Logan Barer/MetsMerized
Mets left-handed prospect P.J. Conlon is converting to a relief pitcher, according to Larry Burneal of WBNG.
Conlon, 24, registered an 8-9 record with a 3.38 ERA, 1.235 WHIP and 7.1 K/9 over 136.0 innings at Double-A Binghamton last season. He appeared in 28 games, 22 of which were as a starter.
The southpaw was originally selected by the Mets in the 13th round of 2015 MLB draft out of the University of San Diego. Up until last season, he had pitched almost exclusively as a starter.
Considering the fact that Conlon’s fastball tops out in the mid to high 80s, you are going to expect that sooner or later, hitters were going to catch up with him as he rose through the Mets minor league system.
If you solely judge Conlon’s first half for Double-A Binghamton, you would come away with that understanding. However, looking at his whole season, you will see a player who took an important step forward during the 2017 season.
Yes, Conlon struggled with a 4.07 first half ERA, which included a 5.52 ERA in the Month of June. Even more troubling was batters were making good contact hitting .262 off the lefty.
After that Conlon made the necessary adjustments, including but not limited to significantly cutting down on his fly ball rate. With that, Conlon saw the batting average against him fall to .236, and he returned to having a very Conlon like 1.91 ERA in the July and August.
His path to the Majors at this point may very well be as a situational lefty. With the Mets having Jerry Blevins penciled in as the only southpaw in the bullpen currently, Conlon could ultimately see his way to Queens this year should New York need another lefty, so this was a shrewd move for him.
MMO ranked Conlon as the No. 24 prospect in the organization going into the 2018 season.
