Wednesday evening, at 7:10pm local time, Dillon Gee and the New York Mets will go up against Tim Hudson and the Atlanta Braves. Unless you're a hardcore Mets fan, you probably only know anything about one of these guys, but given the circumstances, it might be worth gaining at least a passing familiarity with the other.
Who The Hell Is Dillon Gee?
There is one undefeated starting pitcher remaining in the Major Leagues. Perhaps you don’t know anything about him.
Wait, why? Who cares?
After Alexi Ogando's loss to the Yankees on Tuesday, Dillon Gee is the only remaining undefeated starter in the Major Leagues, owning a record of 7-0. We don't make a lot of references to a pitcher's won/loss record around here, and for good reason, but it's still somewhat notable when a pitcher has zero of something.
Well all right. So, what does he look like?
He looks like this:
He looks better with a hat.
Are you sure?
Yes. Look up.
Is he unusually tall, unusually short, unusually fat, or unusually thin?
No, he is none of those, unless you are a dog, and you are asking if Dillon Gee is physically different from a dog.
Why haven't I heard of him before?
In short, Dillon Gee has never seemed like anything special. He was a 21st-round draft pick by the Mets in 2007, a full five rounds after a guy named Brian Schlitter. John Sickels gave him a C+ going into 2009, a C going into 2010, and a C going into 2011. He rose quickly and he's had success at every level, but he didn't have any hype coming out of college, nor did he or does he possess an exciting repertoire. He's always been considered a low-ceiling innings-eater type, and those guys don't get talked about the way the hard throwers do.
So what does he throw?
Technically, Gee - who’s a righty, by the way - throws a fastball, a changeup, a curveball, and a slider. But he doesn’t throw his slider much, and he doesn’t throw his curveball much more, leaning heavily on his primary two pitches. His fastball sits in that 87-91mph range that’s right in between the hard throwers and the finesse throwers, and his changeup - which he loves - hovers around 81-84. It’s his changeup that’s a weapon, and it’s his changeup that allows him to generate strikeouts.
Is he actually any good?
Not only-undefeated-starter-in-baseball good, but he hasn’t been bad by any means. Through 62 innings this season, he’s posted a roughly average strikeout rate, a roughly average walk rate, and an above-average groundball rate. Put it all together and you have a fine middle-of-the-rotation innings sponge. Even if you allow for some regression, there’s a long way between what Dillon Gee has been and a problem.
So you're saying I should remember his name?
My advice would be to make sure you're as familiar with Dillon Gee as you are with Nick Blackburn.
Thank you for the lesson!
Thank you for paying attention. To be perfectly honest I actually wrote this for myself.
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