Josh Wolf

HT: 6’2” WT: 165 Date of Birth: 09/01/2000 (18)
School: St. Thomas High School (Texas)
Bats/Throws: R/R
Stats: Senior Year – 1.52 ERA, 126 strikeouts, 69 innings

Background

The Mets selected St. Thomas High school right-hander Josh Wolf with the 53rd pick in the 2019 MLB Draft. Wolf, 18, was committed to Texas A&M University, and was ranked as the 36th best draft prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline. Wolf stands at 6’2 and weighs in at a slim 165 pounds, keeping his frame skinny and lanky. He regularly hits 95-97 miles per hour with his fastball. Wolf is ranked as the 54th best draft prospect according to Baseball America.

Wolf is the second consecutive high school arm taken by the Mets in the second round, as they took Simeon Woods-Richardson in the second round last year. Wolf threw a no-hitter and a two hitter in the playoffs for St. Thomas this season, and posted a strong regular season campaign with a 1.52 ERA and striking out 126 batters in 69 innings.

The Mets reportedly signed Wolf to a $2.15 million bonus, significantly over the $1,370,400 slot value.

Scouting

In their report on Wolf, Baseball America mentioned that “After showing solid stuff but topping out in the low 90s for most of last summer, Wolf entered the spring solidly out of Day 1 consideration and behind a number of other Texas prep pitchers. That evaluation quickly changed, as Wolf came out this spring with added strength—he’s listed at 6-foot-2, 165 pounds but is likely heavier than that now—and started pitching consistently in the mid-90s and touched as high as 97 mph.”

MLB.com added that “Wolf has gotten noticeably stronger, adding at least 10 pounds to his 6-foot-2 frame, and dropped his arm slot from high three-quarters to three-quarters. Those changes have increased the velocity and movement on his fastball, which previously sat around 90 mph but has ranged from 90-97 with armside run all spring. His curveball can overmatch hitters as well, residing in the low 80s with 12-6 break when he stays on top of it.”

Wolf motion is a very quick and violent one, per say, with a lot of wicked motion coming from the arm and minimal lower-half motion. Wolf’s motion closely resembles that of current Mets’ closer Edwin Diaz. At the minimum, the fastball/curveball combination from wolf provides upside as a dominant reliever, if starting games does not work out for Wolf. Expect to see more velocity added to the fastball as he continues to put on weight and fill out his frame.

Development

Wolf, despite being a high school arm, will likely follow the same path of the aforementioned Simeon Woods-Richardson. Wolf will start his professional career in rookie level ball, and likely see Columbia to start the 2020 season, albeit injury free.

If the Mets can sign Wolf, Matthew Allan, and any of Hunter Barco, Joseph Charles, and Dalton Fowler, have set up at the least three top-level pitching prospects to pair with Woods-Richardson to develop in the coming years, and likely become top prospects before their promotion to the big leagues.