Jack Leathersich is a left handed relief pitcher with Binghamton. He’s not a big guy and he doesn’t throw particularly hard, but his results are phenomenal. He is the biggest strikeout threat in the Met farm system and could be just as important to the Met future as Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom or Rafael Montero. Let’s take a look at the numbers:
- 2011: ERA – 0.71, IP – 12.2, H – 6, BB – 3, K – 26 (NYP)
- 2012: ERA – 3.00, IP – 72, H – 51, BB – 32, K – 113 (SAL & FSL)
- 2013: ERA – 4.63, IP – 58.1, H – 51, BB – 45, K – 102 (EAS & PCL)
- 2014: ERA – 2.56, IP – 38.2, H – 29, BB – 17, K – 67 (EAS)
Here are the three key stats over his career:
- H/9: 6.79
- K/9: 15.26
- K/BB: 3.18
So the question on everyone’s mind is, “Why is he only in AA?”
The answer is probably only known by J.P. Riccardi and Sandy Alderson. Leathersich has proven his strikeout numbers are real. He’s reclaimed control over his ERA and cut out the costly walks. If the Met bullpen was struggling there’d be justified calls for his immediate promotion, yet surely a call to visit Las Vegas is in order.
The justification I surmise is that Las Vegas has been deemed an unnecessary stop on Leathersich’s journey to the majors. He could be slated to jump from AA into the majors as soon as the rosters expand or a need arises. When that happens, it will be interesting to see if his insane strikeout numbers can continue into his major league career.
AAA:
Wilmer Flores stays hot – The hitting streak has continued. His insane performance in Albuquerque is still in our memories but he’s over a 10 game hitting streak and he’s hit 2 more doubles and another home run.
Matt DenDekker isn’t striking out – He’s hitting since his demotion and to add a superlative to that he’s walked 4 times and only struck out 5 in the last 10 games. That is huge for him.
Rafael Montero’s rehab has begun – Good news!
AA:
Dilson Herrera continues to hit… and whiff – His OPS in AA is .893 which is good but 24 Ks in 22 Games is not.
Steven Matz has settled down – He’s now rolling along in AA and there are good things to come.
Gabriel Ynoa bounces back in a big way – His first start led to an 8.44 ERA. His second start was better: 7.0 IP, 4 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 BB, 9 Ks.
A:
Matt Oberste displaying some power – For those who are blaming Dominic Smith’s lack of power on Savannah, explain Oberste’s .478 slugging percentage.
Champ Stuart is impressing – He’s got 16 hits in his last 10 games and 5 stolen bases in that time.
Dario Alvarez could be the breakout pitcher of the second half – He’s started on and off but his K-rate and ability to keep people off base make him a potential “fast-riser” in the prospect ranks.
Akeel Morris is still awesome – In case you forgot.
Robert Whalen is back in Savannah rotation – Hooray!
A-:
Marcos Molina is really really good – He’s only given up 8 hits in 24.0 IP. That’s a pretty impressive H/9.
Leathersich belongs in AAA and Morris belongs in A+.
I think mid year promotions are very important. It rewards the deserving player and should build confidence. Sometimes players don’t start off so good, like Plawecki when he moved up to AAA and Nimmo when he was promoted to AA. Even in failure you gain experience and next spring when Plawecki returns to AAA and Nimmo to AA they would be the “veterans”and have already experienced the learning curve.
David, in your opinion, who has the higher ceiling as a second baseman, Flores or Herrera? Do you think either could be a better than average MLB second baseman? Could either replace (not necessarily be better than) Murphy by 2016 ?
Flores has more on the hitting side. He’ll hit for higher average and more power.
Herrera is going to play plus defense at second and steal bases.
Good read. A little off topic but is there any news on Conforto’s first official game as a Cyclone? I’d like to go and check out a game while he’s there.
I am going to Thursdays game, I can tell you about what I see if he plays
A shout out to Travis Taijeron … once again, among the top 5 in OPS in his league. He’s done this at just about every stop he’s played.
And Vic Black’s walking through raindrops experiment aside, no relief pitcher will long survive a 4 BB/9. (Black will either get control (highly doubtful) or he will blow up badly. I think the latter.)
Jack Leathersich will bear that cross – I don’t think Sandy will let Jack breathe Citi air until he gets that number down and keeps it down.
Must have missed Travis.
All Star break time and have time to kill so I looked at Fangraphs updated 25 prospects and read in Rubin’s column about Javier Baez availability.
Syndergaard is ranked #14 and Baez #8. Deal or no deal?
Or other SS like Russell #4, or Lindor #3, or Correa #5, or Seagar #6, or JP Crawford #20. I realize that many in this group are probably late 2015 or 2016 candidates and Syndergaard is a potential 2014 call up.
I’ll weigh in on a yes for that trade, Syndergaard for Baez because you have to give up something to get something.
Can’t wait until Friday.
I would trade Syndergaard for Baez or Correa in a heartbeat.
Don’t you have to discount the value of a pitcher (particularly a pitching prospect) when comparing him to an equally important positional player?
I just don’t think you can get a top ten hitting prospect (especially at SS) for a top ten pitching prospect, just like I don’t think anyone would trade Trout for Kershaw, straight up.
As you can see I waffled. The Mets need a more experienced established impact bat if they are trading one of their young pitchers.
I think Syndergaard could get you a lot more than Baez in the right package.
“For those who are blaming Dominic Smith’s lack of power on Savannah, explain Oberste’s .478 slugging percentage.”
Grayson Stadium is toughest on lefties. Oberste is a RH hitter, Smith is LH.
http://savannahmeetings.com/images/userfiles/image/floorplans-grayson-stadium.jpg
Dimensions: LF 322, CF 400, RF 310 sorry couldn’t find power alleys and I have never been there. The above image proves the point.
I think I’ll head over to Asheville tonight to catch the Gnats play. Now there is an unusual stadium, McCormick Field, LF 320, LCF 370 and CF 373. Maybe Dominic will get a few dingers in this bandbox.
Those are the RF dimensions! I couln’t even edit it properly! LOL
Matt Eddy: “Low-A Savannah’s Grayson Stadium kills offense, particularly lefty power.”
http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/prospect-hot-sheet-chat-with-matt-eddy-5/