Adonis Uceta. Sounds familiar right? Like sounds like a player you may have spent a lot of time, for a short time, talking about and then slipped from your memory and you’re not completely sure why? That was my experience at least writing this article. Adonis Uceta landed himself at the #21 spot on BA’s Top 30 Mets prospects because in 2017 in Columbia he absolutely dominated pitching 43 innings in 29 games as a reliever posting a 1.26 ERA, 0.91 WHIP.
For Uceta, it was his first sustained run at success since signing with the Mets and playing with rookie level teams from 2013 thru 2016. He was above the average age, just slightly when he played in the DOSL at age 19 (by 0.2 years) and his amazing year in Columbia, he was 1.1 years above average (he ended the season as a younger player in Binghamton).
What happened? Why did his stock suddenly rise up? The Mets converted him into a reliever in 2017 and it just clicked for him. BA even notes that his velocity went up throughout the season going from 92-94 to 96-99 at the end. He even earned a non-roster invite to major league camp.
But then he strained his hamstring at camp and was assigned to minor league camp. And then after struggling at the beginning of the season for Binghamton he got injured again and didn’t come back for a while. Overall he posted a 6.04 ERA over 16 games and 25.1 innings in Binghamton last year. He was never an elite prospect so he just slipped to the back of our collective mind about young Mets arms.
Uceta will most likely start the season again at Binghamton. But there is another wrinkle. Uceta is eligible for the Rule V draft this year, again. He wasn’t selected last year and his play this year didn’t help his stock but it is still a possibility.
