Welcome to the latest installment in our path of examination of the best prospects in the Mets system. We have had the following installments thus far: 50-48, 47-45, 44-42, 41-39, 38-36, 35-33, 32-30, 29-27 and 26-24. Now we move onto a group of young starting pitchers, beginning with:
23 – Corey Oswalt
The 6’4” 200 pound right hander was drafted in the 7th round of the 2012 draft out of high school. Oswalt’s career got off to a slow start, both with his performance after being drafted and with injuries that sidelined him in 2013. As a rookie in Kingsport, Oswalt was brutal, posting an 8.15 ERA and a 1.585 WHIP. He started 2013 much better, returning to Kingsport to pitch to a 3.46 ERA and a 1.154 WHIP over three games and two starts, missing most of the short league season due a knee injury.
Fully healthy in 2014, Oswalt showed why he is such an intriguing prospect. Pitching as a 20 year old in Brooklyn, Oswalt posted a 2.26 ERA over 67.2 innings. He also had a nearly 4:1 strike out to walk ratio and a 1.034 WHIP. He’s also shown the ability to keep the ball in the park, allowing only two home runs over the course of 116 career minor league innings.
Oswalt doesn’t have overwhelming stuff, but he does have a lot of it and uses his size to get that much extra out of his pitches. Oswalt throws two fastballs that he varies in speed, anywhere from 88 to 93 miles per hours. His changeup is described as decent, with good arm action, some movement and terrific velocity, sitting at 81, as much as 10 t0 12 miles per hour less than his fastball. Oswalt’s slider is a work in progress, sitting too much between a curve ball and a slider to be an out pitch, but is able to be thrown for a strike.
Where Oswalt goes from here is really about his work ethic. He’s got the body type to pick up some speed on his fastball and if he can master his slider and changeup, the Mets have another big, quality right handed starting pitcher in the pipeline. Unfortunately, it’s going to be hard to tell what the Mets have in Oswalt for several years as he will move to the pitchers haven that is Savannah next year and, unless he utterly dominates, won’t see a more fair pitchers park until he hits St. Lucie in 2016 or so. However, due to intriguing size, his young age and a three pitch repertoire that has room to improve, Oswalt is definitely a prospect to watch.
22 – Robert Gsellman
Gsellman is another 6’4” 200 pound right hander drafted out of high school, one year earlier than Oswalt (2011) and six rounds later (13th). Gsellman is a little bit more advanced than Oswalt due to a lack of injuries and some nice push by Mets management.
Making his minor league debut as a 17 year old in the Gulf Coast League, Gsellman held his own, posting a 4.15 ERA over 13 innings pitched, mostly in relief. Moving up the ranks, Gsellman started to make a name as a prospect when he was transitioned to a full time starter in 2013, dominating Brooklyn as a 19 year old with a 2.06 ERA and a terrific 5:1 strike out to walk ratio. That same year, Gsellman was given a chance at both Savannah and St. Lucie, again holding his own to a mid-three ERA over seven starts and 38 innings. Transitioned full time to Savannah as a 20 year old in 2014, Gsellman posted a 2.55 ERA over 20 starts in the full season rotation, while also having a solid strike out per nine innings rate of seven per nine.
Where Gsellman goes from here is all about development. His strikeout rates have been unimpressive for someone with the stuff he has. Gsellman has been known to push his fastball into the mid-nineties when he needs to and has solid command of the pitch, more advanced than many at his level. It’s in Gsellman’s off speed offerings where his future will lie. The fastball could lead to a bullpen role if his secondary pitches don’t progress. Right now he boasts a curveball and changeup, that when he has a feel for them are average pitches, but that Gsellman obviously doesn’t have total confidence in. Both pitches could be average or plus offerings, which will really change Gsellman’s ceiling. 2015 will be a big year for Gsellman as he will start in St. Lucie with a shot at a mid-season promotion to Binghamton, based upon how the Mets have moved Gsellman in the past. If he continues to progress and can get his strike out rate up a bit, the Mets could be looking at a mid-rotation starter here. If not, he at least projects to be a decent bullpen, back of the rotation or swing man type.
21 – Robert Whalen
Whalen is another stout 20 year old right hander, drafted five rounds after Oswalt in 2012. He’s not as tall as some of his compatriots in the Mets system, but he makes up for it with excellent stuff that has dominated competition to this point in his minor league career.
Since his debut in 2012 in Kingsport, Whalen has thrown to a 1.89 career ERA and 0.96 WHIP over 27 appearances (24 starts) and 143 innings. In Savannah in 2014, Whalen posted a 2.01 ERA and a one WHIP over 62.2 innings, leading to the Mets having him enter the Arizona Fall League with many other teams’ top prospects. Whalen started out badly there, but was able to find traction as the short season moved forward.
So, with all of this dominance, why isn’t Whalen higher on this list? It’s been about injuries. Whalen has had the proverbial injury bug, getting sidelined regularly for small things. The most recent culprit was a mysterious finger infection that caused him to miss time in 2014. Much like Logan Taylor, who was ranked 34th on this list, Whalen could be higher if not for missed time.
The bottom line with Whalen is that, if he stays healthy, he has the stuff to be at minimum a mid-rotation starter with higher end potential. Whalen sports a low to mid-nineties sinking fastball and an upper seventies curve ball that some have argued is the best in the Mets system. Both pitches are considered average to above average now, with the chance, as Whalen matures, to become plus pitches. Whalen also throws a changeup and slider that are developmental at this point, but have the chance and look of at least average off speed offerings. With two plus pitches (meaning that they are out pitches) and the potential for solid secondary offerings, Whalen could easily rise to a prominent position in the Mets pitching hierarchy. Just like Gsellman though, it’s hard to gauge how successful Whalen will be until he faces higher competition and gets out of some of the pitcher friendly parks in the Mets low minors. His Arizona Fall League stint didn’t help with this assessment as he was both good and bad at times. Next year he will be in St. Lucie and actually has a better shot of moving to Binghamton than Gsellman if his track record of dominance holds up. If that happens and Whalen makes a successful jump to Double-A at some point this year, he will fly up prospect lists. If injuries continue to hamper his development, Whalen could be one of those talented pitchers that just doesn’t get enough time on the mound to develop fully.
Whalen was in the AFL pitching against AA and AAA talent with only limited A experience. It was just about him getting innings.
Scott, I’ve never, ever heard of Corey Oswalt. Have to give you props on this one for being bold. Corey Oswalt at 23!
That’s one of the reasons it’s fun doing a prospect list. Putting these players out there gives all of us fans something else to keep an eye on during the season.