In exchange for Addison Reed, the New York Mets have obtained Boston Red Sox minor league relievers Stephen Nogosek, Jamie Callahan, and Gerson Bautista.
RHP Stephen Nogosek
Ht: 6’2″ Wt: 205 lb Level: South Atlantic League (A)
B/T: R/R Age: 1/11/95 (22) Age Dif: 0.1
Acquired by Red Sox: 2016 sixth round draft pick out of the University of Oregon
MLB Pipeline Rank: 18
2017 Stats: 2-3, 2.55 ERA, 23 G, 13 SV, 35.1 IP, 0.991 WHIP, 11.5 K/9
Profile: Nogosek is a max effort reliever who uses a quick burst towards home plate while delivering a pitch. It’s one of those things where you would never teach anyone how to pitch this way, but it works for him. It works because it is startling to see a reliever almost jumping towards you, and it helps him somewhat hide his pitches. That’s important for a pitcher with a 3/4 delivery.
Nogosek’s tw0-seam fastball sits in the low to mid 90s, and it gets late sink. When batters do make contact, it is generally a ground ball as evidenced by his 2.10 ground ball/fly ball ratio in the Sally League last year. It should be noted, batters have had an easier time lifting the ball this year with that ratio now down to 0.69 this year. In addition to the two-seamer, Nogosek does have a four-seamer that can get as high as 96 MPH. The issue is the pitch is straight as a pin.
Nogosek combines his fastball with a slider/cutter and a change. Nogosek is able to throw that slider/cutter in the upper 80s, and he is able to generate a number of swings and misses with the pitch. At this point, the change-up does nothing more than present a change of pace. It’s not a swing and miss pitch, and it’s not a pitch that has enough movement to generate a number of outs.
Overall, Nogosek has a live arm, but he is still having some control issues as evidenced by his 5.8 walks per nine in the Carolina League and his 3.5 walks per nine in his minor league career. If he was ever able to control these pitchers, he promises to be a fast riser in the Mets system.
RHP Jamie Callahan
Ht: 6’2″ Wt: 230 lb Level: Independent League (AAA) & Eastern League (AA)
B/T: R/R Age: 8/24/94 (22) Age Dif: -4.5 (AAA)
Acquried by Red Sox: 2012 second round draft pick out of Dillon High School (Dillon, SC)
MLB Pipeline Rank: 23
2017 Stats: 5-2, 3.21 ERA, 32 G, 6 SV, 42.0 IP, 1.167 WHIP, 12.0 K/9
Profile: Once a starting pitching prospect, Callahan moved to the bullpen as a result of his inability to truly develop a breaking pitch. With that, he moved to the bullpen in 2015 where he could focus on his fastball, cutter, and splitter.
With Callahan moving to the bullpen his velocity which once sat in the low 90s has progressively moved towards the mid to upper 90s. Generally speaking, he will sit in the mid 90s with him being able to amp it up to 97 or 98 MPH. The main issue for his fastball is it is somewhat straight.
As a result, he would be better served using his cutter which he can throw in the upper 80s. When batters make contact with the pitch, it is generally weaker contact.
In addition to the fastball and cutter, Callahan has a very good splitter. In his career, this has shown itself to be his real strikeout pitch, and it is a weapon against right-handed and left-handed batters.
The one thing to keep an eye on Callahan is control. With his move to the bullpen, he had seemed to quiet those issues. However, after his promotion to Triple-A those issues have re-surfaced with him walking 4.0 batters per nine in 28.0 innings pitched.
RHP Gerson Bautista
Ht: 6’2″ Wt: 170 lb Level: Carolina League (A)
B/T: R/R Age: 5/31/95 (22) Age Dif: -0.8
Acquired by Red Sox: Signed as International Free Agent out of Dominican Republic on 4/1/13 ($350,000 bonus)
MLB Pipeline Rank: 28
2017 Stats: 3-2, 5.16 ERA, 27 G, 4 SV, 45.1 IP, 1.809 WHIP, 10.5 K/9
Profile: Bautista is a big arm that has yet to be harnessed. He’s got a live fastball that shows good movement and sits in the upper 90s. At times, he is able to throw his fastball 100 MPH.
Bautista combines the fastball with a slider and a change. The slider sits in the upper 80s, but it is not a reliable pitch as of yet. Bautista is all over the pitch in terms of both location and effectiveness. Once he learns to repeat his delivery on the pitch, he could very well use it as an out pitch due to its movement when thrown properly. The change isn’t much of a pitch at this point, and it remains possible he scraps the pitch while focusing on his mechanics for his fastball and slider.
Like the aforementioned pitchers, Bautista has control issues as evidenced by his walking 5.6 per nine this year and 4.1 in his minor league career. Unolike the other two, Bautista has previously been suspended for PED use. He was suspended in 2013 after testing positive for Stanozolol.
I wasn’t in love with getting three lottery tickets, but with Sandy exhausting almost every hour to get his best deal, we need to accept this return. However, I found myself wondering if the Pirates didn’t do better with Tony Watson from Dem Bums out west.
The guys Pit got for Watson are no less lottery tickets than the guys Sandy got.
Callahan’s AAA numbers may look iffy at first. But he’s been getting better as he’s gone along and has been pitching great lately. He’s 22, throws 95, strikes out 10.5/9 and already pitching well in AAA. The other two are further away. But let’s see what Phil Regan and Chad Kreuter can do for them.
FYI– Under Jamie Callahan it says “Independent League-AAA”. That should be “International League”, right? Minor point… Good article!
Throwing 95 doesn’t impress me anymore. A million guys throw that hard. Its kinda like a prerequisite. But It’s not a put-away pitch unless it’s spotted.
I guess this is the best Sandy could do…so we can hope that one of them will emerge and be a decent ML reliever.
I think his K rate strongly indicates that he IS putting away batters. So I’m not sure what you’r point is. That generic point about 95 is something we all already know, and it wasn’t the crux of my statement.
The fact that he’s already in AAA at the age of 22 (after a VERY successful minor league career to this point), the fact that he is K rate shows that he IS putting away batters also play into the assessment. Oh, and i mistakenly understated his K rate anyway: its been 11.17/9 at AAA this year, and its been 12.5/9 over the past five weeks…. during which time he’s also posted a 2.51 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP.
He’s not getting hit, he’s not walking many, he’s not giving up many runs. At AAA at the age of 22. I’m sure there’ll be an adjustment period as he moves over to the PCL and his numbers might get worse for a bit. But he’s already demonstrated the ability to make adjustments with the improvement he’s shown this year.