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We're #3!

Thanks to their abysmal last-place finish in 2003, the Mets had the pleasure of selecting third overall in this year's MLB Draft. As was expected, the Mets chose Rice RHP Philip Humber. Baseball America had this to say about the Mets' choice:

Scouts considered Humber the safest pick among the three Rice aces. He has three plus pitches: a 90-94 mph fastball that scrapes 97, a true 12-6 curveball, and a splitter that he uses as a changeup. The run on his fastball is inconsistent and the pitch flattens out at times, but his curveball is a big-time strikeout pitch and his splitter keeps batters off balance. Strong and durable, he has been injury-free and has the most resilient arm of the Rice first-rounders.

Humber's staffmates Jeff Niemann (Devil Rays) and Wade Townsend (Orioles) were also chosen within the first eight picks. Humber is very polished, and could be at Shea by this time next season. He should probably be starting at AA Binghamton (likely) or AAA Norfolk (less likely) sometime this summer.

His stats in 2004 look like this:

ERA   W-L    IP    SO   BB  HR  WHIP
2.27  13-4  115.0  154  37   7  1.08

 K/9   BB/9  HR/9  K/BB   AVG   OBP   SLG   OPS
12.05  2.90  0.55  4.16  .209  .289  .308  .597

The batting numbers (AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS) are what hitters have done against him, lest you think he's the next Brooks Kieschnick. All of his numbers are very good, particularly his K/9 (the NL average this season is 6.55), BB/9 (NL average is 3.38), K/BB (NL average is 1.94), and HR/9 (NL average is 1.06).

Since the outcome of balls that are put into play (and not hit out of the park) are largely out of the pitcher's control, strikeout, walk, and homerun rates are all great indicators of future success.

Knowing the Mets propensity for babying prospects, we may not see Humber as soon as some might like. If he pitches well this summer, he may have an outside shot at the back end of the starting rotation at Shea next Spring.