Ryder Ryan/Photo by Ed Delany
When the Mets traded Jay Bruce for right-handed relief prospect Ryder Ryan, there were groans among the fan base for the team selling short on a 30 homer right fielder. When the Mets signed Bruce this offseason, many joked about Sandy Alderson’s genius at play with his having both Bruce and Ryan on the same team. If you followed Ryan’s performance, he was much more than a punchline.
After the Mets obtained Ryan, he seemed to take off, and partially as a result of his terrific run with the Columbia Fireflies, MiLB.com named the 22-year-old power arm as the Mets “2018 Under-the-Radar Prospect.” In selecting Ryan as such, the MiLB staff wrote:
In eight relief appearances with Columbia, Ryan amassed a 2.08 ERA with six saves, 13 strikeouts and five walks over 13 innings. His first appearance for the Fireflies was the last in which he surrendered a run and the next outing marked the final one in which he’d allow a hit. Ryan finished the season with nine hitless frames, striking out 10 over that span.
Really, Ryan was a much different pitcher in the Mets organization than the one he was in the Indians organization. He made a few small delivery tweaks and was hitting 96/97 mph in Columbia. He also showed off a slider in the mid-80’s that was sharp at times, and more consistent than earlier in the season.
As previously written by MMN, Ryan is not a typical 30th round draft pick. Despite many believing he was best suited to pitching, he resisted those calls, and instead, he chose to focus on playing third base. As a result, he enrolled at North Carolina. He only made one pitching appearance in his career at UNC. Despite that the Indians were intrigued enough to draft him in the 30th round.
The pitcher the Indians had was raw. That was even with his lineage with his father Sean Ryan making it all the way to Triple-A in the Phillies organization, and his uncle Jason Ryan pitching two years in the majors. His lineage showed some of the reason why he had natural ability, but ultimately, he was raw because he never solely focused on pitching.
Once signed by the Indians, he finally did, and he has continued to make improvements. It is why he saw his 4.3 BB/9 in his first professional season drop to a 3.6 last year. He also saw his WHIP drop from 1.607 to 1.325. With this as pretext, it makes what Ryan accomplished with the Columbia Fireflies all the more remarkable.
Ultimately, Ryan may be a case of the right prospect with the right organization at the right time. This is why he was named as an under the radar prospect by MiLB, and it may be why he may no longer be under the radar as the 2018 season unfolds. Look for him to begin the 2018 with the St. Lucie Mets.
