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While I haven’t seen Jordan Humphreys, the Mets 18th-round selection, pitch, I do know a bit about him. A prep righty from Crystal River, Florida, which is a stone's throw away from where my parents retired, he was a one-time teammate of second-round pick Donnie Dewees. Incidentally, Crystal River's most famous native son was another Mets standout and fan of the Colorado public school system, Mike Hampton. Not terribly tall at 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds, Humphreys may nonetheless have some projection left. Although not tall, he is blessed with an athletic build, and he draws high marks for that athleticism, which should help him transition to the professional ranks. And he has some bloodlines working in his favor also: his brother Tyler was taken by the Diamondbacks in the seventh round of last year’s draft.
As it is, he might not need much more arm strength than what he currently has, so the lack of projection isn't a huge deal. Right now he sits in the high 80s, but he’ll run the heater up to 92, so it’s not difficult to see him sitting around 90-92 in the future. At that point he’d have roughly fringe-average velocity, which would go a long way toward helping him find a spot in a big league bullpen. It's also possible that some mechanical tweaks could help him squeeze out some more velocity if the team were so inclined. His secondary offerings need work, as you’d expect. He shows a good feel for his developing changeup, which has probably eclipsed his curve as his best offspeed pitch. The curve needs plenty of polishing, and he may be better served by switching to a slider.
What’s very nice is that his velocity looks effortless and his arm mostly works well. He pronates his elbow early, and takes a long, healthy stride. There is a bit of a pause at the back end of his arm action, and I wish he’d speed the tempo up a bit so that his arm doesn’t drag, but on the whole it’s very workable. Scouts also praise his command and intelligence on the mound.
Humphreys has every intention of signing by all reports, and, considering his commitment is only to a community college, I expect him to sign for a reasonable amount of money. I’m not sure I see a future starter, but he could become a bullpen cog down the road.