11. Jacob deGrom, RHP
Height: 6’4
Weight: 185
DOB: 6/19/1988 (Age: 25)
Bats/Throws: Left/Right
Four-seam: 60/60 Sinker: 50/60 Curveball: 40/50 Changeup: 35/45 Command: 45/50
After a breakout 2012 campaign that put deGrom on the radar in the prospect world, 2013 saw him take a slight step back. That’s not to say it was all bad, but many were expecting bigger things and instead got what appeared to be another developmental season. Starting the season in High-A, the Florida native would be sent to Double-A Binghamton after two impressive starts for St.Lucie. The big right-hander would get off to a great start Double-A, pitching eight dominant innings in his B-Mets debut. He would allow just one earned run and strike out eight batters in the losing effort. After that deGrom hit a rough patch. Jacob would pitch to a 5.77 ERA in 34.1 innings in May, earning himself a 1-3 record for the month. However he wouldn’t stay down for long and would rebound with a great month of June, winning two games and posting a paltry 1.72 ERA. In the midst of his stellar June deGrom would earn himself another promotion– this time to the hitters paradise of the PCL as he would join Las Vegas. He would remain in Vegas for the rest of the season and pitch fairly well. Although the numbers won’t jump out at you, when you consider the league and environment it’s hard not to come away impressed. In 75 innings the former 9th round pick had a 4.52 ERA and struck out 7.49 batters per nine innings while sporting a walk rate of 2.85.
On the mound deGrom features two above-average fastballs, a four-seamer that sits 92-94 and touches 96, and a sinker with good downward plane that induces weak contact. His secondary offerings are behind the fastball developmentally, and will be the key to his future role in the majors. Early in the season deGrom experimented with a slider that showed some promise, but was far too inconsistent. He switched back to a curveball around the time he turned it around in June. It’s a tighter pitch that he commands better but isn’t major-league ready. He also throws a change that may develop into a solid-average pitch.
Outlook: Although deGrom is a bit on the old side for a prospect, it’s important to note that he’s relatively new to pitching. Jacob played shortstop in college until his junior year. So he’s still in the infancy stages of learning his craft. That’s what makes him intriguing, but also hard to judge. There may be a big jump in development that sees his command improve as well as a tick-up in his secondary offerings. If that doesn’t happen I think you still have a major-league pitcher on your hands, probably as a late-inning reliever.
MMN Top 40 Prospects
(Photo credit: MILB.com & ESPN.com)
Kirk, although I agree with your list much more than the MMO list, where is den Dekker? He’s not top 40? And with ten spots left, I still see twelve names: Black, Herrera, Smith, Plawecki, Nimmo, Rosario, Puello, Flores, Montero, Syndergaard, d’Arnaud, and Checcini. What happened here?
What happened to my comment?
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Sorry TexasGusCC, we updated our comments to this new format and apparently it didn’t carry over any of the comments. But moving forward the comment experience will be much better. Thanks for the Feed back and look forward to more of your comments on our posts.
“After a breakout 2012 campaign that put deGrom on the radar in the prospect world, 2013 saw him take a slight step back.”
The guy started the year in A-ball and ended it holding his own in AAA. How is that taking a step back?