The Mets have been connected to a few Indians pitchers this offseason, but I don’t think many saw Kyle Dowdy as the one they end up with.
At 25, Dowdy spent his first two and a half professional seasons with the Tigers’ organization and half of last season in the Indians organization before being selected by the Mets on Thursday in the Rule 5 Draft.
Dowdy is a hard throwing righty, who was said to have hit 99 miles per hour during starts last year in Akron, and had a jump of almost five MPH after being dealt from Detroit to Cleveland. He also throws a changeup, curveball and cutter with the latter being his best secondary offering. The folks at 2080 Baseball gave a scouting report on what they saw in July.
Dowdy has spent most of his minors career as a starter, starting 58 games and relieving in only 20. He could be converted into a reliever to fit the Mets need of an inning eater, and can be given a Sean Gilmartin like treatment.
The former 12th round pick had a combined 5.15 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in 124 innings last season between Double-A and Triple-A. He struck out 120 in that span, while walking 50 and only allowing 12 home runs.
Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen gave Mike Puma of the New York Post his thoughts on Dowdy, “We brought a big group of professional scouts down here this week and we were locked in the room for hours and hours, and to get consensus on a guy that we believe has tremendous upside.”
The Mets must keep Dowdy on their 25-man roster for the entirety of the 2019. If the Mets choose not to keep him on the active roster, Dowdy can be offered back to the Indians for $50,000.
Van Wagenen believes Dowdy gives the Mets needed depth, “We are looking for depth in our starting rotation, and we believe [Dowdy] can give us that depth…..IF our rotation stays healthy and intact, we certainly think he can be a force for us in the bullpen as well.”
Dowdy has fared better during his three-year minor league career as a reliever with the following opponents OPS, .700 OPS (.795 as starter) in 2018, .695 OPS (.710 as SP) in 2017 and .483 OPS (.735 as starter) in 2016.
While the Mets starting pitching depth is bleak after their starting five, Dowdy can fill multiple roles, and make starts when needed allowing Seth Lugo to remain as a staple in the bullpen.
