The 2016 season started off with great promise and optimism. The team was coming off a World Series appearance, their starting rotation was primed to start what we all thought a long stretch of dominance of the National League, and they even managed to retain the services of one Yoenis Cespedes despite the odds. It was going to be a good year.
A perpetually stalled Tommy John rehabilitation, a case of thoracic outlet syndrome, a potential injury-induced forced retirement, a couple sets of bone chips, a sophomore slump, and various injuries to almost everyone else have led to the Mets barely hanging on to a slim hope of a wild card berth as we head towards the home stretch. Did we Mets fans, in our heart of hearts, really expect anything different? I digress.
The problems with the rotation have led to a revolving door of spot starters with varying results. Logan Verrett failed to seize the opportunity and pitched himself back to AAA. Jon Niese‘s knee injury essentially saved the Mets from having to make the decision on him we all knew was coming. What the various team-wide maladies and failures have provided, however, are shots at the major league roster for minor leaguers perhaps thought to be superfluous back in April. One of those minor leaguers is 23-year-old Robert Gsellman, who will get his first career start in the majors on Sunday against the Phillies.
Gsellman was ranked 18th on Mets360’s top 50 prospects list back in December. He’s had a reasonable amount of success throughout his minor league career, if not being all that sexy a name even in Mets prospect circles. Gsellman is a different kind of pitching prospect than we’ve been accustomed to in the last few years, though. With a noted lack of elite “stuff,” he won’t dominate hitters the way the Mets’ aces can and he doesn’t strike many out. His arsenal includes a two-seam fastball, a curve, a change (his worst pitch), and a slider that he’s recently added, which should come as no surprise seeing as he’s a Mets pitching prospect. His fastball has historically sat around the low-nineties, but reports this year have him closer to mid-nineties and occasionally touching even higher.
He’s a strike thrower that induces a lot of grounders, which is good in general but more of a negative in the context of this current Mets roster. The addition of the “Dan Warthen slider” could be a turning point for him as the pitch has flashed plus according to multiple reports. He’s also shown improvement with his curveball which, when combined with an effective slider, could lead to an uptick in strikeouts in the long run.
I was the highest on him on our staff and actually had Gsellman at number nine on my personal prospects list. At present I still hold to that based on his potential to top out as a number three starter. Further improvement on his breaking pitches and keeping his fastball in the mid-nineties would help him reach that ceiling. At present he may be closer to a fourth or fifth starter which, as we’ve seen, is still incredibly valuable. With the uncertainty surrounding Zack Wheeler and the continued health issues of most of the rest of the rotation, having a durable back-end starter with the potential for more is something the Mets could definitely use. His performance may determine whether he spends most of his time in the rotation or in the bullpen this year, but it would make the most sense for the Mets to give him every shot to succeed as a starter.
Gsellman sat at 94 in his recent start, with some movement. He threw “well enough”. He’s not a nibbler…he was attacking the at bats. His location was questionable— the first and second Molina Hits were absolute Meatballs. I understand the first one on his first pitch….but he had several “Got Lucky” fastballs in later at bats.
A young guy like that can become a good pitcher.
He starts tomorrow…lets see how it goes. Hairdo-wise, he fits in well.
I don’t have any trouble with a Mets pitcher inducing a lot of grounders. Reyes has done a credible job at third, Cabrera catches absolutely everything he gets to at SS and Walker’s been better than expected at 2B. And given that Justin Ruggiano is probably our best defensive CF – I’d prefer a grounder than a shot to the gap.
Nice call on Gsellman. I certainly didn’t have him in my top 10.