This is the second year where we are walking through the previous season’s Baseball America’s Top Prospect handbook, looking at the all the Mets to see how they are developing against Baseball America’s Projections.
The Mets drafted lefty Thomas Szapucki out of the 5th round in the 2015 draft. The theme in his pre-2019 write up in BA was the same theme you probably have repeated yourself when talking about the exciting southpaw – his injuries. He had a terrific 2016 where he posted a 1.38 ERA over 52.0 innings in Kingsport in Brooklyn and then fell into injury trouble (shoulder impingement followed by Tommy John surgery). The latter knocked him out for the whole 2018 season. So BA last year was excited, as we all were, to see Thomas back on the mound last year.
BA notes that Szapucki has a low to mid 90’s fastball from a lower arm slot and high-spin curveball that sits in the upper 70’s. They project him as either a #3 starter (ceiling) or high leverage reliever.
So how did he do in 2019?
2019 Columbia: 11 G, 21.2 IP, 2.08 ERA, 1.108 WHIP, 10.8 K/9
2019 St. Lucie: 9 G, 36.0 IP, 3.25 ERA, 1.333 WHIP, 10.5 K/9
2019 Binghamton: 1 G, 4.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, BB, 4 K, 2 HBP
Once he acclimated to pitching again, he was used as a starter, which most likely he will continue unless the Mets make the conscious decision that they need him sooner than later and turn him into a reliever. The Mets lack of starter talent right now outside of David Peterson also necessitates him in the rotation. Thomas had a great 2019 and I think we are all excited to see what he can do in 2020.
