It is 2024, and it is the era of broken down pitchers.
A regular Tommy John Marathon for most of these guys.
I thought I would just put their names out there, so they aren’t totally forgotten.
Perhaps many of these in 2025 will resurface, as Joel Diaz did in 2024, and eventually a few of them may reach the majors.
It may not be a full Wounded Pitching Warriors list, but it is a large list:
RHP Bryce Montes de Oca - returned briefly in the minors 2024 after his 2nd career TJS. Then was shut down. Probably precautionary.
RHP Calvin Ziegler: an overpowering 7 (SEVEN) innings in 2023 and 2024.
RHP Dylan Tebrake - pitched well in 2023 until TJS. Hopefully ready for 2025.
RHP Matt Allan - will the man with no innings after 2019 turn heads in spring training 2025?
RHP Raimon Gomez - 7 innings in Brooklyn in 2023, none since.
RHP Robert Dominguez - last pitched in 2021…memories of days gone by.
RHP Zebulon Vermillion - great name. Registered one pro inning in 2022.
RHP Ricardo Baptist - last pitched, briefly and poorly, in the DSL in 2021.
RHP Brian Metoyer - 40th round, high K/walk guy. No 2024. Will he return?
RHP Jace Beck - 6’9” wild man pre TJS. In 2023, fanned 32 in 14 IP in his first 2 months in High A. Who does that?
LHP Eli Ankeney - missed 2024, but was wild (high walks & Ks) in 2023.
RHP John Valle: just turned 20, 14th round in 2023, 0 pro innings to date.
LHP Luis R. Rodriguez - just turned 22, compiled 23 pro innings since 2021. Last outing July 2023.
Who am I missing?
Meanwhile:
The durable Jack Chesbro in 1904 went 41-12, while firing 455 innings. I very much doubt that the entire list of 13 hurlers above, combined, is anywhere near 455 career innings. Rubber arms 120 years ago.
CITI FIELD AND SOTO SUCCESS
I go back to my frequent theme…why would you want to pay mega millions for a superstar and have him then have to hit in a pitcher-friendly field? Give him a hitter-friendly park which will help him maintain his “best offensive hitter in baseball” status.
Baseball Savant has a table regarding park-by-park ratings: Baseball Savant Parks Factors Chart
It shows Citi Field as # 22 overall. Lousy, right?
Mr. Stearns, I recommend that you allow your super stars (Soto, Lindor), budding super sluggers (Mark Vientos), and other hitters to play in a park that ranks out with park factors in the 10-15 range. Citi Field will then reward them with gaudier stats, rather than hitting half the season in a park whose factor is # 22 out of 30.
But, get from #22 all the way up to 10-15? How?
Simple. Move the fences in 5-7 feet.
THEY BETTER HAVE BEEN RIGHT
Garrett Crochet is a total beast. Apparently the Mets passed on the deal to acquire him because the White Sox wanted both Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat. I would have traded those two guys, who hopefully will be very good major leaguers fairly soon, for an absolute SP-1, assuming he stays healthy.
What would you have done?
If I was 100% he was injury free, I would make the trade. Shades of DeGrom when I think about trading for a player with possible arm problems. Yeah I know it's a roll of the dice.
ReplyDeleteD J, I agree, and my brother was very ticked off we didn’t win on Crochet by giving up Sproat and Williams. Crochet will likely receive a huge extension, which due to the doubling cost salary tax, Stearns may have felt to stick with the cheap lesser talents. I would have gotten Crochet. Time will tell.
ReplyDeleteChesbro dominated that year with his 62mph fastball and 1000rpm curveball. What a stud!
ReplyDeleteMr. Sterns is really banking on his pitching lab. I guess he's doing the waiting game on Pete and Sean we'll see. Also we know we always have the trade deadline to retool if needed. I'm really excited about spring training so hurry up an get here already. Tom I have some time in Jan. to help you move those fences in just give me a call.
ReplyDeleteOn Crochet he's another 5 inning guy as the game has turned into the bullpen rules so make that your focus and it looks like that what Sterns is focused on with these low risk starters as it worked beautifully last year. Fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteWith a thin farm system - particularly on the mound - I would not have traded Williams and Sproat for a guy who’s had one good, healthy big league season. And, after watching last season, and knowing that Stearns brought in even more FO talent is this area, I’m going to trust Stearns to sign pitchers who they think they can work with to get the best out of them without trading away two of our very limited number of exciting prospects.
ReplyDeleteSproat will be in the Mets rotation no later than 2026 if not sooner. Trading such an arm for a pitcher that battles injuries and that will be very expensive in the future, makes no sense to me. Look, if the Mets bring back Manaea, the Mets have a solid rotation. Not top of the line, but a solid rotation with the chance to be a great one if Sproat, Tong and Scott live up to their talents.
ReplyDeleteLike Manaea, Megill seem to have found something that clicked also. I measure pitchers hearts when the chips are down and the team needs huge performances. Megill came up big when the team needed him most. He may have finally turned the corner just like Peterson did in 2024.
I was delighted the Bosox signed Crochet. Sign Burnes and keep our prospects.
ReplyDeleteViper, very good points.
ReplyDeleteAdam, gotta trust Stearns. He is ++ soar.
ReplyDeleteGary, I have a shovel, hammer, and nails.
ReplyDeleteRay, that would be a good alternative.
ReplyDeleteI was relieved to read that the Red Sox got Crochet. While he had a good year this year, he simply does not have the track record (or health record) to give up your top two prospects. They don't need him that badly. Finish a killer offense by re-signing Alonso, and they don't need expensive starting pitching that throws 5 innings a game.
ReplyDeleteR69, I respect that perspective. Zack Wheeler once had the exact health rep of Crochet. I bet he goes 180 innings this year.
ReplyDeleteso did Mark Fidrych :-)
DeleteSteve Gelbs presumably said, “ "I WOULD SAY I'D LEAN TO HIM NOT BEING
ReplyDeleteBACK NEXT YEAR" - him being Pete Alonso.
Steve Gelbs is not an Oracle. He is a side show. I think that Cohen said to Boras, "You owe me one. Give me Pete."
ReplyDeleteLike it or not, the Mets presently sit 3rd in the division with Soto. Atlanta & Phila simply have better rotations and bullpens. Stearns needs to get busy to find a bat (CORNER) to protect Soto, find an additional hitter (DH - hopefully a left-handed hitter) and sign 2 additional quality SPs or several stoppers for the bullpen.
ReplyDeleteWouldn’t we be upset if we do not re-sign Pete?
ReplyDelete