Showing posts with label Zack Wheeler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zack Wheeler. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Zack Wheeler is the #6 prospect in MLB? Not yet, but he will be.

It's still the first week of the Major League Baseball season but Bullpen Banter takes a humorous look at who will be the top ten prospects in the MLB heading into 2013. Checking in at #6 on the list is none other than Mets RHP Zack Wheeler:

"6 - Zack Wheeler - Right Handed Starter, Mets

After the Mets unshackled Wheeler in 2011 his confidence skyrocketed and his control problems dissipated. The Georgian has early trouble in Binghamton's cool air, but slays the Eastern League after May 15. His strikeout rate, which has never dropped below 10 SO/9 in his young career, reaches a Strasburgian 12.5 SO/9. Still, scouts are concerned that his overpowering arsenal is masking command issues. He spends the full year at Binghamton and is caught at a Phi Lambda Phi slip-and-slide mixer. His actions cause the New York Media to question the 22-year-old's makeup, dedication and to wonder aoud
[sic] why he can't be more like Tim Tebow."

All joking and superfluous Tim Tebow references aside, the fact that they consider Wheeler to someday be a top ten prospect in all of the Major League Baseball says something about the kid's potential. In case you're wondering, here are the prospects ranked #6 overall by Bullpen Banter and its individual writers, going back to 2010:

2010 - LHP Brian Matusz, Baltimore Orioles
2011 - RHP Jeremy Hellickson, Tampa Bay Rays
2011 (JD Sussman) - 1B Eric Hosmer, Kansas City Royals
2011 (Jeff Reese) - OF Wil Myers, Kansas City Royals
2011 (Al Skorupa) - LHP Aroldis Chapman, Cincinnati Reds
2011 (Steve Fiorindo) - RHP Jeremy Hellickson, Tampa Bay Rays
2012 - 3B Anthony Rendon, Washington Nationals
2012 (JD Sussman) - C/DH Jesus Montero, Seattle Mariners
2012 (Jeff Reese) - RHP Shelby Miller, St. Louis Cardinals
2012 (Al Skorupa) - RHP Taijuan Walker, Seattle Mariners


Walker and Rendon are still minor leaguers and check in at #1 and #5, respectively, on the projected 2013 list. Hellickson won American League Rookie of the Year in 2011, while Hosmer came in 3rd in the AL RoY voting. Walker and Montero are expected to produce this season so the jury is still out on them.

Of the nine players listed above, Chapman has been an enigma as no one seems to be able to harness his raw talent, Matusz is entering Mike Pelfrey territory in terms of disappointingly maddening consistency, and Myers' stock has dropped since 2011.

So Wheeler checking in at #6 seems to have a better than 50% chance of becoming a successful major leaguer (and perhaps a 40% chance of becoming a bust).

Thursday, March 29, 2012

WSJ's analysis of the current and future New York Mets

The Wall Street Journal has a couple of articles on the New York Mets today. They have a preseason position-by-position preview, with plenty of useful and useless information for each player, such as this tidbit on David Wright:

"Useless Information: Is trying to sell his Flatiron District bachelor pad for $6.25 million after relocating to the Upper East Side last year."

WSJ also has a great piece on how the Mets are trying to avoid doing with Zack Wheeler, Matt Harvey, Jeurys Familia, and Jenrry Mejia what they did with Jason Isringhausen, Bill Pulsipher, and Paul Wilson (aka 'Generation K'). Apparently they convened a post-mortem after Generation K disintegrated:

"Could the injuries have been prevented? Maybe not, Pulsipher said. But a few years after the three of them debuted, Mets officials convened to try to figure out why they broke down.

The numbers revealed a common thread: a rapid increase in workload. Isringhausen threw just over 90 innings in 1993, then threw more than 193 innings the following year. For Wilson, the jump was even more dramatic, from 49 innings in 1994 to 186 in 1995. Pulsipher logged just under 140 innings in 1993, then threw 201 in 1994.
"

All-in-all, the WSJ article and the recent Mets.com article both talk about how the Mets are optimistic about their prospects. The WSJ article also talks about the limits the Mets now have on their pitching prospects, so there's hope the team has finally learned from its erroneous ways.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Sandy Koufax, Hall of Famer, gives New York Mets reliever Bobby Parnell some pitching tips | NYPOST.com

How awesome would it be as a professional baseball player to hear that Sandy Koufax wanted to meet you because he heard so much about you (Zack Wheeler/Matt Harvey) or he took an interest in your pitching (Bobby Parnell) and wanted to offer some advice?