A New York Mets player on paper but not in practice, the team added Michael Hobbs back in December via the Rule 5 Draft’s minor league portion. This part of the draft doesn’t require the same sort of commitment as the major league one where a player must be kept on the active roster or offered back to the team he was stolen from in exchange for financial compensation.
At the time, Hobbs was 25 and coming off of several good seasons in the minor leagues. He pitched to a 2.97 ERA in Double-A last year as a reliever. It was his third straight season looking like a credible player.
Numbers can be deceptive. The Mets ended up trading him to the Seattle Mariners before Opening Day in exchange for cash considerations. Hobbs has spent the season with their Double-A club, putting up an amazing 2.25 ERA. All’s good? Not quite.
Briefly a member of the Mets organization, Michael Hobbs is showing us why he was quickly moved on from
The recently turned 26-year-old has been brilliant at preventing runs, but not at keeping the bases clear. He has walked 28 batters in 36 innings for a rate of 7 per 9. A terrifying 1.55 WHIP says it all.
Hobbs can consider himself lucky for how the year has gone. He’s allowing hits at the same rate as he’s walking batters with those free passes being only slightly less awful; no one goes from first to third on a walk.
Until recently, Hobbs had actually been pitching even better. 3 of his 9 earned runs this year have come in his last 4.2 innings. His walk total has steadily increased since the start of June. He issued 13 in 10.1 innings while striking out only 5 all month. July hasn’t been much better. In those same 4.2 innings where he has given up 3 runs, Hobbs has 6 more walks.
The Mariners definitely don’t seem to have much confidence in him either. Otherwise, starting him off in Triple-A or promoting him there after the first few months of the season would’ve made sense. Now slumping through the summer months in Arkansas, there is even less of a reason to reward him with a promotion to the next level.
David Stearns has a reputation for being a master at finding hidden gems. In this instance, a little birdie must’ve told him what was to come.
