Previewing The Mets New Minor League Relievers: Jamie Callahan

Continued from here

Unless otherwise noted, the "stuff" information gathered comes from listening to the MiLB.tv broadcasters as I dug up old highlights.

From the Addison Reed Trade

RHP Jamie Callahan, 22 (until 8/24)

2017 in the EL: 13 IP, 42.6 K%: 0 BB%, 1.38 ERA, 0.19 FIP, 42.3 GB%, 19% Swinging strike rate, 64% Strikes

2017 in the IL: 29 IP, 28.6 K%: 10.3 BB%, 4.03 ERA, 3.09 FIP 37 GB%, 15.4% Swinging strike rate, 63.5% Strikes

The path to the Mets: The Red Sox drafted Jamie Callahan near the end of the 2^nd round in 2012, using the 87^th pick on a young righty out of Dillon High School in South Carolina. He got a little GCL work during the 2012 season, went to the NYPL for 2013, and was then promoted to the SAL for 2014, where he struggled to a 6.96 ERA over 25 starts. He issued 5.5 BB/9-innings that year and still wasn’t showing any improvements while repeating with Greenville in early 2015, so the Red Sox moved him to the bullpen, which is when things started turning around for the young righty.

He had a strong finish to that 2015 season, made three AFL appearances during the 2015-16 offseason, and then went to Salem to begin the 2016 season as a 21-year old relief-only prospect. Walks were still a concern for him in the Carolina League, but his performance steadily improved as the season wore on, and he was dominant over the final two months of the season.

He got a few more looks this past winter in the AFL and then really took off to start the 2017 season. He posted a 20 K: 0 BB ratio over 13 innings in the EL, so the Red Sox quickly bumped him up to the IL. He hit some initial speed bumps with Pawtucket, but he was really starting to find his groove at Triple-A when Mets acquired him.

The stuff: Callahan is a three-pitch reliever who (kind of) profiles like a more advanced version of Gerson Bautista. Like Bautista, he’s basically a plus fastball with two questionable secondaries, it’s just that those secondaries are much further along in development than Bautista’s.

Callahan sits 94-99 MPH with his heater and mixes in a hard slider (87-90 MPH, SoxProspects and some outlets have called it a cutter) and hard splitter. He’ll sit 97-98 some outings, but that hasn’t been a consistent thing for him this year. On that note, it seems like his fastball velocity has been creeping up since his move to the pen, as some older sources suggest his heater was in the 92-95 MPH range.

SoxProspects likes his splitter more, and 51s announcer Russ Langer suggested his best outing since joining Las Vegas came when he was throwing a lot of splitters. To finish the Bautista comp, I agree that the splitter is the better of the two pitches and expect the Mets will try to teach him a “Warthen Slider” anyway. SoxProspects had his splitter mid-80’s but Langer has called it as high as 90 MPH.

SoxProspects

The secondaries: Callahan will need Rule-5 protection this winter and there’s a good chance the Mets risk losing him if they don’t protect him. As a result, it seems likely the Mets will give him a look this September.

            Callahan profiles as a solid middle relief option, but he has the potential to be a 7^th/8^th-inning option, especially if he can take to the “Warthen Slider” or find more consistency with the splitter.

The GIFs:

With Pawtucket

7/5: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 K, 1 FO, 9 Pitches (8 Strikes)

-       Niko Goodrum flied out to CF

-       Tommy Field struck out swinging

-       Ryan Strausborger struck out looking

7/8: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, K, 2 FO, 11 Pitches (7 Strikes)

-       Dalton Pompey flied out to CF

-       Jason Leblebijian flied out to RF

-       Rowdy Tellez struck out swinging

7/15: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 4 K: 1 BB, 1 GO, 32 Pitches (22 Strikes)

-       Jhonatan Solano struck out swinging

-       Emmanuel Burriss lined out to LF

-       Andrew Stevenson struck out swinging

-       Irving Falu walked

-       Neftali Soto struck out swinging

-       Clint Robinson doubled to LF

-       Pedro Severino hit a groundout to 3B

-       Alejandro De Aza reached on an infield single

-       Michael Almanzar struck out swinging

7/22: 1.1 IP, 4 H, R, K, 3 FO, 32 Pitches (20 Strikes)

-       Logan Schafer singled to RF

-       Luis Sardinas singled to RF

-       Paul Janish flied out to CF

-       Drew Dosch doubled to LF

-       Pedro Alvarez reached on a pop up single

-       Chance Sisco flied out to CF

-       Craig Gentry flied out to CF

-       David Washington struck out swinging

7/25: 1 IP, H, 0 R, 1 K: 1 BB, 1 GO: 1 FO, 24 Pitches (14 Strikes)

-       Dominic Ficociello singled to RF

-       Matt den Dekker flied out to CF

-       Brendan Ryan walked

-       Jim Adduci hit a groundout to 2B

-       JaCoby Jones struck out swinging

7/29: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 K, 1 FO, 20 Pitches (15 Strikes)

-       Edwin Espinal singled to CF

-       Danny Ortiz struck out swinging

-       Elias Diaz singled to LF

-       Phil Gosselin flied out to RF

-       Eric Wood struck out swinging

With Las Vegas

8/12: 1 IP, 4 H, 3 R (1 ER), 3 K: 1 BB, HR, 1 GO, 41 Pitches (24 Strikes), 1 IR – 0 S

-       Christian Villanueva struck out swinging

-       Ryan Schimpf homer to RF

-       Diego Goris singled to RF

-       Rocky Gale struck out swinging

-       Jabari Blash struck out swinging

-       Nick Buss single to RF

-       Travis Jankowski reached on an E4

-       Chase d’Arnaud walked

-       Franchy Cordero hit a walkoff single to RF

8/15: 1 IP, H, 0 R, 2 K: 0 BB, 1 FO, 19 Pitches (14 Strikes)

-       Garrett Stubbs flied out to RF

-       Tyler White singled to CF

-       A.J. Reed struck out looking

-       Preston Tucker struck out swinging

Two of the most famous historical X-planes are the Bell X-1 and the X-15. #NationalAviationDay #FlyNASA pic.twitter.com/QxiMOnbDQl

— NASA Aeronautics (@NASAAero) August 19, 2017