The stories in baseball can be so coincidental sometimes you could convince yourself there’s a higher order to the baseball universe orchestrating story lines. Anthony Kay, a left handed pitcher, attended the same Long Island high school as the current lefty in the Mets rotation, Steven Matz. Baseball America gave him a 55 grade with an extreme ranking (worth noting that no one in 2018 got a grade higher than 55 for the Mets).
Kay is the definition of an extreme risk. After he was drafted, his physical highlighted an elbow injury that would later lead to him getting Tommy John surgery. Coming into 2018, he had not pitched in a professional game at all (2017 he tossed Bullpen Sessions). Baseball America wrote about his plus changeup and a 90-95 mph fastball.
And Kay got his chance to pitch this year. In Columbia he went 4-4 over 13 starts and 69.1 innings with a 4.54 ERA. Then in St. Lucie he pitched in 10 games with a 3-7 record and 53.1 innings posting a 3.88 ERA. His 122.2 innings broke the ceiling that BA predicted between 90-110.
So next season Kay will get a higher inning ceiling. The Mets are lacking starting pitching prospects, so barring some unknown situation where the Mets load up on AAA starters or somehow acquire a lot of prospects, Kay will almost certainly start at AA or get to Binghamton by the middle of the season.
In addition, Kay will need to be added to the 40-man after this year. Right it seems unrealistic that Kay will be able to be on a major league roster for the entirety of the 2020 season, so he may be a player the Mets leave up in the Rule V draft after next season unless Kay has a dominating season.
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