Mets Have Young Stud in PJ Conlon

The Mets seem to have struck gold in a 2015 draft pick, that happened to be in the 13rd round. They selected PJ Conlon, a left-handed pitcher that hails from Belfast, Ireland. PJ is currently seeking to become the first Major League pitcher from come from Ireland in over 72 years!

After three successful years as a University of San Diego Torero, the New York Mets took their chances on him. He’d posted a 2.83 ERA in 294.1 innings, an absolutely astounding figure given the fact that they play in the loaded West Coast Conference. The Toreros got a good one, as he helped lead them to multiple conference championship tournaments. Conlon is fond of the time he spent there, citing an extremely close bond with head coach Rich Hill and the rest of the coaching staff. Upon his departure, he had already received multiple All-American honors and even had two great summers with the prestigious Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod League.

Soon after being drafted, he received a low $100,000 signing bonus. In his first season, he was assigned to the Brooklyn Cyclones at the A- level. Just pitching 17 innings, he struck out 25 batters and allowed zero runs. This was enough to earn him a promotion in his second season, where he floated around with the Columbia Fireflies (A) and the St. Lucie Mets (A+). He was extremely successful and this is the season it became clear that Conlon was something special. In 78.1 innings with the Fireflies, he had allowed just 19 runs, striking out 61 and winning 8 of 12 starts. After being promoted again, the St. Lucie Mets saw him pitch 63.2 innings for a 1.41 ERA on a 0.96 WHIP.

In the off-season though, trade rumors began to arise. Mets fans seemed to be pleading the organization to keep the young stud, which they luckily did. The franchise seemed to doubt Conlon a little, considering draft reports cited him as being too small and weak. He only stands about 5’11”, and his fastball rarely tops the low 90s. Conlon was invited to the 2017 Spring Training, in a move that seemed kind of like a test for the crafty lefty. This gave the Mets a chance to judge his stuff even more, and they seemed to like it enough to keep him around. Last season was spent in AA, with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies. His stats weren’t quite as phenomenal, but that can be accredited to the fact that he’s just two levels away from the Show. Conlon’s record was 8-9, with a 3.37 ERA in 136 innings, which was good enough to earn him an organization All-Star nod. Prior to the 2018 season beginning, he’s racked up four All-Star appearances throughout post-season and franchise votes. PJ has even been pitcher of the week three times, all of which go towards his case of an MLB promotion.

As 2018’s Spring Training begins, Conlon has secured another invite. So far, he’s just thrown live batting practice against the club. Mets manager Mickey Callaway has spoken highly of him, saying, “He was throwing the ball where he wanted to, pitching in off the plate, good changeup down and away, so I think he’s another piece of the puzzle that can help us sometime in the near future.” Star right-fielder Jay Bruce also spoke highly of Conlon, remarking that his changeup was “pretty good”. It seems that this next season he will float between AA and AAA, with the small possibility of an MLB call-up. The possibility of a call-up to the Major Leagues within the next two seasons is very high, though. It was just announced a day ago that Conlon will be converted into a relief pitcher, something that would make way for his debut at the highest level. The Mets currently have a strong enough rotation to not deem him necessary, thus the conversion being a way to find him time and growth in the Show. Currently, most prospect rankings have Conlon anywhere from 15-30th in the entire organization. That’s pretty good, nonetheless considering that he was a 13th round pick. For now, Mets fans can only wait and see what happens. They can be hopeful that he will eventually be called up but regardless, the young stud has a very bright future. If somehow a trade does go through, New York will certainly get some good assets for him. All in all, it seems as if this 24-year old kid will in fact break the long drought of Irish-born players in the MLB.

Las Vegas Has The Mets At 73.5 Wins

This week, the Las Vegas Hilton Superbook put out their predictions for the upcoming 2014 MLB season.  It's probably to no one's surprise that they have the Mets coming in with a total of 73.5 wins.  They are also 25-1 odds of being the NL East champions this season, which to me really doesn't seem that high considering the negativity surrounding this team.  I'll give my take on the Mets in a moment, but onto to the rest of the NL East.

The Hilton has the NL East as follows:

Wins
Atlanta - 87.5
Washington - 87.5
Philly - 76
METS - 73.5
Miami - 69.5

Division Odds
Atlanta - even money
Washington - even money
Philly - 12-1
METS - 25-1
Miami - 30-1

I think for the most part, there are no shocking totals here.  The division could and probably should come down to Atlanta and Washington.  This is pretty much on line with how the season finished last season.  All of the teams, including the two at the top, have some question marks, but I think this is fair.

The Mets finished with 74 wins last year, which means Vegas is essentially saying that they haven't improved or gotten worse.  I'm going to pick the over.  I don't care if I get ridiculed for it, I don't think it's a bad bet.  I also don't think its a sure thing.  But I expect this team to be better for a few reasons.

First off, I really don't think that the play from our first basemen and short stop can get any worse than it did last year.  Last year was probably rock bottom for both Ike and Duda, as well as Tejada.  In the past, these guys have all shown they can handle big league pitching, and for whatever excuse they each had, they were all just awful in 2013.  Tejada and Duda both went to the performance camp this winter, and I expect that gains were made from it.  So it's not unreasonable to see improvements from the two black holes we had last season.

Secondly, I expect Travis d'Arnaud to be better in 2014.  He did not impress in his call up last season.  Let's not forget though, prior to his promotion, he played only 99 baseball games in 23 months since the end of the 2012 minor league season.  I'm not making excuses for him, but I consider last year a wash. He was working his way back into shape and had all sorts of pressure on him. This year he comes back to camp, hopefully in shape and healthy.  He has shown he can hit in his minor league career.  Although I am not expecting him to be Mike Piazza, I think he still can be one of the better catchers in the game  After April last year, we got zero production from behind the plate.  Black hole number three should be filled.

My next point is that I think the addition of Curtis Granderson will help David Wright more than people think.  Even thought he has his faults, Granderson is a bona fide power hitter and a good clubhouse presence.  I think having him in the line-up will take a lot of pressure off Wright.  I know people are saying that Granderson only replaces Marlon Byrd, but let's look at it from start to finish.  Byrd wasn't even playing every day in April and May.  And in those months, he was hitting .240 with 6 home runs.  He didn't get hot until June.  So at the beginning of the season, what did Marlon Byrd do for David Wright?  Not much of anything.  Having a guy like Granderson in the line-up on opening day is good for every one's psyche, especially Wright's.

Moving on, even without Harvey, the Mets still have solid pitching.  The rotation is deeper this year.  Harvey is being replaced by another all-star pitcher.  Ok, am I really comparing Colon to Harvey?  No.  But as long as he is healthy, how much worse is Colon going to be, in a pitchers park against the NL? He is going to be fine.  I'd like to think Wheeler will improve, although I'm not expecting a Harvey like rise to stardom in year two.  Either way, the guy can chuck it.  Dillon Gee really took a big leap last year.  And don't forget, he started off terribly in 2013.  But he was coming off the surgery to remove the blood clot from his pitching arm.  When he finally got his arm strength back, he was as reliable as anyone in the rotation. Although I am not expecting him to match his Post May-2013, I think he will be steady and give the team a chance. Niese is Niese. You know what you're getting. As for the fifth spot, I'm really hoping Mejia gets it.  If he does, then I think top to bottom the Mets rotation is as deep and competitive as almost any team in the National League.  This rotation is much improved over last years opening day rotation of Neise, Harvey, Marcum, Gee and Hefner.

The X-factor for this team is going to be Chris Young.  I'm not expecting much.  However I hold on to hope that the former all-star spent this offseason trying to rediscover himself in search of a multiyear deal after 2014.  You've seen it before.  Guys all of a sudden turn on a light when it's time to get paid.  I'm not banking on it, but it'll be big for this team if he somehow can have a Byrd like resurgance.

A lot of what I just said was obviously just assumption.  Like I've said in the past, I'm not an expert, and I won't pretend to be.  The oddsmakers in Vegas are very good at what they do, and I'm sure they have their legitimate reasons why they think the Mets are a 73-74 win team. For the hell of it though, I'm going to give my over/under. As the roster stands right now, my over under is 78.5 wins. If they wind up signing Drew, I'll make that 81.5. I'm obviously banking on a lot of things to go right for this team.  But I expect players who spent their offseason trying hard to become better ball players to actually be better ball players. I don't think that's all that crazy a notion. And if they are better ball players, then they're a better baseball team. I'll also could just be unusually optimistic this morning.  Who knows?  If I wrote this exactly when I woke up today, I might have been singing a different tune. Either way, call me a homer or a shill or whatever you want.  I don't think What I wrote is all that outlandish.

I know most will disagree with me.  Give me the business on Twitter @GetsThruBuckner.