With the 2013 MLB draft set to take place tomorrow, I thought it would be nice to take a look back and see which notable Mets players were drafted on today’s date. The draft is always a special day to think about the future; we could watch our favorite team select the next David Wright or Matt Harvey. We hope tomorrow could bring the Mets a special player, but it doesn’t always work out that way.
The draft usually takes place within the first week in June, so there is plenty of overlap with current and former Mets. A big thanks to the Ultimate Mets Database for giving us a daily dosage of Mets history, and putting it all on one page.
Here are some of the players New York drafted on this date throughout the years, including their statistics with the Amazins in the big leagues:
Buzz Capra: 27th round of 1969 draft
5-10 record, 4.49 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 100.1 innings pitched
Lee Mazzilli: 1st round (14th overall) of 1973 draft
.264/.357/.396, 68 home runs, 353 RBIs, 979 games played
Ron Gardenhire: 6th round of 1979 draft
.232/.296/.277, 4 home runs, 49 RBIs, 285 games played
Butch Huskey: 7th round of 1989 draft
.264/.306/.434, 55 home runs, 214 RBIs, 414 games played
Aaron Heilman: 1st round (18th overall) of 2001 draft
22-33 record, 4.24 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 450.1 innings pitched
David Wright: 1st round (38th overall) of 2001 draft
.300/.381/.504, 211 home runs, 848 RBIs, 1,317 games played (he’s also the man)
Ike Davis: 1st round (18th overall) of 2008 draft
.240/.324/.435, 63 home runs, 202 RBIs, 391 games played
Kirk Nieuwenhuis: 3rd round of 2008 draft
.245/.308/.366, 7 home runs, 29 RBIs, 104 games played
Josh Satin: 6th round of 2008 draft
.192/.250/.231, 0 home runs, 2 RBIs, 16 games played
Chris Schwinden: 22nd round of 2008 draft
0-3 record, 6.98 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 29.2 innings pitched
It can be so hard for a ballplayer to make it all the way to the majors once he’s drafted, but it’s nice to see players like Wright and Davis (although he’s still struggling) with the big league team, while Nieuwenhuis, Satin, and Schwinden are all in Triple-A. Let’s hope the Mets use the picks they have to draft a player that will make an impact in Flushing within the next few years!