Logan Verrett was recently given the honor of “Best Slider” in the Best Tools section of Baseball America’s ranking of the Mets system. The 23-year old finished the 2013 season with a 4.25 ERA in 146.0 innings. He won 12 games and struck out 132 batters over that span. He finished the year with opposing hitters posting just a .249 clip against him — even though he struggled as the year went along. His best month was in April, where he had arguably the best month of any Mets pitcher: A 4-0 record with a 2.48 ERA over 32.0 innings. Opposing players hit just .196 against him in that month and he was absolutely dominant.
I find myself naturally appreciating guys like Verrett — who aren’t naturally gifted with a 98 MPH fastball but still find ways to succeed. That’s the kind of stuff that makes pitching an art form — and ever so attractive to someone like me. Verrett’s repertoire consists of his fastball, both two-seam and four-seam, a slider, curve ball and change-up. His command is solid, and thus he can throw any of those pitches for a strike in any count.
In an interview with one of our writers, Xtreemicon, early in the year, Pedro Lopez said this about Verrett: “He’s aggressive with all his pitches. He’s not afraid of contact and as a starting pitcher, when you do that, you find yourself pitching deep into ballgames. He’s been able to pitch deep into games just because he goes after hitters. That’s what he does best. He goes after hitters and he puts it in play early.”
With such a plethora of pitchers in our organization that all have the potential to succeed, we sometimes overlook potential solid pieces like Verrett. I was glad to see him noted as having the best slider — he deserves it. He’ll take his talents to Triple-A Las Vegas next year and perhaps see some time with the Mets out of the pen late in the year. We only wish him the best of luck here at MMN.
(Photo Credit: Gordon Donovan)
http://metsmerizedonline.com/2013/05/logan-verrett-talks-about-his-road-to-the-show-with-mmo.html
I watched Logan pitch at least a half dozen times this summer. He has a huge upside. Logan has remarkable control. Not only did he strike out 132 batters, but he only walked 31. I love his approach. He works very quickly on the mound, a huge asset for his fielders. His delivery is tight and concise without expending extra energy. From the full windup, his feet actually face the third base on-deck circle in NYSEG Stadium, with his left foot a whisker in front of the pitching rubber, unusual for a right-handed pitcher. Logan shows great poise on the mound. He rarely gets rattled when things are not going his way, continuing to follow the script as he had planned it.
Guys like Logan Cory Mazzoni, and Darin Gorski flew a bit under the radar in Binghamton this summer, but each had outstanding campaigns for different reasons. Mazzoni is a power pitcher with a great upside. He often suffered the from the ‘one-big-inning-syndrome. Even so, he was impressive.
Maybe a homegrown Turk Wendell without the antics ?
In any case, agreed that some arms like Verrett, Mazzoni, Bowman and others who would have been easy Top 10 in the system candidates a few years ago tend to get overlooked with the enormous depth of other, higher upside arms around.
Kevin Mulvey used to be the Mets # 5 prospect or so 6 years or so ago – and Mazzoni & Verrett have very similar profiles – hopefully with better results.