Player Breakdowns: April 26th
Notable Performances, Jackson Jobe, & Patrick Reilly
Notable Performances:
Matt Wilkinson (CLE) - Low-A: 6IP 0H 0ER 1BB 15K
I can’t start the notable performance section without including Matt Wilkinson first. The guy’s nickname is Tugboat and he makes David Wells look like he wears a size 34 suit. I’m sure his body comes into play as evaluators pigeonhole him into some ‘out of shape, not an elite pitcher body’ category. I’m not even sure what to make of him at this point but his results are second to none at the level to start the year.
Through 4 starts, Tugboat has 41Ks through 20.2 IP and has walked just 6. He’s posting a 0.44 ERA and a 0.91 Average Against. His WHIP is at an absurdly low 0.58 and coming into last night his SwStr% was 20.36%. He generated another 21 whiffs last night so that number is only going to increase. He looks like he’s going to be a TiltValue darling all year long and TiltValue does not take physical appearance into account — thankfully. It’s all metrics. And Wilkinson is pitching to excellent results. A call-up to High-A rather soon is not out of the question. Speaking of another call-up candidate to High-A:
Jonah Tong (NYM) - Low-A: 6IP 2H 0ER 0BB 9K
The Snow Yeti footage was missing once again last night but he unearthed himself on the stat sheets and boxscores with a 2 hit effort over 6 innings while striking out. Tong is putting himself into consideration for a call-up to High-A at this point. We went over Tong in a few of my Player Breakdowns and mentioned him after his last outing. Here is a snippet of what I wrote:
Jonah Tong was the Snow Yeti last week as I couldn’t find any video of his performance and I’ve now got to watch an outing and see what all the hype is about. It isn’t just the outlier fastball. He has a changeup, cutter, and a slow curve that rack up whiffs, as well. Tong is putting up some anomalous numbers in the early going. He still has yet to allow a run.
He came in relief last night and got the final 13 outs for a line of 4.1IP 2H 0ER 0BB 6K.
Let’s talk about the fastball. He touched 97+ in his last start which raised my eyebrows. Yesterday, he averaged 93 mph on his fastball and touched 95.1. Still raising my eyebrows as his average velocity creeps up. The iVB on his fastball last night was 20.4 inches. He’s consistently getting over 20 inches of induced vertical break in every start, seemingly every fastball he throws. He has an over-the-top arm slot reminiscent of Tyler Glasnow and he gets a ton of ride and carry through the zone and hitters just aren’t picking up on it. It’s as if it sneaks up on them. A little peek-a-boo action. Let’s take a look at his outing from yesterday:
Tong is going to be a fast riser in this system. There’s palpable hype but I’m here to say that his stuff is noteworthy and he should be paid attention to. I’m not sure what his role is going forward as he’s come out of the pen a few times, but he’s still young and pronouncedly sound at this stage of his development. A 7th-round pick in 2022, Tong looks to be another success in the slew of arms the Mets have coming up in their newfound pitching factory. Credit goes to the development team and scouting. The hires in place before 2023 have made a profound difference, here.
I think it’s safe to assume he averaged over 20 inches of iVB on a fastball that sat 93+ last night — since that’s what he’s been consistently doing. Unfortunately, the park he pitched in last night didn’t have statcast data and I don’t have any readily available data from sources this early in the morning. I’m not ruling out any velocity upticks as his pro career continues and I’m baking that into his projectability when I say that he’s a top 12 Mets prospect as of today. The stuff is just too damn good and he’s polished. He now has 36Ks to just 5 walks in 18.2 IP. His ERA sits at a perfect 0.00 and his WHIP is 0.64. His Average against is at an absurdly low .115. He’s another TiltValue darling and it’s time to get on the Snow Yeti train. There’s too much to currently like and there’s a lot to project going forward.
Tyler Stuart (NYM) - AA: 6IP 4H 1ER 1BB 12K