As the calendar month approaches June in the coming days, we will start to hear intel leak out about some of the names being bandied about for each team. Last Wednesday, MLB.com’s Jim Callis tweeted that his sources seem to be connecting the Mets heavily to pitching with their first pick of the draft.

I've heard mostly pitchers with the @Mets … Jobe, Wake Forest RHP Ryan Cusick, Texas RHP Ty Madden. #DraftTop200 https://t.co/k67R8NpXPW

— Jim Callis (@jimcallisMLB) May 19, 2021

While the connection to Jackson Jobe, the buzzworthy prep arm out of Oklahoma, is head-turning on it’s face, and we already took a look at Ryan Cusick and his premier fastball earlier this spring, taking a good hard look at Ty Madden is clearly warranted, not only because the Mets seem to be doing just that, but because it makes all the sense in the world. In fact, Baseball America released their updated mock draft on Monday and placed Madden with the Mets. There definitely seems to be something there there.

The 21-year-old right-handed pitcher has spent the past three seasons for the Texas Longhorns steadily enhancing his draft prospects ever since he declined to sign as the Royals 38th round pick out of high school in 2018. That has culminated this spring, as Madden has excelled to the tune of a 2.66 ERA in 88 innings, with an impressive 103/31 K/BB ratio.

Taking a quick look under the hood, and what you keep hearing and seeing with the ideally framed 6’3″ 215 lb Madden is that he has an MLB mid-rotation starter’s tool kit.

To go with a build that traditional scouting departments project to handle a starting pitcher’s workload, Madden also possesses an athletic and mechanically sound delivery. While his “tall and fall” mechanics and over-the-top slot grant him a steep approach angle and mediocre extension, Madden repeats his delivery easily, and his steadily improving walk rates are bearing out a projection for solid-average command.

Which brings us to his repertoire. While Madden has most recently been sitting 93-96 mph with his four seamer this spring, he has been touching the upper 90’s. Yet, due to the movement profile and his aforementioned delivery, there are questions about how dominant that velocity will play at the big league level.

Most front offices nowadays are coveting a very specific type of fastball, specifically one that backspins on a vertical axis and is leaving the pitcher’s hand from a lower release height. This combination gives hitters the impression of a flat approach angle of the pitch, and when thrown in the mid to upper 90’s towards the top of the strike zone, this has proven to be the holy grail for missing the bat path of todays hitters entirely.

As previously referenced, Madden’s height and mechanics lend him a steep approach angle in this regard, and so along with the fact that he releases his four seamer with significant cut and subsequently modest vertical movement or carry, his fastball doesn’t have the secondary traits beyond velocity that would encourage one in this regard.

But even with the 10th pick in the draft, one has to expect that Madden would not be regarded as a finished product, and the Mets new minor league pitching development program could potentially look to tweak Madden’s fastball from it’s current state.

If Madden could eliminate some of the gyroscopic spin or “cut” on his four seamer, Madden’s very vertical arm slot should help convert any gained active spin into vertical carry that will miss bats. Even though Madden’s steep approach angle is not ideal for this style of pitching, it shouldn’t be outright dismissed. The Mets’ Sam McWilliams has been making an attempt to find success this way, and some of the most progressive clubs in regards to pitching were reportedly interested.

Conversely, should Madden lean into his steep approach angle’s benefits, he could start throwing a two-seamer, which could potentially enable him to get sink and running action on the pitch, which could make him very effective vis-a-vis the ground ball. Noah Syndergaard would be an excellent example of a pitcher with a very steep approach angle who employs both two and four seam fastballs in these different regards. In any case, on sheer velocity and command alone, Madden’s fastball shows future potential at being an above average major league offering. Take a look below at Madden in action, and you’ll get a sense of these variables

Really though, the pitch that might set Madden apart, and might very well be his best major league offering, is his slider. Featuring all of the breaking ball properties that are in vogue, Madden’s slider is thrown hard (comfortably sitting in the mid 80’s) and with significant gyroscopic spin, helping it break late, with primarily vertical movement that tunnels well off of the fastball. Given the less favorable secondary traits on the fastball, Madden’s slider could be the big feature here that entices an organization with some new, progressive-leaning voices such as the Mets.

Rounding out Madden’s repertoire is a decent get-it-over-for-strike-one curveball and a changeup that is far behind in it’s development compared to his breaking pitches, as Madden lacks feel to locate and doesn’t get much arm-side fade. However, according to Lookout Landing and Prospects Live’s Joe Doyle, he does show the ability to kill spin on the cambio, which shows for potential future ability to kill lift and induce tumbling action. This will clearly be an area of focus during Madden’s pro-development, and we should note that the current Mets pitching development regime under Ricky Meinhold reportedly had great success helping Matt Allan hone his changeup at the 2020 alternate site.

So, synthesizing all of this together, do the Mets ultimately feel that Ty Madden is worth allocating the 10th overall pick in the draft?

I’ve waffled on it at first, with the little progressive analyst on one shoulder (I’m not sure if he’s dressed in white or red, I’ll just leave that to the eye of the beholder) tsssk’ing about the current shape of his fastball.

On the other shoulder, the traditional scout and even the computerized draft model found lots of agreement though. Madden’s strong performance this year at a top college program, his size and frame, and present stuff all rate highly in each of their books as a strong candidate to pitch in a big league rotation one day. If the Mets go on the clock with the 10th pick, and if there is agreement in the draft room on that assessment, doesn’t that make it completely sensible that Ty Madden’s name get called to don the orange and blue?

I think it does. And I think, it just might play out that way.