Minor League Mondays: Getting To Know The Newest New York Mets’ Prospect

The New York Mets announced the acquisition of relief pitcher Jacob Rhame from the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday afternoon, making Rhame the newest prospect in the team’s farm system. Rhame, who was rated the 28th best prospect in the Dodgers’ farm system according to MLB.com, was the piece the Mets acquired from the Dodgers in exchange for outfielder Curtis Granderson. This transaction continues a trend of adding high velocity relievers to the Mets’ farm system in the hopes of finding a couple of cheap bullpen arms down the line. Rhame, like former Red Sox’ prospect Jamie Callahan, is in Triple-A and appears to be close to making the majors, making him the focus of this week’s edition of Minor League Mondays.

In 41 appearances for the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City, Rhame is 0-2 with a 4.31 ERA. While the overall numbers don’t look great, Rhame does have an outstanding strikeout to walk ratio, piling up 55 punch outs and walking only 10 batters in 48 innings pitched. A big part of that success is Rhame’s outstanding fastball, which sits between 94-98 miles per hour and has occasionally reached triple digits. Rhame’s big problem is that he doesn’t have a good off speed pitch, making it easy for hitters to sit on that fastball. As a result, Rhame has become an extreme fly ball pitcher, which should be helped at pitcher friendly Citi Field. The Mets may be hoping to teach Rhame the popular Warthen slider, which pitching coach Dan Warthen has used to expand the repertoires of several pitchers in the organization.

If Rhame can develop an off speed pitch, he could become a very effective reliever at the major league level. Even without that offering, Rhame has piled up 306 strikouts in 255 career minor league innings, showcasing his potential. The Mets will likely give Rhame a chance to show what he can do in September once rosters expand. As a sixth round pick in the 2013 draft, Rhame needs to be added to the 40 man roster this winter, so it makes sense to do it now and let him get a cup of coffee in the majors next month. The Mets are firmly in evaluation mode as they look to see what young players could fill roles in 2018, and Rhame will have every opportunity to fight for a bullpen job next spring.