News Every Day | 07 May 2024, 21:48

Mets Minors 2024 Prospects: No. 10 Mike Vasil

No. 10 Mike Vasil, SP

B/T: L/R Age: 24 (03/19/2000)
Height: 6’5 Weight: 244 Ibs
Acquired: 8th round of 2021 draft from the University of Virginia
Previously Ranked: 10th
2023 Stats (AA/AAA): 26 GS, 124 IP, 4.65 ERA, 138 SO, 46 BB, 1.218 WHIP, 10 K/9, 7.6 H/9

Mike Vasil, Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Background

The Mets selected Mike Vasil out of the University of Virginia in the eighth round of the 2021 Major League Baseball draft. The right-hander followed the starting pitching theme for the Mets that draft, who also selected Kumar Rocker, Calvin Ziegler, Christian Scott, Dominic Hamel, and Carson Seymour with their first 10 picks.

Vasil fell to the Mets in the eighth round that season due to various circumstances. First, he sustained an arm injury in 2018 that tanked his draft stock out of high school, leading the Massachusetts local to choose the University of Virginia over the majors.

Secondly, Vasil dealt with inconsistency in college. His freshman season went poorly, as the righty pitched to a 5.93 ERA in 12 starts, and his Sophomore year wasn’t long enough to show progression as Vasil only pitched 22 innings.

Junior year followed suit with his freshman year. Vasil registered a 4.52 ERA in 81 2/3 innings, along with a moderate eight strikeouts per nine. It was respectable, but nowhere near the threshold many talent evaluators had him coming out of high school.

Still, the Mets decided to select Vasil in the eighth round in ’21, mainly due to his velocity and profile. And that velocity and profile has led to Vasil shooting up the minors.

After registering a 1.29 ERA in seven innings to start his major league career, Vasil was promoted twice in his first full season. He dominated the Florida State League (Low-A), pitching to a 2.19 ERA in 37 innings, leading to a promotion to Brooklyn, where he registered a high ERA (5.13) but low average against (.197).

His performance in ’22 prompted the Mets to place Vasil in Double-A to begin the 2023 season, which he proved was the right decision. Vasil registered a 3.71 ERA and struck out 57 batters in 51 innings, signaling to the Mets that Double-A was just another milestone in his young career.

More impressively, Vasil registered a 0.84 WHIP and walked only eight batters in Double-A. Control had been a massive knock against Vasil coming out of college, and it looked like the starter had gotten over his free pass woes at age 23.

The strong outings and encouraging signs led the Mets to again promote Vasil to Syracuse—one step away from the majors. Unfortunately, for the rest of the season, Vasil regressed.

The righty registered a 5.30 ERA in Triple-A Syracuse, allowing 70 hits and 38 walks in 73 innings pitched. The walk and hit issues came back to haunt Vasil, who now dealt with the Automatic-Ball-Strike (ABS) system in the International League. The results have been similar to start his 2024 season.

Profile

Vasil is a 6’5 right-hander with a four-pitch mix. He throws a four-seam fastball primarily that peaks at 98 mph, but sits in the 92-95 range. Vasil also mixes in a mid-80s slider that moves like a cutter, along with a 12-6 curveball and changeup that he uses against lefties.

As Vasil has progressed through the minors, holding velocity has been an issue. In September last season, Vasil averaged only 92.7 mph on his fastball, way below the 98 peak that evaluators saw out of college. While concerning at first glance, many are not worried about the dip, as the workload of a major league pitcher has been cited for the drop in velocity.

2024 Outlook

Vasil has the potential to contribute in Queens, But he has to hit certain benchmarks first. The primary marks are limiting free passes and generating swing-and-miss stuff, neither of which Vasil has done early in Syracuse in 2024.

As of May 7, Vasil is struggling in Triple-A Syracuse. He has a 10.80 ERA and 2.20 WHIP in six starts, and has allowed an appalling 31 hits, seven home runs, and 13 walks in 20 innings. That’s not ideal.

Making matters worse, Vasil only has 17 punch outs in those 20 innings. The righty was never a big strikeout guy, but the lack of strikeouts become an issue when batters have a .365 average against and are walking 5.9 times per nine innings. The International League is rough for pitchers, but it’s been especially rough on Vasil.

There’s clearly work to be done for Vasil. And guys such as Tylor Megill, David Peterson, José Buttó, Joey Lucchesi, Hamel, and now Christian Scott are ahead of him on the depth chart. But, as everyone knows, you can never have too much pitching. Vasil needs to work his way to being an option.