23. Domingo Tapia, RHP
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 186
DOB: 12/16/1991 (Age: 21)
Bats/Throws: Right/Right
Fastball: 60/65+ Change-up: 50/60 Slider: 40/50 Control: 45/50 Makeup: 50/55
2013 was a weird year for Tapia, I’ll have to admit. After that burned hand incident that could only happen to a Mets prospect, he seemed like he had issues getting himself together. He started the year pretty hot, however, with five of his first seven starts lasting for at least six innings and he allowed no more than three earned runs in each. He finished the year with a 4.54 ERA in 103.0 innings.
I’ve always liked Tapia’s fastball because it’s electric — it touches the high nineties and I think it might be one of the best if not the best in the system. His change-up is actually pretty solid, and even though it clocks in at the high eighties, it’s a nice difference off his heater. His slider, as always, will define his level of success down the line.
Outlook: I’d like to think that Tapia’s 2013 season gets a mulligan, right? He is a lot better than the stats show, and most people would agree. I think he’s going to be given another year to try and start, so we’ll see what happens after that.
MMN Top 40 Prospects
(Photo Credit: Gordon Donovan)
65+ on his fastball? That is ridiculous. Should be a 65/75 or 70/80. His fastball is THE best in the Mets system command aside.
There’s maybe 1 or 2 80-grade fastballs in all of baseball right now. You can’t just throw 80’s around. They’re special. Is Tapia’s fastball a very good, and promising pitch? Sure. But he would have dominated High-A with a 70 fastball this year and he didn’t.
Very interested to see if Tapia can bounce back in 2014. The good news is that the floor of dominant reliever still will really help the big league team. However, it’s the continued development of secondary offerings that we need to see because this upside remains ridiculously good…still.
1 or 2 80 grade fastballs in the majors? Uh….no. Harvey, Strasburg, Fernandez(maybe 75 but still pretty close), Cole, Verlander(end of the year), plus a TON of relievers.
Tapia sits 96-98 with the four seamer and 94-96 or so with the two seamer. Velocity and movement of the pitch make it elite.
And no…you can’t dominate with one pitch as a starter. This isn’t 1920 and Walter Johnson. No matter how good that pitch is. Major League hitters can time a fastball if they know it is coming. Tapia’s breaking ball is substandard and his command is haywire which is why he didn’t dominate despite his heavy fastball. But it does explain why he was still hard to hit. The velocity and movement of his fastball make it extremely tough to square up but the strikeouts will not come unless he improves his command and breaking ball.
Give me a list of any scout/source/talent evaluator who would put a future grade of 65 on Tapia fastball(without factoring in command)
You’re missing the whole point. You can’t throw away command. When grading a pitch you have to incorporate command. The idea that you’re trying to put Tapia’s fastball in the same class as the pitchers you mentioned is obscene.
And you said it yourself, “Major League hitters” can time a fastball. A-ballers are not Major Leaguers. What, 5% of them will make the majors??
Umm…they have a category for command you know. It would save you a lot of trouble in arguments like this one if you incorporated that. Then you grade pitches solely based on the pitch itself
He’s young and could have a 70 fastball. Time will tell if he can get the control down.