-missing track record. The changeup shows promise too with feel for pronation. 

McGraw holds his velocity and stuff deep into his outings too, something not everyone on this list can necessarily claim.

 

RHP Jackson Baumeister Florida State 

Jackson Baumeister really burst onto the scene during his senior year of high school. Once considered a premier catching prospect, his future is now without a doubt on the bump. It's a premier body with long levers, feel for tempo, as well as balance and fluidity. 

This is how you build a starting pitcher. He's been up to 97, but more commonly sits 93-94 with two wicked breaking balls, the slider being the better of his two benders. He's also got a changeup. 

There's a ton of projection on Baumeister and it's an arm with very little mileage on it. He'll get his first taste of college ball in 2022 where he figures to get some opportunities to start baked into a loaded Florida State rotation.

 

RHP Carson Montgomery Florida State 

Montgomery has been a first round talent since the 2020 draft and some scouts have gone on record regretting not pushing harder for their team to dole out the cash necessary to land the talented righty. It might be the best breaking ball in the class right now, a slider into the mid-80s with strong spin rates, and serious feel for two-plane break. 

The result is opposing hitters swinging through air nearly two-thirds of their hacks. Montgomery can get into the upper-90s with the fastball, though he's generally a few ticks lower than that. It's not a bat-missing fastball and he'll need to continue working on developing consistent shape with the heater. Still, given the velocity, the floor of the pitch, especially at the college level, it's reasonably high. 

There's some feel for a pretty darn good changeup in there too. Montgomery could be the complete package and projects to fit comfortably inside the first round.