Baseball America’s Prospect Hot Sheet for the week ending July 27th has Mets top prospects RHP Domingo Tapia and LHP Stephen Matz both ranked in their Top 10 at No. 5 and No.6 respectively.
Tapia hails from the International arena when the Mets signed him in 2009 as tall, hard throwing 16-year old from Santo Domingo. He is having a solid season for Low-A Savannah where he is 5-2 with a 3.45 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP in 14 starts holding the league to just a .231 BAA. In 73 innings pitched he has walked 21 while striking out 62 batters.
This morning, MMO’s Pete Shapiro posted this update on Tapia:
This 6’4″ right-hander is one of the most intriguing pitching prospects in the system. He tops out with his fastball at 100 mph, but he is also a ground-ball machine who hardly ever gives up any balls hit in the air. For the year he has gotten 3.2 ground balls for every fly-ball he has given up. His season record at Savannah is 5-2 with a 3.45, but in his last ten starts he is 4-1 with a 2.50 ERA and an opponents batting average of .215. Last Sunday he threw one of his best games going seven innings and giving up one unearned run on just one hit, with eight strikeouts and two walks, to pick up the win. Tapia who has thrown 58 and 56 innings respectively in 2010 and 2011, is already up to 73 innings this year. With him still only 20-years-old, the Mets will want to protect this amazing arm, and will limit his innings by probably only letting him start a few more games in 2012, before shutting him down.
Matz has gotten a lot of coverage on MMO. The 21 year old southpaw is coming off a gem on Thursday night and is is 2-1 with a 1.55 ERA in six starts for Rookie League Kingsport this season. He has 34 strikeouts in 29 innings pitches so far and he has been clocked regularly in the mid-nineties even touching 98mph in his last start.
Pete filed this report on Matz this morning:
It won’t be long before the Mets bring home their prodigal son Steve Matz when they assign him to Brooklyn any day now, which will be a big relief to opposing hitters in the Appalachian League. The way Matz has been pitching there is nothing for him left to prove at this level. It is time to let him abuse some hitters in the New York Penn League while bringing him back to NYC for some home-cooking, and Coney Island hot dogs. For Kingsport, Matz has made six starts and after getting his feet wet the last three have been remarkable. In his most recent three game starts, Matz has gone 2-0 while hurling 18 innings and given up no runs, on five hits, with 23 strikeouts, and eight walks. For the year his record stands at 2-1 with a 1.55 ERA, and the opposition is hitting only.158 off him. Now 100-percent healthy for the first time in his professional career, there have been reports lately that the 21-year-old lefty is topping out with his fastball in the upper-nineties.
