SNY treated us to the Season opener of the New Orleans Zephyrs last night. The Mets AAA affiliate did SNY proud as we not only got to see some a Zephyr victory, but also got to see the Mets' Starter-in-waiting Phillip Humber. Humber looked great.
What first impressed me was his strong fastball. He was throwing it hard (mid-90's), locating it well and was consistently throwing the heat for strikes. The money pitch however, is going to be his insane, almost-ridiculous curveball. I have never seen a pitch break with such ferocious, late movement. Leaving his hand, the ball appears to be headed 10 feet to the right of a left handed hitter and headed for the backstop but, at the last minute, it violently snaps back downward and to the left and darts into the strike zone. It is novel not only in its degree of break and its angle (from 2pm to the center of the clock if you can picture that) but also for just how late the cartoonish break occurs. It looked to me to be completely un-hittable.
It is good that the Mets have the luxury of letting him get some experience under his belt before counting on him for a win every fifth game in the majors. Like Pelfrey and Milledge, he is just a kid. That being said, I am using this soapbox to say here and now that this kid is but a few months away form becoming a major league mainstay. Give him some time to develop a reliable third pitch to go along with the heat and the hook (the word is he is currently working on a change-up), and let him perfect the art of throwing that curve consistently for strikes, and he is could be a great one. His stuff is that good.
Humber allowed only 1 hit over 5 innings and struck out 4. The fact that he walked 4 indicates he needs a little more time to grow and mature on the mound but it doesn't take a zealous optimist like me to see that this guy is going to make a name for himself. I love the Mets rotation as it stands now, but when El Duque goes down (as he invariably will), or if someone else gets hurt, the next great Mets pitcher will be just a phone call away. And we won't have to trade Lastings Milledge to get him to Shea.
