213 Miles From Shea

With the 101st pick of the 2011 MLB Draft, the Mets selected another college pitcher in Logan Verrett, a Right Handed Pitcher (RHP) from Baylor University. Verrett hails from Texas and was not drafted out of high school. What makes me excited about Verrett are three Big 12 records that he holds:

K/BB – 4.14

BB/9 – 2.30

K/BB (Career) – 3.83

Mainly, what is looked at for a college pitcher, outside of raw skill is control. Can they control their pitches while still getting batters out? Well in the college level Logan Verrett is doing that, and doing that very well. While the other pitchers they Mets have chosen were power pitchers, Verrett is a control pitcher. His fastball sits at around 90's, he mixes in a slider and has a changeup that is in the 70's. Here are some of his college numbers:

2011: 7-5, 2.87 ERA, 100.3 IP, 95 K

2010: 5-3, 3.28 ERA, 90.2 IP, 97 K

2009: 7-1, 5.13 ERA, 54.1 IP, 64 K

In 2009 he was mostly used in relief, and since that he was mainly used as a starter. His K's stand out, especially vs innings. The key for Logan moving up in the system will be if he can make the adjustments necessary for the higher levels of play. Will he still be able to keep the ball in the zone while keeping runners off the base? Time will tell.

No surprise here. After drafting two high school players in the first round and the supplemental round, the Mets went with a College player with their second round pick at overall #71. Cory Mazzoni is a pitcher for N.C. State and is a power pitcher with a mid 90's fastball and as some articles have described him online. “devastating” off speed stuff.

The draw for Mazzoni is probably his raw skill set right now (like his fastball), and his age. he will be turning 22 in October, and he has enough experience that if he performs well in the minors, he is the type of player that will spend 2-3 years instead of 3-5 years before maturing up. Here are some of his college numbers over the last couple of years:

2011: 3.30 ERA, 114.2 IP, 6-6, 2 CG, 1 SHO, 137 K

2010: 5.20 ERA, 91.2 IP, 7-3, 89 K

2009: 6.57 ERA, 38.1 IP, 1-5, 30 K

When he came in, he was mainly a relief pitcher and then in his second year he became a starter for the Wolf Pack. The number to look at for him is his strikeouts. In his first year, just slightly below one per inning, in his second year, very close to one per inning, and in his final year, he was well above one per inning. I would guess he will get a shot to start in the Mets system, but with the strikeout numbers, him in the pen wouldn't be bad either if he can't cut it as a starter.

Now that its been over 12 hours since the first day of the 2011 MLB draft has ended, I've been able to collect and reflect on some thoughts about the draft, and refined my opinions that were posted in haste last night. Mainly, I was concerned about Fulmer for sign-ability reasons, but over at Metsblog, Matt Cerone had a quote on his twitter feed of Fulmer saying that before he was looking forward to playing with Nimmo for Arkansas, but now he is looking forward to play with him on the Mets. This makes me wonder if this might be a both sign or both leave situation, if that Fulmer, who was fairly similar to several High School pitchers left on the board when drafted, if by selecting him the Mets were hoping to get him sign by already drafting one of his future teammates.

DePosta said something else last night that was telling, that he wants high risk / high reward type players early, not the safe ones. I have to agree with this here. There is a general feeling that the Mets and Harvey will pan out, which gave the Mets to be risky with this years draft picks. If both of the players pan out, than this was a fantastic situation, if not, we also know that they were high risk (so its better than when a safe pick fails).

I have a few other general reactions, one of which surrounds Javier Baez who added this tattoo before the draft. I'm not sure if I'm impressed or disturbed by that level of cockiness, but it helps calm any fears about his sign-ability.

I'll probably expand on this point after the draft but the Rays did well with their 10 picks, considering their first two picks were players that should have been drafted before the Rays picked. That system is going to be stacked.

Well round two starts now, let's see what other surprises await the Mets!

The not surprising part of this pick was that Fulmer is a hard throwing pitcher. The surprising part of this pick is that Fulmer is another High School player, and he will be a tough sign, and as the MLB Draft show put it, a lot of that has to do with a teammate of his committed to the University of Arkansas as well (same with the Mets earlier pick tonight as well, interesting). Fulmer was named the Big All – City Baseball player of the year this year and he did by being a talented pitcher and by putting together a good season at the plate. He is known for his fastball which can hit the mid 90's and also has a good curveball as well (maybe one of the best for High School Pitchers in the draft). Like all high school pitchers, he has a lot of raw talent, but he is going to need some work to become an effective pitcher. Here are some baseball statistics for the Mets second first round pick:

2011: 10-2, 3 S, 0.72 ERA, 127 K, 68.1 IP

2011: .436 BA, 130 AB, 6 HR

2010: 7-1, 1.15 ERA

2009: 6-1, 3.09 ERA

So from his stats, he looks good, and his numbers reflect what you think you would see from a high schooler who has been clocked as high as 97 mph. I am concerned about his sign-ability, but if the Mets can sign him, he will be interesting to watch in the Mets farm system.

Other Notes:

Baseball America had him at 45 in their top 200

He pitched a 5 inning no-hitter where he struck out 14 batters (and 5 innings there are only 15 outs).

How'd the rest of our division do in the draft? That's a good question and one that won't be answered for years to come, but we can at least have a conversation about the players that have been drafted into our division, the best division in baseball. For a full write up on the Mets draftees, you can read a report for Brandon Nimmo here and Michael Fulmer here.

6. Anthony Rendon – Washington Nationals

Rendon fell into the Nationals. He was originally going to be drafted higher, but teams shied away from his injuries. When he is healthy, he is a dangerous player who can hit for average, power, and play his position really well. The question for the Nationals is where does he fit in since he is a third basemen. He can play other infield positions, and it will be interesting to see what they do with him in the farm system. Rendon (Rice University) is one of four players to be player of the year (Baseball America) as an underclassmen.

14. Jose Fernandez – Florida Marlins

Right after the Mets selected Brandon Nimmo, the Marlins picked RHP Jose Fernandez who comes from Braulio Alonso High School in Florida. Fernandez is noted for two of his pitches, his fastball and slider, that he has already started to use as a powerful combination. His fastball is currently in the mid 90's and with some development that could help him develop into a strong player.

23. Alex Meyer – Washington Nationals

Meyer is 6 foot 9 inches tall ace from Kentucky. Seriously, he is really tall. He can throw his fastball in the mid to high 90's and he can throw his slider in the mid to high 80's. He was a great starting pitcher in college, and his main weakness right now is his control. If he can work on that he will be a strong starting pitcher. Peter Gammons feels that he will get a chance to be a starter, but he could also develop nicely into a closer, so we'll see what happens.

28. Sean Gilmartin – Atlanta Braves

Gilmartin was the ace of the Florida State University staff. The left hander is just the 3rd college player drafted by the Braves organization in the last two decades, and he also models himself after another Brave (and Met), Tom Glavine. He was 12-1 this season with a 1.83 ERA with good a fastball, and he projects to move quickly up the organization and become a back of the rotation starter. In other words, a safe pick for the Braves.

34. Brian Goodwin – Washington Nationals

This OF is a good hitter who was hitting in the high .330's last season with raw power. He has the ability to run, catch and throw, so he projects to stay in CF and cover some ground. Reynolds during the Draft noted that he feels Brian is a good fit in the Nationals organization.

39. Larry Greene – Philadelphia Phillies

One of the few players who was actually in house for the draft, he was selected out of a high school by the Phillies to play OF. The main talk around Greene is his power (school record for homers, also he hit .500 in that season, and he broke his ankle in football before that season started), and he showed his stuff mainly in workouts and showcases. Praised as one of the best raw power for high school players in this year draft.

Well that was shocking.

Seriously, I did not see this coming at all. I was thinking, like most people were thinking, that the Mets would go with a pitcher in the first round and the #13 pick, but instead they got an Outfielder in Brandon Nimmo, who does not have your normal story. You know when ever you are talking about a place where no one is from, the first state that usually comes to mind is Wyoming? Well that's where Nimmo is from, he is from Wyoming. There is no high school baseball there. Really. None. He has to play a prep school and I was able to dig up some statistics for him from the 2010 season:

2010 – .448 BA, 212 AB, 98 R, 95 H, 23 2B, 6 3B, 15 HR, 84 RBI, 66 BB, 34 SB

Some things jump out about the above numbers. First, I have no idea what to compare these numbers too, they are amazing, but I have no idea where to situate them in context. He has more runs than hits, and he hit well over .400 so that team must have had an awesome lineup and offense. From a purely statistical standpoint he looks amazing.

Being picked high also says something about this draft. The Mets wanted a bat (unless if they wanted Jungmann, who was picked right before the Mets pick) and they had their eye on Nimmo (as they were talking about during the draft) so rather than going for best available, they went for their guy, who probably wouldn't be around the next time through (a lot of people had him going to Texas at #33). I'm all right with going for your guy, if it pans out.

The word on him is he is very athletic, and has a lot of interesting tools with speed now and probable power later. Without the play in the state though, he is also a mystery. If you wanted a high risk / high reward first draft pick, this is probably it.

He currently has a commitment with the University of Arkansas.

With the MLB Draft tomorrow, it is interesting to see what MLB is framing as the situation for each team. Every team has a preview article, and while parts remain the same (like look at a few moments of our history where we did really well in the draft) they do a somewhat good job framing the mindset for each team going into tonight. The following is each team with their matching headline.

Baltimore Orioles: Tough Decisions Loom For O's

Toronto Blue Jays: Blue Jays To Be Aggressive at Draft

Tampa Bay Rays: Plethora of Picks has Rays Pumped

Boston Red Sox: Sox Out To Make Early Draft Impact

New York Yankees: Draft Day Most Important to Yanks

Chicago White Sox: Picking Late, Sox Seek Pitching

Cleveland Indians: Tribe Considering All Pick Angles

Detroit Tigers: Picking 73rd, Tigers Will Stay Alert

Kansas City Royals: Royals Have a Knack for Draft

Minnesota Twins: Twins Have History of Draft Success

Los Angeles Angels: Angels On The Look Out For Left Handers

Seattle Mariners: Mariners in Catbird Seat with #2

Oakland Athletics: A's Won't Limit Themselves In The Draft

Texas Rangers: Sign of the Times, Rangers Set For Draft

Atlanta Braves: Braves Know the Values of Drafting Arms

Florida Marlins: Marlins Focus on Quality Over Need In the Draft

Washington Nationals: Nats Entering Draft From Different Vantage Point

Philadelphia Phillies: Lee Deal Leaves Phils Without First Round Picks

Chicago Cubs: Cubs to Use '11 Draft to Refill Farm System

Pittsburgh Pirates: As Draft Approaches, Pirates Keep Options OPen

Cincinnati Reds: With the 27th Pick, Reds will keep Eyes Wide Open

Milwaukee Brewers: Brewers Aim To Replenish Farm System in Draft

Houston Astros: Mills to Keep Close Eye On Draft

St. Louis Cardinals: Cardinals May Shy Away from Risky Draft Picks

Los Angeles Dodgers: High School Power Arms on Dodgers List

San Francisco Giants: Giants Expect Quality Late Pick on Draft's First Day

San Diego Padres: Padres Plan To Take Advantage of Extra Picks

Arizona Diamondbacks: D-backs Will Load Up On Two Early Picks

Colorado Rockies: Rockies Aim To Fortify Already Strong Farm System

New York Mets: DePosta Hard At Work Preparing Mets For Draft

Live coverage starts at 6 PM tonight. However, I can't make it through 2 minutes of the NFL draft, and although I like baseball a hell of a lot more, I don't think I can sit through the draft.

The Mets and the Braves play the rubber game of their set tonight in front of the nation on ESPN. Friday night's game featured the Mets bullpen fluttering leading to a loss. Yesterday's game was awesome as the Mets rode a great start from Dillon Gee, a seventh inning offense rally and a strong pen performance for a win. Tonight R.A. Dickey of the Mets and Tim Hudson of the Braves.

Dickey is 2-6 on the season with a 4.36 ERA. He had a strong outing last time out but the pen crumbled around him erasing his 7.2 innings of work where he allowed 3 earned runs, in his last three outings he has pitched 16.1 innings (remember, one start was 2.2 innings), with an ERA of 2.20. His only outing against the Braves this year was an relief outing where he had a scoreless inning of work. In 2010 he had a 4.34 ERA over 18.2 innings against the Braves. The Braves have the following numbers on Robert Allen:

Hinske 2-16

Uggla 0-10

McCann 1-7

Prado 0-8

The Mets will get a go against Tim Hudson tonight who is 4-4 this season with a 3.75 ERA. His last start was good as he logged 6.0 innings allowing 1 ER, which was a good rebound from his previous start where he allowed 8 earned runs over 3.2 innings. Last season he was 3-1 with a 2.00 ERA against the Mets in 4 starts. The Mets have the following numbers on Tim:

Beltran 25-70, 3 2B, 3B, 4 HR

Reyes 16-60, 2 2B, 2 HR

Bay 5-15, 2B, HR

Pagan 8-15, 2B

Let's Go Mets!

Tomorrow night is the MLB Draft where the first round and the supplemental round will happen in prime time. The following is the draft order:

1. Pirates

2. Mariners

3. Diamondbacks

4. Orioles

5. Royals

6. Nationals

7. Diamondbacks (Unsigned Pick)

8. Indians

9. Cubs

10. Padres (Unsigned Pick)

11. Astros

12. Brewers

13. NEW YORK METS

14. Marlins

15. Brewers (Unsigned Pick)

16. Dodgers

17. Angels

18. Athletics

19. Red Sox (From Tigers)

20. Rockies

21. Blue Jays

22. Cardinals

23. Nationals (From White Sox)

24. Rays (From Red Sox)

25. Padres

26. Red Sox (From Rangers)

27. Reds

28. Braves

29. Giants

30. Twins

31. Rays (From Yankees)

32. Rays

33. Rangers (From Phillies)

Supplemental Round A (“From's” here are really more like “due to”)

34. Nationals (From White Sox)

35. Blue Jays (From Angels)

36. Red Sox (From Detroit)

37. Rangers (From Phillies)

38. Rays (From Yankees)

39. Phillies (From Nationals)

40. Red Sox (From Texas)

41. Rays (From Boston)

42. Rays (From Oakland)

43. Diamondbacks (From Nationals)

44. NEW YORK METS (From Yankees)

45. Rockies (From Blue Jays)

46. Blue Jays (From Marlins)

47. White Sox (From Arizona)

48. Padres (From Dodgers)

49. Giants (From Dodgers)

50. Twins (From Padres)

51. Yankees (From Marlins)

52. Rays (From Padres)

53. Blue Jays (From Orioles)

54. Padres (From Rangers)

55. Twins (From White Sox)

56. Rays (From Detroit)

57. Blue Jays (From Mariners)

58. Padres (From Pirates)

59. Rays (From Marlins)

60. Rays (From Padres)

Whew. That's a really long supplemental round. After the first supplemental round there will be the second round, which has some substitutions, the third round, and another supplemental round. All following rounds from two on have the same order:

Second Round:

1. Pirates

2. Mariners

3. Diamondbacks

4. Orioles

5. Royals

6. Nationals

7. Indians

8. Cubs

9. Astros

10. Brewers

11. NEW YORK METS

12. Marlins

13. Dodgers

14. Angels

15. Athletics

16. Tigers

17. Rockies

18. Blue Jays

19. Cardinals

20. White Sox

21. Red Sox

22. Padres

23. Rangers

24. Reds

25. Braves

26. Giants

27. Twins

28. Yankees

29. Rays

30. Phillies

Yesterday we looked at the less than stellar batting practice jerseys for this year's All Star game, and we knew they were going to be bad mainly because the Diamondbacks already have a struggling jersey, and the BP jerseys are generally very gimmicky in the first place, a combination that leads to bad results. The Caps are generally bad anyway, and are made for a quick buck so here are the pics for this year's model:

The hat's aren't that bad. I like that they make use of the Arizona font, symbol and All Star game logo, however they were all sub par to begin with, so the result is sub par. But, once again, they did a good job with what they had to work with.