Tom Brennan - Two Pitchers, One in the Highlight Zone, the Other in the Twilight Zone

“Which Will It Be? The Highlight Zone? Or the Twilight Zone?”

Rod Serling weighs in:

“Two AA right headers. Both have the initials JS. Both in AA for the Mets.

“One, Joander Suarez, is headed into the Highlight Zone.  Why?  He’s a highlight reel lately.

“No hitter last night, and his last 3 starts, 19 innings, ONE HIT, no runs.”

ONE HIT?? That is totally insane. 

6 innings & 1 hit, then 6 innings & no hits, then, last night, the 7 inning no hitter, with just 78 pitches needed. Stunning.

Meanwhile, Mr. Serling weighs in on the other JS:

“Junior Santos, pitching since 2018, is in the Twilight Zone:

Junior Santos, you see, is just 4-8, 6.00, .312 BAA, 1.65 WHIP. Pretty bad, frankly. And just 71 Ks vs. 434 batters, a sub-par rate of missing bats. He is mired…in the Twilight Zone, seeking the exit door into a new dimension of time and space which will lead him out of mediocrity.”

Some amazing contrast in Binghamton’s two “JS” pitchers.”

Tom: “Mr. Serling, I prefer the Highlight Zone to the Twilight Zone.”

Congrats to Joander, on being incredible of late. 

Hopefully he arrives in Queens in late 2024 or early 2025.

Junior has pitched forever, it seems, since 2018, but turned just 22 in August, so maybe 2024 will be a step forward for him and he’ll be a whole different pitcher before he reaches the age of 23 in August 2024.

Meanwhile, on another happy note besides the incredible Suarez run, Drew Gilbert did a fine job supporting Suarez with 3 hits and 3 RBIs, and the Drewster as a AA Met is hitting a fine .317/.408/.548 in 29 games, with 6 HRs and 19 RBIs. I predict a mid-season 2024 NY Mets arrival for him. He needs ABs, having had just 32 in his debut 2022 season, and 414 ABs this year. So…

GET HIM TO THE ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE. He turns 23 later this month.

ANOTHER SPENCER STRIDER?

Mets prospects climb slowly through the minors, without seemingly any exception, if you haven’t noticed, while the Braves’ Strider rose to stardom with lightning speed. 

Have the Braves done it again, with their 1st round 24th overall pick this year?

Before we get to their guy, for contrast, Brandon Sproat, the Mets second rounder (overall #56), hasn’t even pitched yet as a pro, while MLB just noted the Braves’ 1st round pick, Hurston Waldrep, already tossed 3 scoreless innings in AA. See below:

Braves: Hurston Waldrep, RHP (No. 2)

Newly drafted pitchers don’t often throw all that much and the Braves are definitely not overworking their first-rounder after he topped 100 innings at Florida this past spring. Even so, it’s hard not to be impressed by how well his stuff has played as he’s reached Double-A with a combined 1.00 ERA over 18 innings, allowing just five hits while striking out 29. It’s going to come down to command for Waldrep after walking 4.2 per nine in his Gators career (He’s walked 4.5 per nine in his pro debut.).

WILL WALDREP BE ANOTHER BRAVES ACE BY 2025?

The Mets, naturally, lost a shot at Waldrep when they got the 10 slot draft penalty due to their massive spending, which dropped them from #22 to #32. 

No penalty, they could have picked him at #22. 

Figures a relatively new rule would hurt the Mets, and as a result help the Braves.

Happy Friday. No skinny dipping please.