The New York Mets continued the trend of taking advantage of the pipeline of left-handed pitching prospects from Long Island.
They selected Franklin Parra (Copiague HS) in the 11th round, joining Anthony Kay and Steven Matz as local southpaws selected by the organization in the past decade.
Parra’s path to this point has been very unique. He was a relative unknown until last July, when his fastball velocity spiked to the low 90s, he dominated in front of scouts in East Cobb, GA and averaged 2.5 strikeouts per inning during the summer. He then continued that success through the fall where I began to follow his progress and realized this was not a typical situation. An elite left-handed pitcher that was less than a year from graduating high school yet he remained uncommitted to a college and had a real chance to get drafted.
Six strikeouts for Franklin Parra through two innings pic.twitter.com/9zwKhzkYW1
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 5, 2018
Through out the winter, scouts and members of Major League organizations were flying in to watch his bullpen sessions and there was buzz that he could be selected in the top-10 rounds of the draft. He finally committed to San Jacinto CC in February and then went out and struck out 74 batters in 34 innings this season. There were scouts at every game, but unfortunately Copiague did not qualify for the playoffs so his success was short-lived and widely underappreciated.
Assuming he signs, he will join a Mets minor league system that is thin on high-ceiling prospects that they once were flush with. It will likely take a few years, but I expect Parra to eventually be in the big leagues.