Tom Brennan - MY METS PROSPECTS: #25 JAMIE CALLAHAN

Tom Brennan - MY METS PROSPECTS: #25 JAMIE CALLAHAN

GIVE IRELAND BACK TO THE IRISH, as Sir Paul McCartney might sing while he purveys my draft slotting selections.

Begum and Begorrah, having my 23rd thru 25th picks named PJ Conlon, Drew Smith and now Jamie Callahan has my Irish eyes (all four of them) smiling.  

Jamie Callahan was amongst a trio of relievers obtained by the Mets from the Bosox in the Addison Reed trade.

Getting a September call up with the Mets, Callahan with 5 games to go in the Mets season (as I write this) was doing OK, getting the tootsies wet.

Prior to that call up, started out as 2nd round Boston draft pick out of high school.  The 6'2", 230 righty struggled mightily as a starter in the minors from 2012 thru early 2015.  Jeurys Familia struggled as a minors starter, too.

Callahan switched to the pen in early 2015, before he turned 21, and went 7-3, 3.06 in 68 relief innings with 75 Ks.  

In 2016, in High A ball in relief, he was 5-3, 3.29 with 63 Ks in 66 IP.  In 2017, in AA and AAA, he went 6-3, 2.94, with 66 Ks in 52 IP, a ramped-up K rate showing an increased ability to put hitters away.    Now 23, he is ready, most likely, to be a factor in the Mets' bullpen for all or at least part of 2018.

At the time of the trade, NJ.com wrote that Callahan is a converted reliever whose fastball velocity went up when he went into the bullpen. His cutter is his out-pitch and his control issues seem to have stabilized after a few disastrous seasons. He projects as a middle reliever and the hope is that he can be major league ready at some point this season (which, of course, he did in September).

A Sox Prospects write up had framed Callahan thusly:

Solid pitcher’s frame. Strong lower half. Throws almost directly over the top. Stiff, rigid mechanics with jerk in his delivery. Quick arm. Controlled and easy early in delivery, then dips and comes towards the plate. Drives hard off his posting leg. Delivery is off-putting for hitters. Gets good extension to the plate.  

Fastball at 92-95 mph, but has reportedly touched 98. Plus-to-better potential with late life due to extension. Pitch jumps on hitters. Velocity has increased since he entered the organization, but is inconsistent from outing to outing and has shown a tendency to decrease as the season has gone along. Pitch is on the straight side, but shows some downward action when he finishes his delivery. Command and control have improved greatly since he entered the organization. Average command profile long-term.

Splitter at 83-87 mph. Potential above-average pitch. Pitch looks like a fastball, then as has late dive down and away from left-handed hitters. Misses barrels, potential to be an out pitch at the big league level.

Cutter at 86-88 mph. Short, horizontal movement. Pitch has bite and has shown bat-missing ability. Tough to square up. Potential average-to-better offering.

Curveball: Shelved the pitch upon his move to the bullpen. Was 76-80 mph with solid-average potential and long, 12-to-6 break. When snapped off, showed tight rotation and good depth. Showed some feel for the pitch. 

Changeup: Pitch morphed into a splitter as he progressed through the system. Was 82-84 mph with fringe-average potential. Slowed arm. Was on the firm side.

Bottom line on Callahan, from my perspective: 

He is young, talented, and it is good that he got his feet wet in the big leagues with the Mets in his September.  How much of an impact he will have in 2018 for the Mets remains to be seen, but he is a quality arm we may be seeing a lot of in the years to come in Queens.