We round out our preview of pitchers in camp with non-roster invites with Adonis Uceta who is near the top in terms of velocity out of a group that includes Corey Taylor, PJ Conlon, Matt Purke and Drew Smith (Smith is the only competition with a similar fastball range).
Uceta has been playing for Mets farm teams since he was 19 in the Dominican Summer League (2013). Last year the Mets changed him to be a reliever and stock changed dramatically. The then 23 year old posted a 1.51 ERA, 1.66 RAvg over 59.2 innings between Columbia, St. Lucie and Binghamton. The previous year he pitched exclusively in Kingsport posting a 4.99 ERA, 6.46 RAvg which highlights how much of a gigantic step forward he took last season.
I would expect this season for Uceta to start in Binghamton and we’ll see what the Mets do with him throughout the season. He has fast stuff but so do several players of similar make up in the Mets system. Like Smith, he’ll probably only be added to the 40 man this season if something goes wrong with injuries (but that is also the same thing we said about Sewalk and McGowan last season at this time).
