New York Mets 2023 Top 30 Prospect Wraps: Dominic Hamel
InsideTheMets.com will review each of the New York Mets’ Top 30 prospects, as ranked by MLB.com at the end of the 2023 season.
No. 16: RHP Dominic Hamel, Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Double-A)
Statistics for 2023: (26 games, 25 starts) 8-6, 3.85 ERA, 124 innings, 108 hits, 56 runs (53 earned), 12 home runs, 49 walks, 160 strikeouts, .230 opponent batting average, 1.27 WHIP.
Season Transactions: Hamel started the season with Binghamton and spent the entire season with the Rumble Ponies.
Season Summary: This was his second full season in the minors and Hamel showed remarkable consistency across the board. His ERA, his innings pitched and his strikeout-to-walk ratio all remained steady from 2022 to 2023. If there is one complaint on the Mets’ part is that the opponent batting average nudged up from .196 to .230, but the latter isn’t a deal-breaker if you’re talking about a pitcher’s progress. Everything was encouraging for Hamel, including remaining healthy the entire season.
Journey Through the Organization: Hamel showed scouts what he was capable of throughout his high school and college career, and while at Dallas Baptist he set a school record with 136 strikeouts in just 91.2 innings. That was enough to entice the Mets to take him in the third round in 2021 and send him straight to Class-A St. Lucie in 2022. He pitched well enough there to earn a promotion to High-A Brooklyn during the season, so he’s climbed up three rungs of the system in two years.
What’s next: The clock is ticking on Hamel, who was 24 during the 2023 season. The good news is he’s moving fast, thanks to a combination of a mid-90s fastball, mid-70s curveball and a mid-80s changeup. MLB.com scouting reports suggests that his high spin rate on all three pitches makes him potentially difficult to hit at the MLB level. He’s carried a full load for two minor league season and his performance in Spring Training will determine if he goes back to Binghamton to start 2024 or hit Triple-A Syracuse with a chance to crash the Majors at some point next year.
2023 New York Mets Top 30 Prospect Wraps:
No. 30: Kade Morris | No. 29 Coleman Crow | No. 28 Nick Morabito | No. 27 Matt Rudick | No. 26: Joel Diaz | No. 25: Raimon Gomez | No. 24: Diego Mosquera | No. 23: Nolan McLean | No. 22: Jeremiah Jackson | No. 21: Luis R. Rodriguez | No. 20: Ronald Hernandez | No. 19: Calvin Ziegler | No. 18: Jesus Baez | No. 17: Tyler Stuart |
