Mar 21 2019 08:59 PM
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Man, I've heard it all. "Zach Lee Like You!" "My sentiments, Zach Lee!" "Every Day Is Zach Lee the Same." You can try to be clever, and I imagine you will try, but it's all be said.
But Zach Lee who'm I s'posed to be? That's an open question. You've heard of AAAA guys? Well, I'm something like a AA+ guy. I murder 'em at AA (22-14, 3.22 ERA in 282 1/3 career innings, keeping the ball in the park and usually on the ground. But my stats at AAA have been mostly farty (31-43, 5.20 ERA in 550 2/3 innings. Five hunnert and fitty innings is a lot of farting. And my 8.53 ERA in 12 2/3 MLB innings isn't exactly a selling point.
But the Mets saw something in me. As a former first rounder, who received the highest bonus the Dodgers had ever given to a draftee up until that point, and a former highly ranked prospect, I've been a guy people have seen something in before. I'm 27 now, but there's still something to be seen, and while I'll likely be seeing you in Syracuse, the Mets haven't farmed me out. They've farmed out that mofo Eric Hanhold, but I'm still here and he's a ghost.
All that would seemingly add up to me being about seventh on the Mets starting pitching depth chart at the start of the season. That, as usual, depends on how seriously you take the Mets' insistence that Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman will remain in the pen no matter what.
Being seventh of five (or even ninth of five) at a position where injuries occur the most is pretty good sitting for this here refugee.
But I've gotten a late start this camp and I've only thrown one inning. Yeah, it was perfect, but I'm probably not a realistic candidate to make the team at the start of the season. But I'll be bidin' my time — hell, I'll be JOE bidin' my time — until my call comes, and I bet it happens sooner than later.
What happens next? That's what we're here to find out.