At 6’4” and 185 Lbs, DeGrom is a big, lanky starting pitcher who has the kind of physical potential scouts love. He was a shortstop for Stetson University for two seasons before switching to pitching as a Junior.
DeGrom has shown a fastball that lives around 94 MPH and has touched 97 MPH. While he’s already 24, his light frame hints at the ability to add a little more juice to his fastball if he added a bit more muscle. He throws the usual changer and slider to accompany his fastball and sounds like a solid prospect on paper… except he shouldn’t.
Jacob deGrom was a 9th round pick. The 9th round isn’t so far down that it’s worthless but you don’t typically get pitchers who factor above the 5th spot in a rotation out of the round.
Does DeGrom REALLY factor that highly?
- Pitcher A: 6 Wins, 1 CG, 86 IP, 61 Hits, 24 ERs, 4 HRs, 31 BBs, 80 Ks and a 2.51 ERA
- Pitcher B: 6 Wins, 76.2 IP, 67 Hits, 21 ERs, 3 HRs, 11 BBs, 68 K’s and a 2.47 ERA
- Pitcher A: Whip = 1.070, K/9 = 8.37, K:BB = 2.58
- Pitcher B: Whip = 1.018, K/9 = 7.98, K:BB = 6.18
- Pitcher A: Regarded as a top 10 prospect who should be in the front end of the rotation someday.
- Pitcher B: Regarded as a shocking surprise who shouldn’t amount to much.
Pitcher A is Michael Fulmer and Pitcher B is Jacob deGrom. Mind that DeGrom has had 4 fewer starts and that he’s got his K/9 much closer to 9.00 in the past 10 games and you see why I think Jacob deGrom is now too good to ignore.
Around The Minors:
AAA, Buffalo:
The Outfield Of The Future… Unlikely – The Bisons now have Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Lucas Duda and Matt DenDekker patrolling the outfield. The trio of lefties hope to stabalyze themselves after having rough times in recent months. While I think each has MLB potential, I’d be shocked if more than two had a future as an MLB regular.
Chris Schwinden Ready For Call – Bet your butts that Chris Schwinden is the next Bison who gets a call to the majors if there is an injury to the rotation. Since returning to the Met organization in July he’s been solid in all 4 of his starts.
Collin McHugh Auditions – 6.2 IP, 0 Runs, 5 Hits, 1 BB and 6 Ks… This is good for AAA and he will be on the radar BIG TIME this spring.
AA, Binghamton:
Eric Campbell Model of Consistency – He’s not known for being this consistent, but he’s really shown a steady OPS between .800 and .900 which is very solid for a Utility player like him.
Anyone Notice Reese Havens? – Havens is currently outplaying both Flores and Marte in AA. Being far older… he SHOULD. He’s got a .923 OPS in the past 10 games.
Darin Gorski Tosses a Gem – 6.0 IP, 3 Hits, 1 ER, 0 BBs and 6 Ks. He needs to start stringing some of these together but he’s not being pushed by starters in Port St. Lucie so he can repeat AA in 2013.
A+, Port St. Lucie:
What To Make of T.J. Rivera – He’s hit at Savannah and Port St. Lucie (Though he lost his power a bit in Florida) and he’s not such a free swinger as others. Will his glove be good enough to hold him on SS? Will his bad continue to produce an OPS above .750?
Darrell Ceciliani Healthy Again – If he gets hurt one more time this season he’s off my radar. Sorry.
Who Is The Best Pitcher In Port St. Lucie? – Tyler Pill? Okay… I guess he is. He’s not got the best stuff around but he’s maintained his success from Savannah and earned his spot in Port St. Lucie or Binghamton for next season.
Logan Verrett’s First Start… OK – He got through 6.1 IP, 8 Hits, 2 ERs, 0BBs, 4 Ks… He’s a lot like Tyler Pill… that’s not a bad thing.
A, Savannah:
Camden Maron Turns Out Nice Week – He’s got an OPS for the week above 1.014 and he’s walking more than he’s striking out. I’m not sure what is keeping the Mets from moving him up to Port St. Lucie.
Dustin Lawley Turns On The Power – He’s got 10 extra base knocks in 10 games… His K:BB is 1:1… his OPS is 1.506 and he’s stole 2 bases. He’s on fire.
Pitcher A Still Looks Great – I’m not down on Michael Fulmer. Kid tossed a gem of 5.0 IP, 3 Hits, 0 ERs, 1 BB and 8 Ks. He’s still good and still deserves to be near the Mets top 10 prospect list.
Keep Your Pants On – Alex Panteliodis has 19 Ks in his last 13 innings pitched and he’s given up only 9 Hits, 2 BBs and 2 ERs.
R, Brooklyn:
Luis Mateo Should Move To Savannah – With his slightly advanced age (comparatively) he should start 2013 in Port St. Lucie. For this reason he has nothing left to prove as he continues to mow down people in the New York Penn League.
Brooklyn’s Pitchers Showing Great Control – 16 BBs… 16 BBs between Rainy Lara, Hansel Robles, and Gabriel Ynoa in 114.1 combined innings of work. This doesn’t include Mateo who has the best control of the bunch.
R, Kingsport:
Gavin Cecchini Makes Me Happy – First… he has like 5 names: Gavin Glenn Christopher Joseph Cecchini. Second… he’s showing the ability to hit the ball with some authority. The consistency isn’t there yet, but I have pretty high hopes for him being a solid defensive/offensive shortstop.
Steven Matz Making Minaya Look Justified – I know a few fans who pointed to Matz as proof of Minaya’s flawed drafting decisions. I’ve always thought Minaya was solid in the draft and only made poor decisions on the payroll end. With another sparkling performance in Kingsport, Matz is looking like a justifiable risky pick in the 2009 draft.
R, DSL:
Vicente Lupo Might Crack Top 10 Offensive Prospects – He’s been the best player between the Met’s 2 DSL teams and he’s sporting a 1.125 OPS… ON THE YEAR.
Hey, David—great post.
Is it realistic to think that we might see Havens in NY some day?
Are you serious about Chris Schwinden? At the big league level he has never shown the ability to throw an “out” pitch. His stuff just hasn’t impressed. He seems like a AAAA type.
Havens… Yes. I think that Havens will advance quietly to AAA next year and there could earn the starting job with his bat. He’s really a talented hitter who has a solid approach at the plate. His stats are misleading this season.
Schwinden is the only next option for the Mets. Mejia was moved to the pen (a bad idea), McHugh shouldn’t be exposed to MLB hitting yet and Familia isn’t ready.
JDG missed all of 2011 recovering from Tommy John surgery. He’s been an outstanding surprise this year and here’s hoping he makes a start or two in the FSL before the season’s over.
The Only issue with JDG making starts in the FSL is the number of people who are ready to move there. Do you advance: Jacob DeGrom? Michael Fulmer? or Luis Mateo? Who do you move: Erik Goeddel? Chase Huchingson? Rafael Montero? Tyler Pill? or Logan Verrett?
None of the Port St. Lucie starters are ready for AA and I don’t think anyone deserves a demotion to Savannah either.
As JDG is the oldest of the three that you mention, I have no problem with choosing him as the one to make two late-season starts at Hi-A. I thought Mateo was in Brooklyn? He can move up to Lo-A and make two starts there replacing JDG.
As for the FSL pitcher – I have no problem skipping a couple of starts for either Goeddel or Huchingson.
I would move Mateo or DeGrom up. I don’t think Savannah is harder for pitchers than Brooklyn so I was skipping Mateo to Port St. Lucie because he’s also older.
Nice post. Is nice to read that we have actual talent on the farm. Just curious, what do you think the 2014 Mets rotation will look like with the talent we have coming up?
Regards
2014 Rotation:
1. Zack Wheeler
2. Matt Harvey
3. Jon Niese
4. R.A. Dickey (Yep… he’s staying)
5. Free Agent
I think Familia will be traded for offense and that Mejia ends up a middle reliever thanks to the Mets poor treatment of him.
I do think there will be an assortment of Tapia, Fulmer, Mazzoni and others in AA/AAA who could join the team mid-season.
Not Gee? He’s improving. He’s already a solid fifth starter. If not Gee then perhaps McHugh.
If these pitchers pan out then the Mets will spend money to populate the OF with major league calibre talent.
I have loads of concerns about Gee at this point and while McHugh and Gorski could work out as back-end starters I think the team will play it safer and bring in a mercenary.
Have you seen Maron’s numbers against base stealers?Horrible.That may be why he is staying put.
It’s a fair point, but I would think that you want to keep his bat progressing through the system at the pace it deserves. He would still have A+, AA and AAA to work on mechanics and making throws.
I hope he does progress,A position change would probably kill his value and if he can’t throw out anyone he will need a position change.
Great read David.
Fulmer’s 5 years younger than deGrom and talented enough to have been drafted in the first round of perhaps the best draft class ever. As well as deGrom is pitching i find it remarkable that a 19 year old has similar numbers in the same league.
I am not a big fan of Minaya’s drafts by any means. Case in point catcher or if you prefer RF, 2B, LF and CF. Yes there are some chances in Vaughn, den Dekker, Ceciliani, Havens but clocks are ticking. If I were to place a bet on one of them making it big it MDD followed by Havens. At least those guys have experienced some success in the high minors, the other two haven’t gotten there next year and Ceciliani is a rule 5 decision this year, Vaughn next year.
One thing about Minaya’s drafts though that he has been very successful at though is the LH high school pitcher. Statistically the most difficult of any prospect to develop. Niese is in, Vineyard quit and that’s more on the scout then the GM, Matz is still in play and Dotson is hurt again? Still and all He’s far surpassed the odds even at this point in time with HS lefties. Let’s hope he bags another hit with Matz.
Is it me or do bad things happen every time Burkhardt is yapping while they bat?
I’m curious what minor league arms will be in our bullpen come next year?
Once again, it’s a major weakness and Sandy will no doubt go to the Free agent route for help, but are there any legit arms that will be part of the bullpen next year? (Mejia, Familia)?
Interesting Question, There are a few names who hit the list, but I think I’ll write this up and post it as my Saturday feature.
4th mention of JdG on mets360, and first article with JdG as main emphasis. Again, much respect to Groveman for realizing what we (could possibly have) had when nobody else did