Each year at 213 we look through the Non-Roster Invitees to spring training and get to know them a bit. Are they in camp to get a look at big league hitting/pitching to aid their development? Are the Mets just trying to get a better look at a future rookie? Are they a veteran trying to get back to the major league level? What can we expect from them this season?
Kevin Smith was drafted by the Mets in 2018 in the 7th round (please don’t get him confused with Kevin Smith in Toronto’s farm system who was drafted in 2017). The lefty played for the University of Georgia and has moved from Brooklyn to Binghamton in his two seasons with the Mets.
2018 Brooklyn: 12 G, 3 GS, 23.2 IP, 0.76 ERA, 0.761 WHIP
2019 St. Lucie: 17 G, 17 GS, 85.2 IP, 3.05 ERA, 1.249 WHIP, 10.7 K/9
2019 Binghamton: 6 G, 6 GS, 31.1 IP, 3.45 ERA, 1.277 WHIP, 8.0 K/9
It’s impressive that Smith maintained essentially the same stats in a stint in Binghamton despite being 2.3 years younger than average. This meteoric rise in the system earned him an NRI this year as the Mets are probably looking at him for a 2021 major league debut. Most likely he’ll start in Binghamton this year and work his way to Syracuse. Although with a good spring, who knows? Maybe he starts in Syracuse.
As for the majors this year, a lot has to happen. First, he has to be impressive in Spring and in the minors. He has to be so good that he leap frogs David Peterson and any of the other veterans brought in to compete for a rotation spot. Second, there needs to be a reason that he would get consistent starts at the major league level, and that only happens if something bad happens at the major league level.
We’ll be looking at him this spring mainly for how he fairs in 2021. Where does he belong on the Mets rotation depth charts? We have spent a lot of time talking this off-season about how depleted the Mets top of the system is with starting pitching talent thanks to the departures of Kay and Dunn. We know about Peterson, Szapucki and Kilome have injury concerns. Maybe Kevin Smith surprises us all.
