The New York Mets made more additions to their 60-man player pool by adding seven players in Matt Blackham, Jordan Humphreys, Stephen Gonsalves, Thomas Szapucki, Franklyn Kilome, Jake Hager, and David Rodriguez.
Currently, the team has 58 players and will be practicing both at Citi Field as well as their new home facility of the Brooklyn Cyclones.
Matt Blackham
Blackman, who was a 29th round draft pick in 2014, had a terrific minor league career. He has pitched in 136 games in his minor league career to a stellar 2.38 ERA.
Last year, Blackman had the best season of his career and began it in Double-A with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies. After going 5-2 out of the bullpen, he was promoted to Triple-A with the Syracuse Mets. Blackham won three games and allowed only four runs in 12 innings.
Currently, on the 40 man roster, Blackham has a long road ahead to appear in a game. However, he is a hard thrower with a bit of run on his fastball and has a terrific curveball and changeup.
Jordan Humphreys
The New York Mets used their 18th round pick in the 2015 MLB draft on Humphreys. Later that year, he made his professional debut in the Gulf Coast League and had two saves in seven appearances. The following season, the right-hander made 12 starts for the Kingsport Mets in rookie ball before being promoted to the Brooklyn Cyclones.
Unfortunately, he had to undergo Tommy John surgery, forcing him to miss the entire 2018 season. Humphreys came back in 2019 and was only able to make two appearances in rookie ball.
The upside though is exceptionally high despite being an early cut from spring training this season. He has excellent control, which offsets for his lack of velocity. Humphreys also possesses a strong changeup and a curveball with a tremendous hook. He will likely not start the season with the team. But will continue working out with the Mets and can potentially be an option if the Mets need an inning filler.
Stephen Gonsalves
The New York Mets claimed Gonsalves off waivers back in November of 2019 and had a couple of appearances in the majors. He made four starts and pitched in relief three times in 24.2 innings.
Only 25 years old, Gonsalves pitched well in the minors but had multiple significant injuries that kept him sidelined for a lot of his young career.
Unlike Humphrey, Gonsalves is a left-hander with a long body and has four solid pitches, including a slider against left-handers. He tops out at 93 and can be a spot starter. Gonsalves will likely impact the future as a pitcher who can get lefties out.
Thomas Szapucki
Out of all the seven players, Szapucki has the most potential to make an impact in the future with the Mets. He was a former fifth-round pick back in 2015. He started in rookie ball that year and struggled, but had a strong 2016 moving soon up within the organization.
The only negative is Szapucki has never pitched in Triple-A and only thrown four Double-A innings. However, he has an ERA of 2.42 in 33 starts. Szapucki also made six relief appearances, which gives him some versatility after having Tommy John surgery in 2017.
The left-hander, born in the same town as Todd Frazier of Toms River, New Jersey, throws from a low 3/4 arm slot and can top out at 97. He generally sits in the mid-’90s with good sink and has both a curveball and a changeup. Szapucki is currently the seventh-ranked prospect on the Mets according to MLB.com.
Franklyn Kilome
When the Mets traded Asdrubal Cabrera to the Philadelphia Phillies, they acquired another hard-throwing reliever to add to the farm system in Kilome. He was signed as an 18-year old back in 2013 and added much more strength over the years to have a terrific 2017 in both Single-A and Double-A in the Phillies farm system.
When he came to the Mets, he made seven starts in the minor leagues and went 0-3 with a 4.03 ERA in 2018. Kilome then missed the entire 2019 season with Tommy John surgery. Similar to many of the young Mets pitchers they have, Kilome strikes out more than a batter per inning.
He has an electric fastball which is clearly his best pitch. His curveball is also effective, but he needs to work on his changeup if he wants to make it to the next level. Kilome’s control also is an area that he needs to improve.
Jake Hager
It will be a long shot to see Hager this season, but he was added to the player pool. He is 27 years old who has spent his entire career in the minor leagues.
Most recently, Hager played in Triple-A in the Milwaukee Brewers organization and has appeared in nearly 800 games as a minor leaguer. The Nevada native hit a career-high 11 home runs last year. Hager is more known for his terrific glove in the infield.
David Rodriguez
While the Mets top catching prospect Francisco Alvarez was left off the roster, the Mets added a bit more depth with Rodriguez. Without a minor league season, he will have the ability to work out with the Mets. Rodriguez will help work with pitchers throughout the season who are not on the 30 man roster.
In seven minor league seasons, Rodriguez is a lifetime .250 hitter with 38 home runs and 265 RBI’s. He also has thrown out 164 of 418 base runners in his career.
The New York Mets are expected to resume game action on July 18-19 against the New York Yankees in a pair of exhibition games. They will then begin their regular season at home on July 24 at 4:00 p.m. against the Atlanta Braves.
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