Recently I had the privilege of being part of a media day interview with Binghamton Rumble Ponies’ Pitcher Tyler Stuart. Tyler is the Mets’ #18 prospect in 2024. The 6’9” 250lb right hander was selected by the Mets in the sixth round of the 2022 draft out of Southern Mississippi. He started 14 games last year for the single A Brooklyn Cyclones where he went 4-0 with a 1.55 ERA before being called up to AA Binghamton. His combined 2.20 ERA was the best in the minor leagues last year among qualifying starters. Tyler was selected to pitch in the Spring Breakout Game this year and delivered a scoreless inning, throwing only eight pitches to induce three consecutive ground ball outs!
The following questions were posed by a variety of writers and news crew with Tyler’s answers documented below. Once again I offer my thanks to Jacob Wilkins and the Binghamton Rumble Ponies for making Tyler available for the interview.
Question: Coming off a big season, what have you been working in the off-season to continue that production?
Stuart: Refining my strikes definitely, trying to pitch up in the strike zone as a target that I worked on in my bullpens, stretching out the pitch count again being consistent with everything. Another thing, I added a cutter; something I am excited to use this year.
Question: What are some of the things you have talked to the organization about in terms of goals for yourself this year?
Stuart: Being consistent; I think that is the biggest thing along with adding the cutter to build upon last year’s success.
Question: I saw an interview you did earlier this year with Ernest Dove where you described trusting your stuff more and not worrying as much about the batters. Tell us more about that.
Stuart: Obviously confidence is a big thing in this game – if you don’t have confidence in yourself on the mound and trust your stuff, then no one else is going to. That’s one of the things I took away from my college coach – he told me to trust my stuff and believe in myself. It has made me better.
Question: What is the relationship between yourself and Kevin Parada and some of the other catchers?
Stuart: It is awesome. We have been talking quite a bit this spring on and off the field. It is amazing when you are on the mound and thinking you haven’t thrown your change-up in a while and the catcher is calling the same pitch. We’re just on the same page and it’s huge. I think the whole pitching staff is on the same page with him.
Question: During spring training did you spend time with Jeremy Hefner and some of the big league pitchers?
Stuart: I was over there a few times and it was awesome. I didn’t get over there last year so this was the first time. We had an awesome conversation and he instilled a lot of confidence in me. He told me what to expect out there and what to use. Like we were talking about earlier, he also told me to trust my stuff.
Question: Was there someone in the organization that was there to teach you the cutter?
Stuart: Grayson Crawford the AAA pitching coach approached me on the first day of camp in January. I had never talked to him before and he said, “Let’s go work on a cutter”. I had tried it before without success but he showed me a few things and I started to throw it and after just a few pitches it started cutting. Now I am starting to get a feel for it.
Question: How to you adjust in this first week, going from 83 degrees in St. Lucie to 38 degrees in Binghamton?
Stuart: It’s just a mindset. I am used to it – I was here last year so I knew what to expect.
Question: Last season the team made the playoffs. What did you take away from those high-leverage situations that you will carry into this year?
Stuart: Being in those moments against good hitters and knowing what to expect. The only thing that matters is to win, so we learned to handle that and compete. That incredible game against Sommerset was a great experience.
Question: How excited are you and the staff to be getting some live ABs now, ready for the season?
Stuart: We are super pumped. There is a great bunch of guys in there and we are all ready to go. We have a good vibe in there.
3 comments:
Nice interview, Paul. Stuart is very positive, and that’s good. Hoping he excels in 2024
Thank you for these Paul. Makes for fun reading.
As we get older and learn how people want to be polite and not ruffle feathers, we will always hear them say nice things about their teammates, so how much stock can we put in that? What if he said Parada sucks back there, but I have no choice but to do what I’m told? LOLLLLL. I did notice the Mets traded for a career minor league catcher and assigned him to AA. I figure it’s to tutor and be an example for Parada.
I thought it was telling that Tyler said it seemed they were all on the same page and that Parada was calling pitches that Stuart wanted to throw. That's more than just a "he's a good guy" statement - I have noticed that there seems to be a tremendous connection between these young pitchers and it extends to the full battery. It has come up in other interviews as well.
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