Nathan Jones (Jacob Resnick/Mets Minors)
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — In previous years, the Mets have made their recently-drafted pitchers wait two, sometimes two-and-a-half weeks before making their professional debuts. The regimented schedule, perfected by former minor league pitching coordinator Ron Romanick, involved flat-ground throwing and bullpen side-sessions for players coming off the long college season and culminated in a debut for a team that had already played 10-to-14 games.
For Nathan Jones, the Mets’ 2019 fifth-round selection, three days of waiting to pitch was enough.
The right-handed starter welcomed himself to Brooklyn with two strong innings in his first outing as a pro on Monday, striking out five and allowing just a walk in the Cyclones’ 4-to-1 win over the Aberdeen Ironbirds.
“Since I got here I’ve been itching to get in,” said Jones, who arrived on Coney Island after completing four years at Northwestern State University in Louisiana. “I just treated today like any other day, like I’ve done in college.”
With new faces calling the shots, a change in the organizational philosophy on easing the fledgling arms into professional baseball has put them on a program that allows them to get into games sooner than in years past. Once in games, pitchers are throwing in shorter stints, with the team favoring strict one-to-two-inning acclimation outings over longer, more demanding appearances that are predicated on a certain pitch count.
The Cyclones didn’t use a 2018 draftee until the ninth game of last season (even then, only Kevin Smith pitched until the 15th game, when Tylor Megill debuted), and it similarly took 10 games in 2017. Through four games in 2019, however, Brooklyn has already used five pitchers from this year’s crop.
“In the last couple of years, we had a completely different progression for those guys,” said pitching coach Josue Matos. “Now our coordinator [Jeremy Accardo] progressed them in a way that we can put them in a game in a week or so, and we’ve seen the results of it. New program, same results.”
So far, it’s difficult to tell who has professional experience and who doesn’t on the Brooklyn staff. The five draftees — Jones, Andrew Edwards (31st round), Justin Lasko (30th), Mitch Ragan (15th), and Dan Goggin (17th) — have combined for 5.1 scoreless innings to help Brooklyn jump out to a 3-1 start.
“I think it’s better for the guys because it teaches them how to compete and come into tough situations,” manager Edgardo Alfonzo said. “Before, you just had to wait until they got killed [on the mound] or threw however many pitches they had to in order to take them out. Now it seems like it’s more competitive for the team, and much better for us this year.”
It was an impressive pro debut for @natejones09 with five strikeouts over his 2.0 innings. #GrillEm. #AmazinStartsHere pic.twitter.com/XXGAD6GxHs
— Brooklyn Cyclones (@BKCyclones) June 18, 2019
It was just a brief appearance, but Jones played the part on Monday. He used his pitches effectively, putting a little on and taking a little off when need be. His fastball, which sat at 94 mph, helped him record swinging or called strikes on 36 percent of his total pitches.
“I was just excited, man, just happy to be here,” Jones said. “I wish I could have gone longer but I was happy with how it went.”
Historically, the Cyclones have never lacked strong pitching. Typically, however, the electric arms belong to players who bring prior experience in the organization to Brooklyn. With a new program in place, the newbies are making an impact from the get-go, and that’s a roller coaster that the ‘Clones will gladly ride for the remainder of the season.
