IN FOCUS - Diaz, Thornton, Holmes, Some Guy Named Gervase, Tong, Wenninger, College Coaches, Power Rankings

 

Pitch Profiler                                              @pitchprofiler

It’s been a month since Edwin Díaz gave up a run, and it doesn’t seem like that streak will end anytime soon

 

 Mack –

If I was the GM here, I would be doing everything I could to get Edwin under contract for future years. He seems happy, though it is hard to tell sometimes. Still, make him one of the top paid relievers in the game for somewhere around 3-5 years.

 

Binghamton Rumble Ponies                  @RumblePoniesBB

Like clockwork.

Zach Thornton is your Eastern League Pitcher of the Week

 

Mets Analytics                                           @MetsAnalytics

 Clay Holmes’ pitch mix, 2024 vs. 2025.

 

Brand new changeup has become his best pitch (.193 xwOBA and 36.5% whiff rate!)

Fewer sinkers and more four seamers - both have had better put away rates than his 2024 fastballs

New cutter to keep lefties off balance

 

Pitch Profiler                                              @pitchprofiler

Clay Holmes lowered his ERA under 3.00 today with another great start for the Mets!

 

Pitch Profiler                                               @pitchprofiler

Oh ya the Rays have Paul Gervase just chilling in AAA until they need someone to come up and slaughter batters

 

 Farm To Flushing                                       @FarmToFlushing

Jonah Tong and Jack Wenninger are the top-two leaders in strikeouts in the Eastern League

Tong has 65 strikeouts to lead the league. His 2.37 ERA is second in the league.

Wenninger is at number two with 53 strikeouts. His 2.70 ERA is eighth best.

Keith Law - College baseball coaches must be stopped from abusing pitchers’ arms

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6380136/2025/05/26/college-baseball-pitcher-usage-abuse/

Major League Baseball has been making moves towards farming out some of their player development to college programs, eliminating short-season leagues in 2021, and quite possibly pushing to eliminate another level of the minors in the next CBA. There are so many reasons why this is a terrible idea for the sport, but one of the most obvious ones slaps us in the face every May: College coaches can not be trusted.

Witness the usage of A.J. Colarusso, a junior pitcher at Boston College. The draft-eligible left-hander threw 72 pitches in four innings on Tuesday, the opening day of the ACC tournament, which probably should have ended his week. Had he come back for an inning of relief at some point, I doubt anyone would have said anything or even noticed. Instead, BC had him start their elimination game on Friday and pushed him for six innings and 109 pitches — after just two days of rest. It was as high-pressure an outing as you’ll find, as the loss ended BC’s season, because their only path to the NCAA tournament was by winning the ACC tournament.

Colarusso doesn’t throw very hard — he sits 87-89, and it’s not a high-effort delivery — but the issue with overuse is fatigue, and that affects everyone. The usage blew past the MLB PitchSmart recommendations for a pitcher his age when working on two days of rest (maximum of 60 pitches), even though “numerous studies have shown that … pitching too deep into games, violating pitch count recommendations, and acute spikes in workload significantly increase the risk of injury,” according to the PitchSmart site. They also recommend a maximum of 120 pitches in any game for any pitcher aged 19-22.

BC isn’t the only school up to these shenanigans; this happens every year during the conference tournaments as coaches prioritize winning the next game over the health of their players. Arkansas-Little Rock used senior Jack Cline, who threw 69 pitches on Wednesday, for 134 pitches in a complete-game win on Saturday, which staved off elimination for the Trojans. Mercer sent senior Colton Cosper out for a 140-pitch complete-game win in their own elimination game on Friday, which is 29 more pitches than he’d thrown in any game this year, although at least in his case, he was working on more than a week of rest. Abilene Christian had lefty senior Chandler Benson throw 139 pitches on Friday on full rest. Gonzaga used senior righty Kai Francis for 121 pitches on four days of rest, even though he’d only thrown more than 50 pitches in a game once all season (and that was 76 pitches).

Mack - 

How many times do I have to say this... 

MLB Power Rankings

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6383368/2025/05/27/mlb-power-rankings-phillies-yankees-2/

4. New York Mets (3.9)

Record: 33-21

Last Power Ranking: 4

Early MVP: Jeremy Hefner

Scorching Aprils have turned into mediocre Mays for Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso — the regression that was supposed to happen to New York’s pitching staff. Instead, let’s recognize a pitching coach who’s turned a former closer (Clay Holmes), a non-tender (Griffin Canning) and an enigma  (Tylor Megill) into the best rotation in baseball. How long those individual performances last is unclear; the ability of Hefner and the Mets to extract them from a variety of pitchers in the last year and a half, though, is starting to look sustainable.