For the fourth consecutive season here at the Daily Stache, we’re back covering the Mets’ draft picks round-by-round. Tonight will be rounds 1 through compensatory round B, so a total of 74 selections will be made on day 1 of the draft.
This season the Mets have the 10th overall pick in the first round and will then not select again until No. 84 overall as they forfeited their second round selection to the Yankees when they signed Curtis Granderson.
This is part of the new collective-bargaining agreement that when a player is offered a qualifying offer (as Granderson was with the Yankees), the team signing said player must forfeit their first round selection, unless it’s within the top 10 (good news for the Mets).
All the draft “experts” have been saying that the Mets will be selecting a pitcher with their 10th overall pick and I completely agree. Yes, the Mets have depth in pitching with the likes of Harvey, Wheeler, Mejia, deGrom, Montero, Familia, Fullmer, Matz, Tapia, etc. etc. However, the lower end of the farm system is slowly thinning out as those pitchers progress higher into the ranks.
MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo, someone who I consider the Mel Kiper Jr. of the MLB Draft, has listed left-hander Sean Newcomb as the Mets’ primary target. He also says, if Newcomb is off the board, the Mets may also looks at Tyler Kolek, Aaron Nola, or Kyle Freeland as other pitching possibilities.
Newcomb just recently wrapped up a very successful junior season with the Hartford Hawks of the America East Conference, a mid-major conference that is more known for Stony Brook’s run to the NCAA College World Series a few years ago for those in the New York area.
As for Newcomb, he put together a very impressive season as he currently has 106 strikeouts over 93 1/3 innings on the hill this season in college. 40 innings before allowing an earned run on a groundout in the first inning of his seventh start. He then saved his best start for last in the conference tournament as he tossed 121 pitches over seven innings, while striking out 14 en route to his eighth win of the season against a pair of loses.
Kolek is a high school senior that will likely be off the board before the Mets pick at No. 10, the Texas-native attended the same high school as Roger Clemens, Kerry Wood and Josh Beckett. He is committed to TCU, but it’s doubtful he’ll suit up for the Horned Frogs anytime soon.
Nola is a Louisiana-native, who currently attends national powerhouse LSU as a junior. He was drafted by the Blue Jays out of high school, but chose to take his talents to college, where he was an All-American as a sophomore. He was the ace of LSU’s staff and tossed 116 1/3 innings while striking out 134 and held opponents to a .172 batting average against, while accumulating an 11-1 record in 16 starts.
Freeland is a left-hander with a 1.90 ERA while falling just one out shy of 100 innings pitched on the year. He held opponents to a .214 batting average while walking just 13 and punching out 128 batters while pitching for Evansville of the Missouri Valley Conference.
Whomever the Mets decide to select, they will join a solid crop of young talent in the lower-A level if it is a college pitcher who ends up being selected. You could see a pitcher start their professional career at Savannah with the likes of fellow first round picks Dominic Smith (2013) and Gavin Cecchini (2012).
