While the New York Mets may not have much upper level pitching depth in their farm system, there is a lot of talent in the low minors. The Mets’ low-A affiliate in Columbia has quite a collection of arms, but the St. Lucie Mets aren’t short on pitching themselves. One of the most intriguing arms down at St. Lucie is righty Tony Dibrell, who has been one of the best pitchers on their staff. Dibrell is the focus of this week’s edition of Minor League Mondays.
The Mets selected Dibrell in the fourth round of the 2017 draft out of Kennesaw State, and he didn’t fare too well in his professional debut with the Brooklyn Cyclones, pitching to a 5.03 ERA in 12 appearances. Dibrell was still bumped up to Columbia the next year, where he moved back to the rotation, and he responded with a 7-6 record and 3.50 ERA in 23 starts. Batters had a very tough time hitting Dibrell, who limited them to a .228 batting average against him and struck out 147 in 131 innings pitched.
The Mets pushed Dibrell up to High-A St. Lucie this year, and he has done even better. Over his first 15 starts for St. Lucie, Dibrell is 6-4 with a 2.60 ERA, limiting opposing hitters to a .233 batting average. Dibrell has continued racking up the strikeouts, piling up another 66 K’s over 79.2 innings pitched, which isn’t a huge surprise given his repertoire. Dibrell relies on a heavy sinker that can reach 96 miles per hour and is complemented by three off speed offerings: a slider, curveball, and changeup.
Amazin’ Avenue put together a good scouting report on Dibrell, which you can check out here, and one thing they noted is that his delivery may be the thing that makes him both a phenom and a problem. Dibrell relies on a high three quarters arm slot with a violent delivery, which can lead to inconsistent mechanics. This is something that can lead to control problems, and Dibrell has had issues with walks at times in his minor league career. If the Mets can work with Dibrell to develop a more consistent delivery, he could rise rapidly through their farm system.
In the past, the Mets have tended to promote prospects who perform well at mid-season to the next level of their farm system. In Dibrell’s case, that would mean a trip to AA Binghamton could be coming in the near future. The Rumble Ponies just saw Anthony Kay graduate to AAA Syracuse, so they could well use a guy like Dibrell in their rotation in the second half. If Dibrell can continue to progress, he has a chance to prove whether or not he can be a back of the rotation arm at the big league level in the next couple of years.
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