MLB prospect guru Keith Law has begun releasing his top 100 prospects in baseball, and a New York Mets player has already made an appearance.
One thing is for sure – the New York Mets can draft and develop pitching talent.Right-handed starting pitcher Justin Dunn has officially been ranked No. 84 in ESPN analyst Keith Law‘s top 100 MLB prospects. Baseball America recently ranked Dunn the third best prospect in the Mets’ system behind first baseman Dominic Smith and shortstop Amed Rosario.
Law’s full scouting overlook on Dunn is as follows:
“Dunn started the spring in the Boston College bullpen and ended it as the 19th pick in the draft after moving to the Eagles’ rotation and touching the upper 90s. A young junior who didn’t turn 21 until September, Dunn has always had a good arm and is a tremendous athlete, but he didn’t throw this hard or throw many strikes until 2016. Between his freshman spring at BC and the Cape Cod League that summer, for example, he walked 26 guys in 28 innings.”
“Now Dunn is throwing 93-96 mph with plus life along with a plus changeup that might end up a 70 (ranked) pitch, and he throws both for strikes. The breaking ball is the question mark, as he throws both a curve and slider with neither grading more than average or so. He’s also never started for very long – 2016 was his max, with eight starts in college and eight after signing, which still left him throwing less than 100 innings on the season. He’s one of my picks to zoom up the list once he’s proved he can start over a full season.”
Dunn was drafted out of high school in 2013 by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 37th round, but declined the pick to pursue a collegiate career at BC.
In 2016, Dunn decided to leave Boston, leading to his selection as the 19th overall pick by the Mets.
Dunn handled his first professional season well with the Mets’ Low-A affiliate, the Brooklyn Cyclones, producing a 1.50 ERA, a 1.16 WHIP and 35 strikeouts over 30.0 innings pitched.
Aside from the great arms the Mets have recently built and seen take Queens by storm – like Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz – general manager Sandy Alderson may have Dunn joining his rotation in the not too distant future.
