Mets’ Top Pitching Prospect Matt Allan Impresses in First Presser
Matthew Allan/Photo by Ed Delany, MMO
Only need one word to describe the press conference from 19-year-old Matt Allan.
Impressive.
The Mets’ top pitching prospect was the first player on Thursday to talk to the media, and he mentioned Jacob deGrom a lot. Allan threw alongside deGrom this winter in Florida and has been paired with him a ton early on in camp.
“It’s obviously awesome to be paired with probably the best pitcher in all of baseball…They told me to wear him out with any questions I have.”
Allan also noted he’s been learning from another of the Mets starting pitchers, “Meeting Marcus Stroman, the type of person he is, and how much he cares for the young players. How much he’s out there to just help you…So, yesterday, I was picking his brain on a curveball grip.”
Allan, the Mets third round pick from the 2019 draft, said he benefitted a lot from being added to the Mets alternate site in Brooklyn last year. Baseball America has Allan’s fastball as a double-plus pitch and his curve as a plus pitch. His changeup was the pitch that needed improving when drafted, well it’s certainly done that.
“Going to Brooklyn, it really excelled past my expectations. It got way better, way faster. I think it’s because they communicated in Brooklyn that the most important thing was to work on your stuff, there’s no winners or losers….That allowed me to throw my changeup, 2-0, 3-0, 2-1, 3-1, in these odd counts and now it’s really one of my favorite pitches to throw.”
The reports from the alternate site and then from instructs (see video below) were all that the changeup had vastly improved, both in movement and command.
???? @matthew_allan2 has swing and miss stuff. ????????⚾️ pic.twitter.com/Ryt3pa1nun
— Mets Farm Report (@MetsFarmReport) October 22, 2020
With the cancellation of the 2020 minor league season, Allan has only 10 pro innings under his belt. Despite that, he’s already the No. 75 prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline.
Later in his presser, Mets manager Luis Rojas talked about Allan, “It’s pleasant to watch him pitch.”
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