Adopted - Jonathon Santucci

[The Hot Corner]

I know the Mets just drafted him in the second round (46th overall pick) last night, but I have watched him pitch (on TV) a few times for Duke during the ACC season, so I wanted to watch over him. He has a fastball in the mid-90's (93-95) and a very good slider in the low 80's. His third pitch is a change up, but he doesn't rely too heavily on it. His main issue has been command and consistently throwing strikes. Hopefully, that will get better with time and he can improve his change up to give him 3 legitimate MLB quality pitches. During his career at Duke opposing hitters batted .208 against him. This season, opponents hit only .188 against him and he racked up 90 strike outs over 58 innings of work.

[The Hot Corner]

I don't think he has actually pitched professionally since being drafted last summer. Rated as the #15 prospect in Mets system.

[The Hot Corner]

Jonathon has started 8 games for the Brooklyn Cyclones thus far this season. He currently has a 2-4 record with 32.0 innings. His ERA is 5.81 and he has surrendered 1.581 WHIP with 32 K and 12 walks. He has been touched for 7 HRs over his 32 innings of work. Small sample size, but he obviously needs to do a better job suppressing the long ball. Luckily, he is only 22 years old, so he has time to develop.

[MFS62]

He pitched six strong innings in his first start after being promoted to Binghamton.

His numbers: 6.0IP 2H 2R 2ER 1BB 8K!

Later

[Cowtipper]

Sproat, Tong, McLean ... and maybe Santucci next year? This ace-in-the-making went 9-4 with a 3.06 ERA in 25 games (23 starts) between the Brooklyn Cyclones and Binghamton Mets. Add in maybe a R.J. Gordon, Jack Wenninger or a healthy Christian Scott and we might forget all about the previous Fab Five.

[The Hot Corner]

Santucci is not off to a great start for Binghamton so far this season.  In his 3 starts he has pitched a total of 12 innings.  It would appear that control has been a big issue as he has walked 8 batters (6 / 9IP) which has elevated his WHIP to 1.417.  On the bright side he has struck out 18 hitters (13.5 / 9IP) and has allowed only 1 HR (0.8 / 9IP).  

His 93-95 MPH fastball is a nice complement to his sharp 85-88 MPH two-plane slider that is his best pitch.  Still trying to develop a reliable 3rd pitch with either his changeup or curve.  If he can develop a an effective third pitch and hone his control, he could develop into a solid starter.  Time will tell, as he is in only his second year of professional baseball as a 23 year old.