Mets Pitching Prospect: Tom Szapucki (2017)

Thomas Mathew Szapucki was born on June 12th, 1996 in Palm Beach Gardens Florida. The six foot two, exceptional high school pitcher was drafted by the New York Mets out of West Palm Beach High in 2015. He was the fourth left handed pitcher drafted by the Mets in 2015 (the 149th pick overall).

He started out pitching two innings of relief for the Gul Coast Mets. He began 2016 with the Kingsport Mets in the Rookie League, going 2-1 with a 1.55 ERA not allowing more than four hits in five starts. That got him the promotion to the A ball Brooklyn Cyclones.

There he made four starts going 2-2 with a 2.35 ERA, his last two starts not as effective as his first due to a stiff back that ended his season early. Still his strike outs per nine innings rate was 14.9 was third best among all prospects. He struck out 86 batters walking 20 in 52 innings pitched.

He pitched in the instructional league & some tweaks in his mechanics made his fast ball more lively, reaching the mid nineties. He is tougher on right hand hitters although keeps both hitters under .200.

The Mets are working on his change up to improve his arsenal of pitches. Although just in A ball, he is expected to be at Columbia & St. Lucie this year, he was raked #60 of ESPN's Keith Laws Prospect.

Overall the Mets are raked as the seventh best minor league system in baseball.