Last week, Baseball America ranked Jacob deGrom #10 on the Mets Organizational Prospect List. This was surprising to some, including me, with players like Cesar Puello and Steven Matz around to rank on the list. I think they got snubbed in favor of Gavin Cecchini and Brandon Nimmo, but hey, that’s just me…
I can understand the argument for deGrom based on how close he is, however — and it’s not like he just randomly appeared on a prospect list. DeGrom has consistently ended up on Top-20 Mets lists because of a pretty solid arsenal. He throws a four-seam fastball that ranges from 91-94 MPH for the most part , a two-seam with decent sink, a curveball/slider breaking pitch, and an average change-up. The breaking pitch is a point of confusion for me at times — I’ve seen him throw both but he favored the curveball a lot more later in the year. It seemed to bring him more success.
His future role right now is borderline because I don’t know if he’ll make it as a starter but I’m fairly certain he’ll pitch in the majors in some. Again, it is the role that is undetermined: a late-inning bullpen guy or a back-end of the rotation starter. He finished 2013 with a 4.51 ERA across mainly two levels (Triple-A and Double-A), although he did make two starts for St. Lucie.
Although he’ll be competing for a job on the MLB roster when Spring Training hits, he’s going to be run up against some tough competition in Jeff Walters, Jack Leathersich, Jeurys Familia, Josh Edgin…you know the usual suspects by now. In addition, he might be better served pitching in Triple-A as a starter to see where it takes him. I wouldn’t count him out.
(Photo Credit: Gordon Donovan)
Satish, the only explanation for not including Cesar Puello on a top Met prospect list is never having seen him play. This kid is impressive. His entire approach is business like and focused. I’ve been told by those who should know that he works tirelessly in weight room. I’ve been watching Binghamton games for several years and we haven’t had a guy like Puello go through in a long, long time. I bring friends who pull for other teams when their Double-A franchise is in town and they just rave about Puello. One who spend a lot of time watching minor league games in Norfolk said he’s never seen any minor league player like Puello. if he learns to consistently hit the breaking pitch, and he improved a great deal on this last season, look out.
Open Mouth, insert foot
Jesus Christ this was wrong