An honor that has been bestowed upon Matthew Bowman more than once this season, Kingsport starting pitcher Robert Whalen has been named the National League MiLB under the radar pitcher of the week by MLB Depth Charts. Whalen’s start against Johnson City last night didn’t go very well (3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 4 BB, 3 Ks), but he earned this distinction for the week of June 21st through the 27th.

During that time, Whalen took to the mound twice, and performed very well despite having an 0-1 record. In those two starts, the right-hander allowed one run on eight hits, one walk, and 14 strikeouts in 11.1 innings pitched. Whalen is originally from Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and already was a big Mets fan before New York drafted him in the 12th round of last year’s MLB draft out of Haines City High School in Florida.

The 19-year-old only threw one inning for Kingsport in 2012, and has the opportunity to be a starter all season this year. While Jim Brown of MLB Depth Charts says Whalen doesn’t have much projection moving forward, the hurler says his good work ethic will help him move through the system quickly. Throwing from a 3/4 arm slot, the righty is already touching the low-90s, and apparently vows to have control of three or four pitches by the time he’s ready for the majors. Looks like someone doesn’t want to be a relief pitcher.

Brown gives credit to Savannah pitching coach, Frank Viola, who has helped the Mets organization multiply their young pitching prospects by the time young hurlers leave the South Atlantic League. Brown is anticipating we’ll see a lot of growth from Whalen once he becomes a Sand Gnat.

Congratulations to Robert on this wonderful accomplishment! It’s nice to get recognized for your performance in the first two starts of your professional career. Definitely gets things off to a good start. Let’s hope there is plenty more of this to come in the near and distant future.