Mike Vasil, RHP

B/T: R/R  Ht: 6’5  Wt: 225 LB
Age: March 19, 2000 (21 years old)
Acquired: Mets 2021 8th round draft pick (Virginia)
2021 Stats (FCL): 0-0, 1.29 ERA, 3 G, 3 GS, 7,.0 IP, 0.429 WHIP, 0 BB, 10K

It’s hard not to love the value the Mets amateur scouting team got when they landed the University of Virginia’s (UVA) Mike Vasil with their 8th round selection. Vasil, the former highly-ranked prepster from Massachusetts who eschewed a potentially high selection in the 2018 draft to matriculate at UVA, fell to the Mets this far down the pecking order due to a three year stretch that included difficulty missing bats and a dip in velocity (not an uncommon occurrence at the program in recent years).

Look, do you want to see performance in all young draftees you bring in? Of course, but you also want to see tools, projectability, and intangibles that could allow a player to thrive one day in the major leagues. Players with all of this are often gone in the first few rounds, and truly great scouting departments are able to evaluate properly, which missing ingredients need to arrive in professional baseball, and the chances that enough of those ingredients can one day actualize.

This is where the Mets have made great hay in recent years with later round selections. Who else was a recent Mets eighth round selection besides Vasil, who likewise had an uneven track-record pitching in college?

That would Tylor Megill in 2018.

So let’s put aside the back of the D1 baseball card for Vasil, and look at what’s here now, and what may arrive. From the looks of him at the Mets complex after signing, his arrival may be occurring as we speak.

Mets 8th round pick Mike Vasil made his second pro appearance in the FCL today:

3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K

Fastball topped out at 97

— Michael Mayer (@mikemayer22) September 11, 2021

Oh, hello velo!

Vasil showed some 95 mph at Virginia, but was mostly 90-92 mph. Along with pro instruction and training, his history of better velocity in high school was a great harbinger of a rebound, and it looks like that took pretty quickly. Of course, Vasil will look to sustain more mid-90s heat as he starts his first full season in High-A Brooklyn next year.

Seen below, Vasil has a very smooth, athletic delivery for his tall, durable build. He also shows a very quick arm from a 3/4 slot. You can see there is a diverse repertoire here with a slider that seems to have significant gyroscopic action and drop thrown around 78 mph and a changeup with solid arm-side run.

one 2021 Draft arm I’m watching closely this year is Mike Vasil, a projected 1st rounder in 2018 who fulfilled his commitment to UVA

disappointing freshman year took him somewhat off the radar but he’s starting to look like a Day 1 guy again

9 K’s vs. Florida State on Sunday: pic.twitter.com/qhTXldlY2C

— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) March 9, 2021

So in actuality, with the hint of a velocity pop, Vasil suddenly has a starter’s build and ease of mound operation, feel for a couple of secondaries, and a reason to project solid average command with further reps and instruction. That’s what I call a really good later round pick.

Even with the higher velocity band that Vasil enjoyed before his days at Virginia hopefully re-emerging, Vasil will still need to progress in order to profile as a major league starting pitcher. He will likely look to work with Mets field instructors and pitching analysts to hone an emergent secondary offering that can miss bats at the highest level. His slider can use more power and/or sweep, and will likely be a main target of development.

But that’s what this is all about, and I for one, cannot wait to see the Mets and Vasil get to work.