New York Mets rookie pitcher Dillon Gee pitched eight solid innings against the Pirates to move to 7-0 on the season. Despite his success at every level, most so-called experts keep expecting the 21st round draft pick to fail.
Major league franchises spend millions of dollars on advanced scouting. In the draft, they look for “tools” in position players and “stuff” in pitchers. This means they want to see the players who show the ability to possibly succeed at the major league, while more times than not ignoring the intangibles that actually creates success.
While any team would love a pitcher who can throw a 97 mph fastball, there are plenty of pitchers who succeed with off-speed pitches and control. Dillon Gee is one of those pitchers. He does not do any one thing great, but he can throw up to four pitches with very good control, and it adds up to a great combination.
After being drafted in the 21st round out of Texas-Arlington, Gee moved quickly up the minor league ranks. Starting in short season Brooklyn and moving up to Triple-A Buffalo in just two seasons, Gee was still not considered a prospect. He was never listed on Baseball America’s top 10 Mets’ prospects. Most scouts considered him to be a “4A Player,” someone who does well in Triple-A but will never have success in the big leagues.
None of this seemed to discourage Gee. When he finally received his chance last September after leading the International League in strikeouts, he performed masterfully. In five starts he pitched to a 2.18 ERA. But in baseball, players have short periods of success all the time. The water usually levels and those who are undeserving will eventually fall back to earth, right? Well someone needs to remind a certain pitcher about this.
This offseason, the Mets signed Chris Young and Chris Capuano to fill out the back end of the rotation. Dillon Gee once again remained silent and waited for his opportunity, which came in the form of a season-ending injury to Chris Young. The Texas native has not looked back.
The New York Mets have had a lot of things go wrong this year. Between injuries, poor performance on the field and an owner who cannot do anything right, the team needs something good to pick up the spirits. Dillon Gee has been that something, and the Mets have responded by winning in all nine of his starts this season.
After tonight, Gee is now 7-0 with a 3.05 ERA to go along with a K/BB ratio of over 2:1. If he pitches six or more innings in his next start he will qualify for the ERA title and all post-season awards. With stats like these, it would be hard to argue against him ending the season with a Rookie of the Year trophy.
Few scouts could have predicted this success a few years ago or even at the beginning of the season. Dillon Gee still does not seem to care.
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