Photo by Ed Delany, MMN

Tim Healey of Newsday reports LHP Thomas Szapucki will not participate in the Arizona Fall League as had been previously scheduled. According to Healey’s team source, the Mets made the decision with the intent of “going to give his arm a rest for a little while.”

Szapucki, 23, had Tommy John surgery on July 19, 2017. Entering that season, Szapucki was regarded by Baseball Prospectus as the 69th best prospect in the game, and Keith Law of ESPN ranked him as the 60th best prospect. He fell off those lists after the season, and he has not re-emerged.

The Mets have taken it easy with Szapucki all season long. During the season, Szapucki pitched more than five innings just once, and he only reached the 80 pitch plateau once all season. That was in his last start of the season. After that, Szapucki was placed on the Injured List. There was no reason given for his being placed on the Injured List.

While that was his first official stint on the Injured List, it should be noted Szapucki was reassigned to Brooklyn on April 15 after he had made just two starts. There was the first of two reassignments to Brooklyn before their season began. That meant there were two periods where he was not pitching in a competitive game.

Overall, Szapucki made 18 starts and three relief appearances between Columbia, St. Lucie, and Binghamton. He was 1-3 with a 2.68 ERA, 1.216 WHIP, 3.8 BB/9, and a 10.5 K/9. He did finish the season strong going 0-1 with a 1.20 ERA striking out 12 and walking five while averaging five innings per start.

Szapucki landing on the Injured List at the end of the year and his now not participating in the Arizona Fall League means the Mets are not going to get another look at him before they need to make a decision on whether they want to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.