MACK - My Thursday Observations - Chain Position Analysis - SP

 Good morning 

A shite load.

Yup… I currently have a shite load of Mets chain starters on my board, ether as a RED prospect, or a BLUE one.

So, let’s break this up into three posts consisting of seven today, seven more on Sunday, and the rest on Monday. I will start with AAA and work myself down:

(2025 stats through end of game this past Tuesday)

Christian Scott – 25-years old – drafted by NYM in 5^th round of 2021 draft, out of the University of Florida. Signing bonus $350K ($386.6K slot).

Let’s not forget this guy. Yes, he graduated and was putting up some good numbers in Queens, but I still consider him in the prospect class, especially since so many of the guys I am writing about today here could jump the shark.

2024/Career MLB – 0.3-WAR, 0-3, 4.56-ERA, 1.20-WHIP, 9-ST, 47.1-IP, 39-K

The Mets have a tendency to always return a healed player to the level they had accomplished before going down, but who knows? There’s a lot of good red meat on this page and they have the rest of this year to dry age while Scott can just sit back and, well, rot.

 Brandon Sproat -

24/years old. 2nd round pick in the 2023 draft by NYM, out of the University of Florida.

2024:         A+/AA/AAA -  24-G, 23-ST, 7-4, 3.40, 1.10, 116.1-IP, 131-K

2025 so far:           AAA -   6-ST, 1-2, 5.79, 1.39, 18.2-IP, 10-BB, 13-K

Last five outings:

    4-30-25          4.1-IP, 5-H, 2-R, 2-BB, 4-K, 79/50

    4-24-25 -       2.1-IP, 6-ER, 2-BB, 1-K

    4-18-25 -      6-IP, 0-R, 1-BB, 1-K, 99.5-FB

    4-12-25 -      4.1-IP, 1-ER, 2-BB, 6-K

    4-5-25 -        4-IP, 1-ER, 2-BB, 2-K

Ya know...

I had this post all figured out. Make you all remember Scott then get right into the best the chain has starting a game.

Then Thursday, April 24th happened.

Up to then, Brandon Sproat was da bomb. Then, they bombed HIM. He pitched again last night, but this post ends with stats up to Tuesday. Right now, your guess is as good as mine where his future status is this season. 

Progress since then is sow and steady, but all you have to do is look at only 13 strikeouts in 18.2 innings pitched and you know this guy ain't ready for the majors yet.

Blade Tidwell – AAA

23/yrs old – drafted in 2^nd round of 2022 draft by NYM, out of the Univ. of Tennessee.

2024 AA/AAA – 26-G, 22-ST, 3-13, 4.86, 122.1-IP, 121-K

2025 so far     –    6-ST, 1-2, 5.00, 1.33, 27-IP, 10-BB, 37-K

Last outings –

        4-27  -  first 4 innings: 3 hits 0 runs 0 walks 8 k

                     Final:                 4.2 innings 7 hits 4 runs 0 walks 9 k’s. 5.00-ERA

        4-20 – 4.1-IP, 2-H, 0-R, 1-BB, 9-K, 45/74

        4-15 – 5-IP, 7-H, 2-ER, 1-BB, 4-K, 52/82

I’ll say it again. Tidwell has always had the highest ceiling of all Mets minor league pitchers, including Sproat. He was the odds on 1.1 projected pick in the 2022 draft before being rested for a sore arm. Well, that arm isn’t sore anymore.

Let’s not define his 2025 with those last 0.2 innings pitched. I have him ahead of Sproat right now for a future call up. 

Dom Hamel – AAA

26/years old – drafted in the 3^rd round of the 2021 draft by NYM, out of Dallas Baptist University

2024 – AAA    – 27-ST, 5-9, 6.86, 124.2-IP, 124-K

2025 so far -     4.20-ERA

Last 4 outings –

         4/30  -  4-IP, 3-H, 4-ER, 2-BB, 7-K

        4-23  - 3-IP, 5-H, 3-ER, 1-BB, 2-K

        4-17. - 3-IP, 2-H, 0-R, 1-BB, 5-K

        4-2 – 5-IP, 2-H, 0-R, 0-BB, 3-K

Hamel hasn’t had a decent season since he pitched for Brooklyn in 2022. Last Thursday looked like a line from last season, but everybody has a bad day once in a while. 

Then yesterday... another clunker.

Sure, we need more outings here and a ton of more innings per game thrown, but none of us have been used to seeing Hamel throw a scoreless outing, no less two in a row. However, the third outing brought back the Hamel nightmares. A fourth kept those nightmares coming.

 I have no idea at this point how to project Hamel.

Brandon Waddell – AAA

30/yrs old – drafted in the 5^th round of the 2015 draft by the Pirates, out of the University of Virginia.

Career MLB stats - -0.3-WAR, 0-1, 5.68

2024 – Doosan/KBO – 14-ST, 7-4, 3.12, 75-IP, 75-K

2025 so far at AAA -     1.40, 19.1-IP 

Waddell was called up to eat some innings in game two on 4-30. I'm not judging him for this. 

Last five outings –

  MLB - 4-30  -  4.1-IP, 3-H, 0-R, 0-BB, 4-K, 60/40

        4-19  -   6-IP, 1-ER, 0-BB, 5-K

        4-13  -   5-IP, 0-R, 1-H, 0-BB, 4-K

        4-5    -   4.2-IP, 0-R  

        3-31 -   3.1-IP, 2-ER, 1-BB, 4-K

Waddell has been attempting to revitalize a failed career with a short stint for China based Rakuten Monkeys, and three years of the Korea based Doosan Bears. Three year Bears stat line – 244.2-IP, 2.98-ERA, 23.8% K-rate, 3.5% BB-rate.

2024 was “cut” short with rotator cuff surgery in late June.

Arsenal: low-90s FB, mid-80s slider, mid-80s change, low-90s sinker.

Mets signed both he and his Bears teammate, Jared Young, on the same day.

Seen as potential long relief help in Queens. His age says he is ready for this jump back to the majors.

Was promoted to Queens for a one-up and dominated. My guess he will become the left handed reliever the Mets have been looking for.

An absolute pleasant surprise and a bottle of Buffalo Trace to the scout that found this guy. 

Nolan McLean – AA

23/yrs old. Drafted by the NYM in the 3^rd round of the 2023 draft, out of Oklahoma State University

3 pro seasons:  30-G, 29-ST, 6-10, 3.38, 1.22, 128-IP, 140-K

2024:             A+/AA - 25-ST, 4-10, 3.78, 1.26, 109.2-IP, 42-BB, 116-K

2025 so far   AA        - 4-ST, 2-1, 1.77, 1.23, 20.1-IP, 26-K

     4-25 -    5.1-IP, 6-H, 3-ER, 4-K, 90/56

    4-19 -    6-IP, 2-H, 0-ER, 8-K, 81/51 (FB: 97)

    4-13 -    5-IP, 4-H, 1-R, 3-BB, 6-K, 81/47 (27 swings & misses)

    4-6 -      4-IP, 3-H, 0-ER, 0-BB, 8-K

Has lived up to all the hype. Most probably will be the first promotion to Syracuse when something opens up there.

Also pitched last night and I will try to update on Thursday morning.

 

Jonah Tong – AA

21/years old – drafted in 7^th round of the 2022 draft, by NUM, out of Markham Ontario and Georgia Premier Academy (GA).

2024 – A/A+/AA -   25-G, 23-ST, 6-4, 3.03, 1.17, 113-IP, 160-K

2025 so far – AA -    4-ST, 0-1, 3.63, 1.32, 17.1-IP, 11-BB, 30-K

Last two outings –

        4-27 - 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K, 62 pitches/41 strikes

        4-22  -  4.1-IP, 3-H, 2-ER, 3-BB, 9-K, 90/53 – poor command

Tong took the scouts by storm last year proven that good pitchers can be found across the Northern border. This year, not so happening. Tong still is posting huge K/IP ratios, but he can’t seem to find the zone as easy had he done in the past. WHIP is way up. Because of this, and other factors like some of his fellow B-Met rotation pieces are doing so much better right now, I would keep Jonah at this level for this season. 

Still… if a 3.63-ERA is the worst he is going to produce, the Mets still have a future winner here.

Where has the ‘Soto Shuffle’ gone?

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6319495/2025/04/29/where-has-the-soto-shuffle-gone/

Watching Juan Soto in the batter’s box without him performing his signature “Soto Shuffle” is akin to seeing Superman without his cape.

The movement is part of Soto’s aura. The routine is unmistakable. Between pitches, he squats low, keeps his legs spread wide, wiggles his hips, sweeps his feet, sometimes grabs his crotch, and always stares intently at the pitcher.

By his lofty standards, Soto is off to a modest start. Through 29 games and 127 plate appearances, he owns a .788 OPS with three home runs (none at Citi Field). His walk rate stands at 17.1 percent, ranking in the top 5 percent, per Baseball Savant. His strikeout, whiff and chase rates are similar to prior seasons.

 

The Athletic - MLB Power Rankings

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6317654/2025/04/29/mlb-power-rankings-mets-giants/

 1. New York Mets (Average ranking: 1.4)

Record: 20-9

Last Power Ranking: T-2

Statistical superlative: Pete Alonso’s red-hot start

Look, when he broke Aaron Judge’s rookie home-run record one year later and across town in 2019, Pete Alonso’s intention was probably not to set up a career-long juxtaposition with the greatest hitter of his era. Right here in this moment, though, Alonso is the closest thing the National League has to Judge — a big right-handed power hitter who is doing everything right at the plate. Off a couple of down seasons, Alonso is as locked in as ever. He’s swinging more at strikes and less at pitches out of the zone, he’s hitting the ball harder and more often, and he’s coming through whenever the opposition decides it prefers him at the plate over Juan Soto. He’s basically carried a surprisingly suspect Mets offense to this point.

Keith Law - Scouting Mets prospects

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6295481/2025/04/23/mets-orioles-scouting-carson-benge-griff-oferrall/

Shortstop Jesus Baez had the play of the game … wait, sorry, I’m getting word that it was the worst play of the game, on a hard-hit ground ball a step or two to his left that he just didn’t try for. The Mets prospect also didn’t run out a ground ball to short in the first inning. I don’t care one iota about hustle for its own sake, but this is A-ball and throwing or fielding errors happen all the time, so running out ground balls should be standard. He did hit two singles pretty hard, on a cutter and a slider, although he gets ready so late at the plate I’m not sure how he gets to good fastballs.

Jim Koenigsberger             @Jimfrombaseball

"No man has ever been a perfect ballplayer.

Stan Musial, however, is the closest to being perfect in the game today.”

Ty Cobb

 

"During a “mill game” in 1908, while he was playing with the 'Greenville  Spinners', Joe Jackson was wearing a pair of ill-fitting new baseball spikes. The fit was so bad, they caused a bad case of blisters on his feet. The next day   he was still in considerable discomfort. He couldn’t even put on his old spikes. Since the team was short on players, his manager wanted Jackson in the lineup, despite the blisters.

Jackson consented to play, but his feet still hurt so much that he had to take his shoes off before taking his turn at bat. He went to the plate in his stocking feet.

As fate would  have it, Jackson hit a triple. The bleachers were close to the field,  and as he ran for third, a fan noticed his socking feet and yelled,

"You  shoeless son of a bitch you!"

Another heckler knew Shoeless Joe Jackson could neither read nor write, and so  he kept shouting "Hey, How do you spell 'cat'?" Later in the game, 'Shoeless Joe' came to bat and hit a screaming line drive, clearing the bases.

As he pulled into third base, Jackson shouted back at the heckler,

"Hey, big mouth, how do you spell 'triple'?"

 

"Do you know the nicest thing about looking at pictures of a 1950's baseball park?

The only people wearing baseball caps are the players"

George Carlin

 

"I caught Bob Gibson in the '65 All-Star Game at Minnesota and he wouldn't talk to me. Tony Oliva was at bat, and I said to make sure the ball was up and in, and not down and in. He acted like I wasn't even there.

Gibby's mellowed some. Now he can play Old-Timers' games and not be upset that they're hitting him. When Gibson first started those Old-Timers' games, Bob really had a problem with that. I said, 'Gibby, they don't come out here to watch you strike people out."

Joe Torre