20
2012
Prospect Pulse: Who’s Hot/Hotter? Pitchers Edition
An article by 
For all the really talented starting pitchers the Mets have at each level of the minor league system, the relievers should not be overlooked. We’ve all noted the terrific start the St. Lucie Mets have had this season, and the very good starting rotation they go with. Several of their starters, Cory Mazzoni and Chase Huchingson, have already appeared on the who’s hot list this year. But this week, it’s the relievers who are hot. And that’s what this series is all about: Who’s Hot?
The relievers are scorching hot right now throughout the entire system. And there is no way I can fit everybody in that is actually hot right now. That is why I divided these things into separate posts for the hitters, and for the pitchers, in case you hadn’t noticed.
The corresponding “hitters” piece to this one, came out yesterday and based on the number of comments on the piece no one read it. Now that I think about it there’s probably nobody but me and Joe D reading this one. Hey Joe D! Are you out there? Who’s hot baby? Is anybody out there? Roll call. Anyway, I’ll put a link to the other piece in case you missed it, and I think I’ll put it HERE
One thing you’ll notice with this list of scathingly hot pitchers right now is that they are nearly all relievers this time. Not my fault. It’s just the way it worked out. Look at the bright side, I do these all the time, and next time it might be all starters. Right now, Relievers Rule!
Oh, and if I left your favorite guy off the list, even though he’s hot and you have a really big man-crush on him, TOUGH! Write your own damn post. You see, I used a head-splittingly complicated formula for calculating who is truly hot right now, which actually gave me a head-ache. So your going to have to trust me on this. And you can rest assured that these guys are literally……..on fire.
Collin McHugh (AA) - After Jeremy Hefner, McHugh is perhaps the most advanced and polished
pitcher in the Mets farm system this year. He was named the Binghamton Mets Pitcher of the Month for April, and he really has nothing left to prove at AA. Since first being called up to Binghamton in the middle of the 2011 season until now, McHugh has made 24 AA game starts. His record in those games is 12-4 with a 2.60 ERA, so a one-way ticket to Buffalo should be coming his way any time now. His numbers for this year so far: eight game starts, 48.1 IP, 39 hits, 11 ER’s, three HR’s, 42/15 K/BB ratio (42 K’s is good for fifth in the league), an BAA of .217, a 1.12 WHIP (6th in the league), a W-L record of 4-2, and a 2.05 ERA (5th in the league). In his last three starts, he has tossed 21.1 innings, and given up just four ER’s with a 16/4 K/BB ratio.
Zack Wheeler (AA) - The NY Mets top prospect has had a fantastic year so far in AA. His success there is not only solidifying his stature as Mets number one prospect, but will soon start to move him up the MLB rankings as well. Wheeler has been very consistent, and at times absolutely dazzling. I was on hand for his first pitch of the 2012 season. A fastball that lit up the radar gun at 98 mph. Despite a week of rest for a broken fingernail, Wheeler has put up some great numbers this year: seven game starts, 37.2 IP, 25 hits, 9 ER’s, one HR, a 45/19 K/BB ratio (45 K’s is good for 3rd in the league), a .194 BAA, a 1.17 WHIP (10th in the league), a 3-2 W-L record, and a 2.15 ERA (6th in the league). He has never given up more than two earned runs in any single game this year, and could easily be 4-1 had he not gotten a loss in an April 18th game in which he gave up just one run in six innings.
Elvin Ramirez (AAA) - A quick start at AA this year in which he completely over-matched Eastern League opposition, earned Elvin a fast promotion to AAA at the beginning of May. At Binghamton he threw 13.0 IP, giving up two ER’s, on seven hits, and seven walks with 16 strikeouts, an 0-1 record, and a 1.38 ERA. Opposing hitters were hitting just .152 against him. Since his call-up to AAA, he has pitched even better. In 7.0 IP so far for Buffalo, he has given up no runs, and three hits, no walks, while striking out eight, and now the league is hitting just .125 against him.
Jack Leathersich (A+) - Another dominant force that has just been promoted to the Florida State League from Savannah, Leathersich has been a beast all season long. For Savannah the lefty appeared in 12 games, and threw 24 IP, surrendering just 10 hits, two ER’s, no HR’s, with a K/BB ratio of 37/8 (that’s not a misprint, 37 strikeouts in 24 innings) a BAA of .132, and a WHIP of 0.75. His record stood at 0-1 with a 0.75 ERA leading to his call-up to Lucie Saturday.
Erik Goeddel (A+) - After a late start to his season, Goeddel made his first appearance on April 20th, and his first game start on April 26th. In all Goeddel has been in five games, four of them starts, and hurled 23 innings altogether. But he has only given up four ER’s on 18 hits with one HR, nine walks, and 15 strikeouts. His record stands at 2-1 with a 1.57 ERA, and his last start on May 16th was his best so far working six innings and giving up no runs, five hits, and no walks, with two strikeouts.
Adrian Rosario (AA) - When Leathersich went up to St. Lucie, it was to replace this guy who was just promoted to Binghamton in time to make his AA debut, and pick up a save in Saturday’s game. Rosario pitched the 10th inning in his first day in AA, with nothing across to earn his first AA save. He had been mind-blowing in his efficiency at St. Lucie locking down the ninth inning every time he was summoned. He appeared in 17 games, firing 20.1 innings while only giving up two runs, one HR, on seven hits, with a 28/7 K/BB ratio, a .104 BAA, a 0.69 WHIP, and a record of 1-0 and an 0.89 ERA,
with 11 saves.
Ryan Fraser (A+) - Yet one more reason why St. Lucie has the best record in minor league baseball, and arguably the best bullpen as well. Fraser has been the model of consistency with his performance this year. He’s a no-nonsense guy and a fierce competitor, what you would call a fox-hole guy. This year Ryan has pitched in 12 games, a total of 21.2 innings, given up four ER’s, on 17 hits, seven walks, 13 strikeouts, and a record of 2-1, with a 1.66 ERA.
Hamilton Bennett (A+) - Fox-hole guy number two another fierce competitor, only this one doesn’t throw quite as hard as Fraser and this guy’s left-handed. But he gives a superior effort every time out which is why he has spent a lot of time as a closer in his career thus far. This year Lucie manager Ryan Ellis has used Hamilton as a set-up guy, and because of that he has no saves, but four wins on the season (which ties him for 7th in the league in wins). His record in 11 games stands at 4-0 with a 2.76 ERA, and a terrific K/BB ratio of 17/2 in 16.1 innings of work.
Adam Kolarek (A+) - You want hot? How bout this 6’3″ lefty who has had to battle to get innings with Rosario, Fraser, Bennett, and Co. around. Kolarek has simply dazzled the Florida State going: 1-0 with a 0.93 ERA and four saves. In 19.1 innings he has surrendered 14 hits, two runs, no HR’s, and a staggering K/BB ratio of….wait for it, 30/3. Now after you lift your jaw off the table just think about that for a second. You think this guy has command of his pitches? Nineteen innings, three walks, and 30 strikeouts. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, wow.
Marco Camarena (A) - Working as a middle-reliever, or in a long-man/spot-starter
role, it can be hard to pitch consistently well. The nature of your role is not consistent, so how can the team expect you to be? Well for Marco Camarena it doesn’t seem to matter how the Gnats use him, he excels in every role. Need a tough cross-over reliever for the middle innings? No problem. Set-up guy? No problem. Long man? Spot starter? No problem. Marco is your man, and he has a real good arm to go along with that demeanor. His numbers so far this year: 2-0 1.33 ERA, 10 games, one start, 27 innings, 17 hits, four ER’s, five walks, 25 strikeouts, a .181 BAA, and a 0.81 WHIP.
Estarlin Morel (A) - Right after I selected Morel for this hot list, it was announced he’s being put on the D.L. with a shoulder strain. That sucks, especially when you see what he has done so far this year. In his last 10 games, Morel has tossed 16.1 innings, and given up just one run, on seven hits, three walks, and 19 strikeouts. When he was reached for a run in his most recent outing on May 14th, it was the first run he had given up since April 8th. Overall this year, he is 0-1, 2.70 ERA with two saves, and a 22/6 K/BB ratio in 20 innings of work.
Jeffrey Walters (A) - Walters spent time in extended spring training, so he joined Savannah late. And he has definitely made up for lost time too. The hard-throwing righty was activated and made his first appearance of the season on April 24th. He has since been in nine games, tossing 16.1 innings, and he has given up exactly zero earned runs. He has only been touched for eight hits, and three walks, while striking out 17. His BAA is .145, his WHIP is 0.67, and his record is 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA.
If anybody’s out there….and you actually read this piece, leave some kind of mention down below so that I know it’s not just me and Joe D reading this. If there’s nobody out there, and no one is reading this, then leave a comment and let me know you didn’t read this piece. Thank you.
LGM!
About the Author: Peter Shapiro
The first time I went to Shea was not for a Mets game, it was for the Beatles concert there in August of '66. My first Met game was '67, a guy named Salty Parker was the interim-manager then. My first pennant race was 1969. As a 12 year-old that summer and fall, I managed to get to the park for 3 games. The first was the beginning of the Miracle which actually started on Tuesday July 8, 1969 with a day game against the Cubs. I was there a lot in '73. I saw games 3 & 5 of the 1973 NL Playoffs against the "Big Red Machine", from the upper deck behind home plate. It was from there that I witnessed the fight between Bud Harrelson and Pete Rose, and the mayhem that ensued. And that sweet victory in game 5! I saw a couple of WS games at Shea that year against that legendary Oakland A's club. I was there in 1985 for every single game Dr. K pitched including his two 16 strikeout performances, and the day he one-hit the Cubs on an infield single and the Mets won 1-0. I loved being a Met fan in those days. Hopefully we are once again preparing to emerge from the darkness.
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Given the state of the met bullpen, it would seem the time is coming to call up Elvin Ramirez.
where is Egbert folks?
Bring Egbert up!
Why should Jack Egbert be on this list? He was in the last edition and deservedly so, but since then his ERA has doubled and in the last two weeks the league is hitting over .300 against him. Why would you think that’s hot?
This isn’t just some random list of players we scoured from reading the league leaders or looking at YTD stats. This report is compilation of a complete analysis that includes watching the minor league games, speaking to the coaches, players and sometimes managers. It isn’t some fly-by-night list but rather a well researched list we produce each week based on visual accounts and deep analysis.
Funny story: On May 7th when I mentioned that Egbert was more ready for a major league promotion than Josh Edgin was, a few Mets bloggers chose to pick up on that. I was simply saying that in our opinion Edgin has a lot of work to do now that he’s in Triple-A and he wouldn’t breeze through batting orders like he did in Bingo. It led to a nice twitter debate with them who all insisted Edgin should have been called-up instead of Schwinden at the time and who the heck was Egbert. True story.
Edgin now has a 5.84 ERA and I haven’t heard his name mentioned on Hyde’s or Cerrone’s blogs since that day. Egbert is still ahead of Edgin as far as being major league ready, but he certainly hasn’t been hot lately. Far from it.
good stuff pete. Read it to the end. every word. though I would like to know, how exactly are the people that aren’t out there, and didn’t read it, going to leave a message to that effect?
Hmmmm, let me think about that one Stick, and I’ll get back to you.
I’m reminded of the Cyclops in the Odyssey. Who read this? Nobody read this.
Elvin Ramirez is an interesting story.
My eye, my eye, I can’t see. Noman has blinded me. Noman did this to me. Help me Neptune, Noman has blinded me, Polyphemus, your son.
If there ever was a story of Greek mythology that deserved to be invested in for the Big Screen it’s The Odyssey.
It’s actually been done a few times…Armand Asante has it down as one of his most noted roles! I think that says more about Asante’s body of work than the movie itself! LOL
It was a made for TV movie if I’m not mistaken!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118414/
Maybe the guys who have been doing the Titans (Clash Of) series will do one eventually, they seem to be doing the best Greek Mythology stuff these days…
I think it’s the same folks who did the movie 300.
LOL Pete I read EVERYTHING you post…
I rarely comment because you do such a good job there isn’t much TO say!
Other than Good Job!
Hah! I knew somebody was reading the stuff! Thanks Metsie!
Your pretty much the main source of what I know about the MiLs. Other than looking at their stats I don’t get to see them play enough to get any handle on how they are doing.
I don’t really pay too much attention to what is going on in A and AA because those are both too far away from what the MLB is like to give the results much weight and I tend to follow AAA more as those are the guys who are most likely to be seen during the season.
Where I am the sports reporting is mostly geared towards the HS kids that are from the area. I was surprised to see just how many MLB prospects come from the Mid-Hudson valley.
So most of what I know about our Kids comes from your reports.
Loved both of your posts (Hitters and Pitchers)………….
i read all of your pieces, Petey. Your reports and analyses are terrific and give me great insight. i regularly canvas through the stats of our minor league guys and thoroughly enjoy the great coverage you and others provide on what’s going on in our farm system. Thank you for your work.
i have a few questions: How has Brandon Nimmo been doing in Extended ST and where is he slated to play this year, Brooklyn? I’ve been tracking Collin McHugh all year. Terrific season YTD. How ‘good’ or ‘real’ of a prospect is he? In our opinion who are the 5 pitchers and 5 position guys closest to Citi Field for a ‘meaningful’ contribution? i’m not thinking this year, but next year and in 2014. Harvey, Familia, Wheeler, McHugh, Hefner (pitched for us yesterday)…who are the 5 position guys? Do we have any close to the majors? Lutz, Marte, Lagares, Flores, who else, if anybody??
Thanks, and great work! LGM!!!
Wow Bob, how much time do you have? No seriously, thanks for the great questions. I can feel my brain starting to wake up. If you don’t mind, I’ll throw those questions, plus a few others I have here into an Ask Petey piece, since I haven’t done one of those in more than a week, and I’ll post something for you in the next 24-hours, how’s that? Anybody else with a question, send it along and I might be able to squeeze it into the ‘ol mailbag.
Petey, thanks! Look forward to reading your ‘Mailbag’ piece. And great work! Love the stuff…!
i’ll tell ya, it seems to my uneducated eye that we have a laundry list of ‘legit’ prospects currently. i guess most are at A Level ball, so still a good distance away. But, seems we do have a number of ‘legit’ guys (mostly pitchers) @ AA and AAA. Is Marte ‘legit’? He was hardly mentioned by the fan base; everybody had been touting Flores the past few years. And Flores is having a solid year, but Marte is about as young and now 1 level above Flores. Is Marte ‘for real’? Canvassing through the System a few years ago for ‘legit’ prospects was like seeking water in the desert.
Bob I agree most of the kids people seem excited about are in A or AA ball but I think that has a lot to do with the Mets sucking a lot of the talent out of Buffalo to play for the Big Show.
I actually think it is one of the points of contention between that team and our organization, They have stated they are not too happy with the players we have been sending them and I think that has more to do with what we have taken from them than what we have sent them.
In fact they demanded re-signing Pascucci if I’m not mistaken!
He is a fan favorite there.
Great job!
am enjoying your work, prefer to lurk rather than comment.
lurk to your heart’s content my friend
Always read the minors posts here but hardly ever comment. I’m not knowledgeable enough on many of these kids, which is why I read these!
Awewome piece Pete. One note you could’ve added about Rosario that I’m not sure if most realize. he was one of the PTNL in the K-Rod deal and he seems to have found himself. I think the success of all the pitchers at all levels this year is a reflection on the coaching staffs of each farm team. They’re doing a great job helping their developement along.