Mets Minor League Blog Report 9-20-08
Toby Hyde
In this issue:
- Buffalo To Introduce Mets on Monday
- BA’s NYP Top 20
1. Buffalo Announces Press Conference Monday
The headline in the Buffalo News says it all “Bisons will introduce Mets Monday.” Senator Charles Schumer tries to save face after campaigning for Syracuse, telling Mike Harrington “I encouraged the Mets to affiliate in New York State and I’m glad they did.” It should be quite a party in Buffalo on Monday morning as COO Jeff Wilpon and GM Omar Minaya are expected to attend the press conference.
Matt Michael and Mark Weiner in the Post-Standard cite “a top Mets official” Jeff Wilpon for the leak. Interestingly, the Marlins, who had been tied with New Orleans, are now scheduled to visit Syracuse Saturday.
2. BA’s NYP Top 20
Four Cyclones made Baseball America’s list of the top prospects in the short-season New York Penn League: RHP Brad Holt (#7), RHP Jenry Mejia (#9), SS Reese Havens (#11) and 1B Ike Davis (#17). I’ve gone ahead and grabbed the meaty part of Aaron Fitt’s comments from his writeups. My commentary is italicized.
On Holt:
Holt went in the supplemental first round of the 2008 draft thanks to his above-average fastball, loose arm and prototype pitcher's frame….
Holt repeats his easy delivery and throws from a downhill angle. Occasionally he flashes an average or better slider around 80 mph, but most of the time he holds onto the slider too long when he throws it.
It’s not a slider. It’s a hard curveball. I made this mistake too the first time I saw Holt throw. Most pitches thrown with this velocity (79, 80 mph) are sliders. Holt’s is not. He calls it a curveball. More importantly, it moves like a curveball. I sat with a pro scout at one of Holt’s starts and he agreed that based on the “hump” of the pitch as it leaves Holt’s hand, it was a curve. Sure, sometimes it was slurvy. But when it was good, it was a true curveball.
Complicating the issue was that Holt did throw a slider it college. It was not good, so old scouting reports, or even the ones BA got on Holt in the spring would have had him throwing a below average slider.
On Mejia:
"He's a power-armed guy. He's a freak," a National League scout said. "I'm not even saying he's any good right now, I'm just saying he's a freak. He could probably throw 100 mph. His delivery's fair, but it's hard to repeat. I see a hell of a lot of effort with Mejia. He's like the kid at the carnival trying to win the thing, just letting it all go. He's got no rhythm. He's trying to be more fluid, but it's not happening."
….
He does have a chance for three legitimate above-average pitches, however.
Freaks aren’t bad, just unusual. Tim Lincecum was/is called a freak. But the point remains that there aren’t many righthanders in the 6’0” range who are dominant starting pitchers. And yes, Pedro and Oswalt are counterexamples.
On Havens:
But scouts caught a glimpse of his easy power to all fields in batting practice. He has a mature offensive approach and the ability to wear out the gaps.
It’ll be interesting to see what kind of numbers Havens puts up in Hawaii.
On Davis
"He was just a flop," an American League scout said.
Multiple scouts questioned Davis' toughness and attitude, but all still acknowledged the tools are there. He shows easy lefthanded power in batting practice, particularly to right field, and he can lace doubles to the opposite field. He did a better job staying back on the ball late in the season.
I didn’t see any line drives the other way, everything I saw was into rightcenter. Some scouts like the power, some were disappointed that it didn’t play much this summer. A few months in the NYP League does not a make or break a career. We’ll know a lot more about Davis at this time next year.
Toby Hyde has written about the Mets organization since 2004. Please pass this along to friends, family, co-workers, and Mets fans of all stripes. To sign up for the email newsletter, click here. Even better, please visit my site at http://www.metsminorleagueblog.com.