While the Mets and Yankees picked up wins on Monday night, their front offices were busy away from the field thanks to the first round of the 2017 MLB draft.
Both local clubs decided to use their picks to restock their talent on the mound as the Yankees picked 16th overall and the Mets 20th.
Here is what you need to know about their selections:
Yankees: Clarke Schmidt, RHP, South Carolina (NCAA)
6’1”, 200 pounds, 21 years old
The selection of Schmidt does bring a bit of a risk to the Yankees. While there was little debate that he is a first-round talent, Schmidt hurt his elbow nine starts into the 2017 season and was forced to undergo Tommy John surgery.
It was by far his most successful stint in college as he posted a 1.34 ERA in 60 innings while striking out 70 batters.
His velocity continued to increase as he matured. From throwing just under 90 mph in high school, Schmidt’s fastball was ranging between 92-96 mph before his injury.
There are secondary pitches available in a solid slider, but his changeup needs to be worked on and included in his repertoire a bit more.
However, the Yankees will have to wait and see where they could legitimately slot Schmidt once he returns to health. If he remains durable and improves on his secondary pitches, he could be a third or fourth starter. If not, I would expect to see him coming out of the bullpen.
Mets: David Peterson, LHP, Oregon (NCAA)
6’6”, 240 pounds, 21 years old
It’s not much of a surprise that the Mets took a pitcher with their first-round choice considering this is an organization that has always been focused on culminating talent on the hill.
But you might not find a more imposing figure than Oregon’s David Peterson given his stature.
The Mets have acquired one of the best strikeout artists in college baseball as the Oregon product was an untouchable marksman for most of the season.
Going 11-4 with a 2.51 ERA, Peterson struck out 140 batters in 100.1 innings of work while surrendering just 15 walks. The junior picked up a school record 20 of those in an April game against Arizona State in which he recorded a complete-game shutout.
His strikeout-to-walk ratio of 9.33 ranked fourth-best in the nation. However, the three arms before him had only 109, 95 and 52 punchouts respectively.
He doesn’t have the most overpowering stuff, which doesn’t fit the mold of the Mets’ current core of starters, and will have to rely on his developing secondary pitches which includes a low 80s slider, a solid changeup falling in that same range and a slow, severe-breaking curveball which has to be improved on.
