Meet the New Mets

The Mets had seventeen picks on day one of the draft and they went with ten pitchers. Nine of the pitchers were right handed and only three were from high school. As for the rest, the Mets picked two third baseman, one shortstop, two catchers, and two outfielders. Perhaps the most interesting name is the Mets eighth round pick Jeremy Barfield who is the son of Jesse Barfield and the brother of Padres second baseman Josh Barfield.

Kevin Mulvey R/R RHP College

Baseball America listed him as the 30th best prospect back on May 25th and had this to say about him:

Mulvey, who hails from Parlin, N.J., has been a weekend starter since he arrived at Villanova and has seen his stock rise this season even while posting rather pedestrian 3-7, 3.66 numbers. Scouts are impressed with his command of three average or better pitches: a 90-94 mph fastball, a slider that is effective against right-handed hitters and a curveball that some scouts like even better than the slider. He also has good feel for a changeup that can be used to get lefties out.

Pitching Stats:

      W  L   ERA    IP  H/9 HR/9  BB/9  K/9  WHIP
2004  7  4  5.29  80.0 9.23  .23  5.06 6.86  1.59
2005  4  4  4.65  71.2 9.42  .25  3.52 9.17  1.44
2006  3  8  3.51  92.1 8.89  .39  2.25 8.60  1.23

"It's awesome," said Mulvey, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound right-handed pitcher. "It feels great. I was watching the draft on the computer and I always had it in the back of my mind that the Mets could draft me. I can't tell you how excited I am."

What we see with him is a positive trend in ERA, H/9, BB/9, WHIP, and K/BB. Mulvey seems like a good kid and still looks like he has some work to do in the minor leagues, but he does look promising.

Joseph Smith R/R RHP College

Baseball America had Smith listed at the 127th best best prospect heading into the draft and had this to say about him:

When he made the team as a walk-on in 2004, he used a high three-quarters arm slot and pitched at 85-87 mph. After Rob Cooper took over as head coach before the 2005 season, new assistant coach Greg Lovelady suggested Smith drop down to a sidearm delivery. That usually adds movement and subtracts velocity, but Smith's fastball now sits at 88-91 mph and reaches 94. He also throws a nasty slider and his changeup has improved this spring as well. Hitters have trouble picking up his pitches, as evidenced by his regular-season 0.75 ERA--which would lead NCAA Division I if he weren't five innings short of qualifying. Smith could move quickly as a pro reliever.

Pitching Stats:

      W  L   ERA    IP  H/9 HR/9  BB/9   K/9  WHIP
2004  2  2  2.75  36.0 9.00  .25  2.75 10.00  1.31
2005  1  2  1.10  32.2 4.96  .28  3.31 11.57  0.92
2006  3  1  0.98  55.0 5.56  .00  2.45 8.67   0.89

What is unclear about Smith is whether or not he bucks the trend of the typical sidearm pitcher and has the ability to get lefties out. If Smith is in fact a super ROOGY, it would be a bizarre pick for the Mets in this slot, but one would have to assume he can get guys out from the both side of the plate or he would not have been ranked as high as he was.

John Holdzkom R/R RHP CC

Holzdzkom was the 21st ranked high school player last year in California and was drafted by the Mariners in the 15th round. He attended Junior College and was eligible to be a draft and follow, but the Mariners passed on him and the Mets snatched him up.

Baseball America had this to say about John:

Among the most signable players in the state is 6-foot-7, 230-pound RHP John Holdzkom, who was academically ineligible to play for his high school team until late April. Even when he was reinstated, he pitched sparingly because of issues with his coach and control problems. In his first game back, he gave up nine runs in two innings while hitting three batters and making three wild pitches. Much like his brother Lincoln, who also came with makeup questions when he signed with the Marlins as a seventh-round pick in 2001, he has considerable upside. He has touched 93-94 in limited outings and workouts, and scouts believe there is more in there. A team will have to believe in its player-development department to warrant taking him in the first 10 rounds.Pitching Stats:

      W  L   ERA    IP  H/9 HR/9  BB/9   K/9  WHIP
2006  3  2  4.25  31.2 5.12 0.28 11.37 12.51  1.83

While his arm is certainly interesting, he has a long way to go to put it mildly. The guy averaged an astounding 11.4 walks per nine, but did post a great H/9 and a great K/9. You never know, maybe the Mets can catch lightning in a bottle with a guy who is a big fan of power dancing, line dancing, and making the world a better place.

(thanks to Joe for the above link)

Stephen Holmes R/R RHP College

Baseball America had Stephen Holmes listed as the 187th best prospects in draft and had this to say about Holmes:

Holmes has gone 20-3 in his college career, giving him the URI record for career winning percentage (.870). That's the best way to describe Holmes: He's a winner. He doesn't dominate with his stuff, but he is a fierce competitor with the best feel for pitching of anyone in the Northeast this year, and he always works around the plate. He has a solid-average 88-92 mph fastball that he locates wherever he wants, and his out pitch is a curveball that can be inconsistent.

Pitching Stats:

      W  L   ERA    IP  H/9 HR/9  BB/9   K/9  WHIP
2004  5  1  3.46  75.1 7.53 0.36  3.58 10.15  1.23
2005  7  1  4.34  72.2 8.68 0.96  2.17  9.28  1.21
2006 10  2  1.30 104.0 6.23 0.09  1.73  8.05  0.88

While Steve has a limited ceiling, 2006 has taught the Mets how invaluable some consistency at the back of the rotation is and Holmes looks like an insurance policy for the situation they experienced this season. Holmes is basically in the same mold as Brian Bannister and figures to take the same organizational role down the line.

Scott Schafer R/R RHP HS

Schafer has signed a letter of intent to attend Texas State in 2007 and their website had this to say about him:

Scott Schafer is a 6'1" 160 lbs. right-handed pitcher from Pasadena, Texas. Schafer was one of the Houston area's best in strike outs and ERA, earning First-Team All-District honors under head coach Mike Morgan at Memorial High School.

"Scott is an incredible young pitching talent with four pitches that he can use," Harrington said. "He throws for strikes and has great poise on the field. Scott brings a tremendous competitive spirit to our program."

Of course that rousing endorsement was from the Texas state coach, but Schafer does throw a 90-92 mph fastball and a good endorsement is much better than the very mixed endorsement that John Holdzkom received.

Daniel Stegall L/R OF HS

Stegall has committed to playing football for the Miami Hurricanes next season. He is a quarterback who ran for 1,475 yards and 24 touchdowns while passing for 2,546 yards and another 26 touchdowns during his senior season in high school and those are just mind blowing numbers.

“It's top in the in schools, the football program. It's going to be a great place,” Stegall said.

The little showoff not only had a ridiculous season on the football field, he struck out 89 in 53 innings with a 1.63 ERA while topping out at 93 mph with his fastball. For good measure he hit .562 and had a 3.91 GPA.

"All the other schools (that recruited me) said I could play baseball and football there," Stegall said. "I talked to coach (Jim) Morris and coach (Larry) Coker abut sitting out a year, working on a year just of football and maybe the next year going out and playing baseball. They said spring practice is the big thing we're going to work around.

"I'll try to play both sports, but not the first year."

While he seems like an exceptional athlete, it will probably take a lot of money to get him away from Miami. He is extremely committed to football at this point and is ready to sit out a year of baseball while being the scout quarterback for the team barring any injury. It will be interesting to see how high the Mets will go to try and bring him in.

Nathan Hedrick R/R RHP CC

Nathan Hedrick is a big 6'10" right hander that pitched for Barton County Community College.

Pitching Stats:

      W  L   ERA    IP SV  H/9 HR/9  BB/9   K/9  WHIP
2006  6  1  2.70  35.2 10 6.31  0.0  4.54 10.35  1.21

Hedrick plunked seven guys in his 35.2 innings of work and worked strictly out of the bullpen. The nineteen year old right hander's fastball has been clocked around 90 mph.

Jeremy Barfield R/L OF

Barfield is a big 6-4, 240 pound pitcher/outfielder. John Sickels said that Barfield has the potential to be an excellent power hitter, but he lacks defensive value. Ultimately, Barfield may end up as a first baseman.

Baseball America had him ranked as the 141st best prospect in the draft and has this to say about him:

Though he's a 6-foot-6 lefthander, he had a low-80s fastball and just a fair curveball. Barfield has a lot more power in his bat than in his arm. His size gives him leverage to drive pitches, and he has emerged as one of the best high school hitters in Texas. Barfield's bat will have to carry him, because his other tools don't stand out. He has below-average speed and arm strength, and he may have to move to first base as a pro. Scouts like his makeup and confidence, and his stock was rising as the draft approached. Though he's a good student, he wants to turn pro. Jeremy has passed on four-year schools and has committed only to San Jacinto (Texas) Junior College.

Barfield is really an interesting pick that seems to be raw, but he has considerable upside. If you would like to be J Barf's friend on MySpace, click here.

Philips Orta R/R RHP CC

Pitcing Stats:

      W  L   ERA    IP  H/9 HR/9  BB/9   K/9  WHIP
2006  3  6  2.85  54.0 9.67  0.0  3.67 11.67  1.48

I don't have much on Orta besides the fact he is from Venezuela.

Nick Giarraputo R/R 3B HS

Batting Stats:

      G  AB  R  2B  HR  RBI  BB  SO  AVG  OBP  SLG
2006 28  83 27   7   7   35  18   5 .446 .570 .783

Nick has committed to going to Long Beach State. Long Beach is a very good baseball program so there is talent there or else they would not be interested in him. Also, he would be filling some pretty big shoes if he stays at third that just got drafted third overall by the Devil Rays. Again, not much on him but stats, but he looks like a decent high school player. We'll see what that translates into and if the Mets can pry him away from being a Dirtbag.

Daniel Murphy L/L 3B College

Batting Stats:

      G  AB  R  2B  HR  RBI  BB  SO  AVG  OBP  SLG
2004 32  77 12   5   1    9   9  13 .377 .455 .506
2005 54 219 35  12   2   31  11  23 .329 .381 .429
2006 57 221 54  10   6   55  34  13 .398 .470 .534

"Daniel Murphy is one of the best pure hitters that I've had the good fortune to coach," said JU head coach Terry Alexander. "On top of that, he proved how much of a competitor he is by playing with one bad leg as we headed into the postseason."

Current injured Met Juan Padilla is one of two Jacksonville University players to be on big league rosters in 2006.

Tobi Stoner R/R RHP College

Pitcing Stats:

      W  L   ERA    IP  H/9 HR/9  BB/9   K/9  WHIP
2006  8  5  2.90    90  8.5  0.7   1.5   7.9  1.11

Stephen Puhl S/R C College

Batting Stats:

      G  AB  R  2B  HR  RBI  BB  SO  AVG  OBP  SLG
2005 53 177 45   9   5   39  31  15 .350 .456 .525
2006 49 150 36  14   2   41  28  11 .333 .432 .493

Ritchie Price S/R SS College

Batting Stats:

      G  AB  R  2B  HR  RBI  BB  SO  AVG  OBP  SLG
2005 64 195 34  14   5   40  41  51 .256 .409 .405
2006 68 290 52  12   2   33  22  44 .286 .356 .348

The rest:
Andrew Moye R/R RHP HS
Justin Dallas R/R Catcher HS
Duane Privett L/L LHP CC

* * *

Needing some more pointless drivel, apparently Willie not using Wagner when he was trying to give the bullpen is now a point of contention.

"Everything's new and it takes getting used to," Wagner said. "We're here to win and we go by his rules. There's no 'I' on this team. There are no roles on this team. The way he looks at it, there is no closer, there is no set-up man, we're all pitchers. He treats us all the same and he expects us to do anything he says."

Now, I didn't even see him throw a pitch in the bullpen and he gets ready in twelve pitches. If Bradford got in trouble he was on standby, but did not even waste his arm in the least bit. He stretched. That's it. I have to side with Willie. What if Wagner came in and threw 30 pitches with no off day this week? He didn't need to be used save situation or not. They had control of the game and Wagner had just pitched two consecutive days. It turned out that Wagner was not needed in yesterday's game, but with Pedro and Glavine slated to be the next two pitchers, it is easy to see why Randolph wanted to give everyone a break so they were ready to go.

Glavine goes for number nine against Odalis Perez (4-1, 6.05 ERA). Money in the bank for the Mets.

Ben Shpigel has a nice article on Jose Reyes.

"We don't mind that he hits home runs," Carlos Delgado said. "But we don't want him to try to hit home runs."

Before Tuesday's 8-5 loss to the Dodgers, Delgado expressed the prevailing viewpoint in the clubhouse, preferring that Reyes's legs piston, not jog, around the bases. That is when Reyes is at his most electrifying. His speed transforms shallow fly balls into sacrifice flies, steals into minor risks and triples into probably the 10 most captivating seconds in baseball. But Reyes cannot show off his talent if he cannot get on base.

The Phillies had the Mets first round pick for this year's draft and who do the inevitably draft? Kyle Drabek of course. The kid with the electric arm that was the one guy that I wanted the Mets to get above all if they could have had anyone. A bit of a slap in the face, but it is tough to really complain when you get Mr. Billy Wagner.