This is the second year where we are walking through the previous season’s Baseball America’s Top Prospect handbook, looking at the all the Mets to see how they are developing against Baseball America’s Projections.
There’s an alternate universe where I start this article something like this:
How neat is it for the Mets, that their #21 and #22 prospects were both drafted in back to back rounds of the 2018 draft out of the same college, South Caroline University?
Adam Hill is the second player on this list that isn’t with the Mets anymore, Chris Viall was the first, he retired last summer. Adam Hill is the first of too many players as we work our way to the top of the list that were traded away last season. Adam Hill was packaged Felix Valerio and Bobby Wahl to the Brewers for Keon Broxton. Keon’s time with the Mets didn’t go swell. Wahl’s time with the Brewers didn’t go so well.
But this article isn’t about them. It’s about Adam Hill, so lets review his time with the Mets before the trade and then let’s look at his first season with the Brewers. Adam Hill was drafted in the 4th round of the 2018 draft. BA notes that he could have been a first round pick but lost his feel for the strike zone. They quote Marc Tramuta, scouting director, as saying Hill reminds him of John Maine. BA concludes by saying “Hill can pitch effectively in short bursts using only his fastball, but to profile as a starter he must develop consistency of his secondary pitches and sharpen his control.”
2018 Brooklyn: 9 G, 15.1 IP, 2.35 ERA, 1.500 WHIP, 15.3 K/9
2019 Wisconsin:26 G, 121.2 IP, 3.92 ERA, 1.381 WHIP, 8.1 K/9
Adam had a successful pro-debut in Brooklyn posting a nice ERA and a dominate K/9 rate. The Brewers have gone all in on using him as a starter and he had a solid year, putting up a lot of innings, with a good ERA and seeing a drop in his WHIP. At 22 in the A ball, he was exactly the average age. I don’t know the Brewers system well at all but I assume he will move up to the Brewers version of the St. Lucie this upcoming year to see if puts up similar numbers. The Mets probably didn’t lose an ace or even a regular starter, but they may have lost a longman, something the Mets have struggled to have the last couple of seasons with consistency.
