The Mets’ movement at the trade deadline charted a new direction for the organization’s pitching ranks.
While they traded off six players, including three-time Cy Young Award winners Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, they only received one pitcher in return: 23-year-old Justin Jarvis, who is now at Triple-A Syracuse.
In Double-A Binghamton, where four of the team’s top seven pitching prospects reside, that reality sparked opportunity.
“All of us, pretty obviously, are subconsciously thinking about that all the time,” 24-year-old Dominic Hamel said. “Those are two big names to trade away and we’ve still got some veteran arms up there, but yeah, there’s some open spots. It’s really easy to let that take you out of your plan and be, ‘Oh, why don’t they just call me up already?’ You just have to shove where you’re at and keep working and you’ll get there eventually.”
Whether the organization’s next-best homegrown starting pitcher will come from a crop of a strong Rumble Ponies’ rotation is to be seen. But those four pitchers have made headway this season.
Here is how four of the Mets’ top pitching prospects have progressed this seaosn:
Blade Tidwell, No. 10 prospect
A fastball that lingers in the mid-90s and touches 98 mph may have been what caught the Mets’ attention when they drafted Tidwell with the 52nd overall pick in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft.
But the 22-year-old right-hander is overhauling the remainder of his arsenal.
“Whenever I like dig into (my repertoire) and I can see I get a little bit better at something here or there, I usually try to do it,” Tidwell said. “They don’t really change unless you want to change, which I like about this organization. They kind of let you do your own thing.”
At High-A Brooklyn, pitching coach Victor Ramos helped Tidwell craft a changeup that dives like a splitter. Assistant pitching coordinator Kyle Driscoll manipulated Tidwell’s slider to become more of a slurve. And the 6-foot-4 Tennessee product…
Read the full article here
