For the first time in a while (possibly 2014 when the the Mets picked up Sean Gilmartin) the Mets selected a player in the Rule 5 draft this week and did not trade him to another team (yet). The Mets selected Kyle Dowdy from Cleveland citing that he could provide rotation depth in the upcoming season.
Kyle Dowdy was drafted in the 12th round of the 2015 draft by the Tigers. He was traded at the deadline this year with Leonys Martin to the Indians for prospect Willi Castro, who was ranked as the Indians #7 prospect by Baseball America last year.
Over his career, the right hander has posted a 27-27 record over 78 games and 365.2 innings with a 3.99 ERA and 1.332 WHIP. His first year was his best in the minors, posting a 2.84 ERA over 107.2 innings in low-A ball where he was 1.3 years above the average age in the league. His numbers took a dip the following year, 3.83 ERA and a 4.57 RA9 over 134.0 innings in A+ ball where he was almost a year older than average.
Last year he split time between Detroit and Cleveland’s AA teams and Detroit’s AAA team posting a combined 5.15 ERA over 124.0 innings. His best stint was his 54.1 innings with the Tigers’ AAA club where he posted a 4.47 ERA over 54.1 innings. It has been reported that his velocity jumped a bit after being traded. This is a positive sign.
The Mets will now need to keep Dowdy on the roster for the entire season to keep him. While he has spent most of his time starting in the minors, barring either an unforeseen terrible event (pitcher injury), or a surprising one (somehow Vargas isn’t on the team anymore), Dowdy will be competing for a spot in the rotation. The extra velocity on his fastball last season comes into play here as he’ll mostly be competing against other hard throwers the Mets have stockpiled in sell-off’s the last few years (minus Gerson Bautista – have fun in Seattle!)
I’m not 100% sure how Dowdy fits on the club, but selecting him is a move that ultimately only costs the Mets 50k if it doesn’t work out and if it does gives them another value arm.
