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| Thomas Szapucki, Syracuse Mets - Photo by Herm Card, Herm4444@gmail.com |
Thomas Szapucki, Starting Pitcher, Bats Right, Throws Left, DOB 6/12/1996 in Toms River, NJ. Acquired in the 2015 June Amateur Draft - Round: 5, Pick: 14, Overall: 149 from William T. Dwyer HS (West Palm Beach, FL).
Injuries have been Thomas Szapucki’s downfall. His stellar 2016 season where he struck out 82 batters in 52 innings was cut short due to a back injury. He had shoulder problems in 2017 and then later in the season had to be shut down due to Tommy John surgery. He missed all of 2018.
In 2019 he split time with Columbia and St. Lucie and made one start for Binghamton in August. His 2019 line: 1-3, 2.63 ERA, 21 games, 18 starts, 61 innings, 72 Ks, 26 walks, 1.22 WHIP.
Early in the 2021 season on a Zoom Call, Syracuse Manager Chad Kreuter noted Szapucki's lack on minor league innings due to injury, stated that he needed to just pitch more but was very close to the majors..."has to work on pitch selection, location, knowing his strengths...but as he showed last weekend against Luke Voit...he can get good hitters out."
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| Thomas Szapucki, Syracuse Mets - Photo by Herm Card, Herm4444@gmail.com |
He threw 8 games for Syracuse, including 3 outings with no earned runs, and was able to make his major league debut on June 30th going 3.2 innings in relief giving up 6 runs, 7 hits, 2 HRs.
NY Post: Thomas Szapucki had one strange debut for Mets. "He retired the great Ronald Acuna Jr. twice but surrendered 400-plus-foot home runs to Ehire Adrianza and Ozzie Albies...Szapucki only threw 179 ²/₃ career innings in the minors before he was pressed into action."
After that he was sent back to Syracuse, threw two more games and then...
NY Post: "season-ending ulnar nerve transposition surgery"
Mets.com: "The procedure is not uncommon for pitchers in the years following Tommy John surgery, which can damage the sensitive ulnar nerve. Jacob deGrom underwent an ulnar transposition late in 2016, when doctors repositioned the nerve within his arm. Steven Matz did the same in '17. In both cases, the pitchers missed minimal time."
Before the 2020 Season Tom had Thomas Szapucki as his number #6 prospect. Mack had him as his #4 prospect. Before the 2021 Season, FANGRAPHS had Thomas as the #10 Mets Prospect. Currently Mets.com ranks him as the #20 prospect. Tom recently ranked him as the #33 Mets prospect.
For 2022, the hope is that Thomas Szapucki can pitch on a regular basis, get the innings he needs to develop consistency with all his pitches, and be able to come to Flushing at some point to help the MLB team.
When healthy, Szapucki has been very good.
Let's hope for health - and success - in 2022.
Thomas Szapucki’s Baseball Savant page: "Szapucki relies on 4 pitches. 4-Seam Fastball (64.6%) Changeup (25.6%) Curveball (6.1%) Sinker (3.7%)."
Thomas Szapucki’s FANGRAPHS page:
| Fastball | Curveball | Changeup | Command | FV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 / 55 | 60 / 60 | 40 / 45 | 40 / 45 | 40 |
Mack's Mets: Thomas Szapucki Named SAL Pitcher of the Week 6/26/17;
Standard Pitching -
2021 Pitching Splits -
Strike 3️⃣! @ThomasSzapucki gets a strikeout to end the 5th inning. #LGM pic.twitter.com/nEZSCPuZbf
— Mets Farm Report (@MetsFarmReport) March 1, 2021
.@ThomasSzapucki was sitting ‘em down last night. 🪑 pic.twitter.com/eS2M7E8l34
— Mets Farm Report (@MetsFarmReport) May 8, 2021
You Tube: Mets top prospect Thomas Szapucki could fill multiple pitching staff roles | Mets Prospective
8 comments:
Tom Szapuki has totally moved into "Show Me" status. He has averaged about 30 innings a season over the course of his career - and last year was not good. Maybe the nerve realignment surgery will unleash him. I hope so.
I still haven't given up on Pucky.
He was a top 10 player on my prospect list going back 3 years.
Mack, I wonder if he can do short relief for the Mets like fellow lefty and ex-Mets farmhand Blake Taylor has done for the Astros.
Hope he can stay healthy this next year. If and when Manfred's lockout ends the Mets may be looking at more Free Agent pitching. Szapucki's roster spot could be in jeopardy.
John, Szapucki started out with such prromise.
It is simply incredible when I look and see that he started out in 2015 and has just 6 career wins. SIX!
If I ever get back on the Szapucki fan train, I will have to buy a new ticket when I have a better sense the train is out of the maintenance shop for good.
I have him as my #10 Prospect because I don’t feel that an injury should knock him off the list but rather performance should. Now, last year was a struggle but if he is healthy and his arm strength comes back it may behoove him to be used out of the MLB bullpen in order to gain experience and then move into the starting rotation next year.
On Baseball Night in NY last night, both Jerry Blevins and Anthony Recker included him in different trade proposals. Jim Duquette seemed to like both ideas, too.
Jim Duquette has been offering up JT Ginn as well in trades. I say keep the young pitchers.
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