Mar 18 2019 12:16 PM
I'm lefthanded. I'm from Stony Brook. I was drafted by the Mets. In the first round. I missed my entire first two years of pro ball with Tommy John surgery. I don't have a beard, but like to sport the fuzzy beginnings of one. Somehow despite all that, my name isn't Steven Matz.
Now, after finally putting a year under my belt, splitting between Columbia and St. Lucie, I'm not looking bad. I mean, a 4.26 ERA isn't going to blow up the AP wire, but I stayed healthy over 23 starts while having to learn how to pitch all over again. I struck out 78 in 69 1/3 innings and walked only 22.
I may end up on the relief track, but probably not this year. I only threw two innings in Spring Training and I got more hammered than a night out with Stacey Keach. I don't get that joke, but my father thinks it's hi-LAR-ious.
I may return to St. Lucie at the start of the year, but hopefully I'll be up in Bingo soon enough. But it's a make-or-break year for me, as I've been tagged a top-10 team prospect but now that I've got the prove-your-healthy thing behind me, I've got to have the prove-you're-for-real season.
Will it happen? What do you think?