Sandy Alderson was interviewed by Mike Francesa of WFAN at Citi Field, and had quite a bit to say about the Mets moving forward. The most polarizing quote was him stating that “better days are ahead.” Man, I hope he’s right.
The Mets general manager spoke with Francesa for quite a while, touching upon numerous topics. One of the things they discussed was possible September call-ups for certain minor league pitchers. While Sandy said it would be unlikely to see either Rafael Montero or Noah Syndergaard on the big league squad this fall, but Jacob deGrom may get a chance to make his big league debut before the 2013 season comes to a close.
What a season this could be for Jacob deGrom, huh? After a strong showing in High-A at the end of last season, he thought he’d start this season in Binghamton. By the time camp was over, he found out he’d be headed back to St. Lucie, but was quickly promoted to Doulble-A. He struggled for a stretch of time, but was pitching well when he was called up to Triple-A. He was called up because Wally Backman‘s rotation was decimated between promotions and trades to Zack Wheeler, Carlos Torres, and Collin McHugh. His time in Vegas was originally planned to be a spot start or two, but he’s pitched so well that he’s forced the organization to keep him right where he is.
In five Pacific Coast League starts (29.2 innings pitched) deGrom is 2-1 with a 3.03 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 24 strikeouts, and nine walks. If he does get promoted to the big leagues when rosters expand on September 1st, he would make the jump from High-A all the way to the majors in just a matter of months. It would make for a good story come the end of the season, that’s for sure.
Alderson cited innings limits for both Montero and Syndergaard preventing them from getting called up in September, and there is also no urgent need to add them to the 40-man roster.
With regard to Montero, he’s currently sitting at 99.2 innings pitched between Binghamton and Las Vegas this season. Upon signing with the organization in January of 2011, we’ve seen the right-hander quickly rise from the Dominican Summer League to now being just one step away from the majors in Triple-A. Over his minor league career, Montero’s highest workload came last season when he split time with Savannah and St. Lucie. That was 122 innings pitched. One would think his limit has to be in the ballpark (no pun intended) of 150 innings.
As for Syndergaard, his largest workload also came last season, which was 103.2 innings pitched with Single-A Lansing in the Blue Jays Organization. He’s split time with St. Lucie and Binghamton, and entering his start today, the hard-throwing right-hander has tallied 83.2 innings pitched. So, like Montero, one would imagine Noah’s 2013 innings limit will be approximately 30 innings above last year’s amount, which would put him in the range of 130 innings.
After following deGrom for most of the season and getting to know his background a little more, I’m really rooting for him to get promoted in September, especially if he continues performing like he has been in the PCL.