Bats/Throws: R/R
Height/Weight: 6’6”, 230 lbs
Acquired: 2nd Rd 07 (UCLA)
Born: 1/23/85 (San Diego, CA)
Why Ranked Here: When he’s healthy, few pitchers in the Mets system can match Rustich’s mid-90s fastball and biting slider. However, Rustich has rarely been healthy. In 2008, Rustich’s season ended early when he was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his humerus bone in his right arm. Later, according to Adam Rubin, doctors found both a small labrum tear and damage in his UCL in his elbow.
2008: The Mets had planned to move Rustich into the starting rotation at Savannah in 2008 to give him an opportunity to garner more game repetitions to develop his repetoire. However, the plan was delayed when, by his own admission, Rustich went too hard too early in big league spring training and came down with a bout of dead arm at the end of camp. He worked his way into the rotation with the Gnats, but had blister problems that forced him to miss time before the stress fracture diagnosis that ended his season. When Rustich pitched, he pitched very well, fanning nearly a batter an inning with a K/BB rate of three.
Dr. Pangloss Says: Rustich has the power stuff and the mental aptitude for the game that lets one envision a mid-rotation starter.
On the Flipside: Injury problems have thus far prevented Rustich from showcasing his talent except in very limited doses. After falling short of 50 innings in 2008, Rustich is a long way from showing the kind of stamina expected of starting pitchers.
Projected 2009 Start: St. Lucie. The Mets will have to decide, based on his health, whether he’s a bullpen arm or a starter.
| ERA | G/GS | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | BB/9 | SO/9 | SO/BB | GO/AO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 3.62 | 20/8 | 49.2 | 42 | 26 | 20 | 1 | 16 | 48 | 2.93 | 8.78 | 3.00 | 1.22 |
I got to tell you that I absolutely loved this pick back in ’07. I liked Rustich better than the Kunz pick because he had better pure stuff. In some ways, Rustich reminded me of Bobby Parnell in that he had good stuff but was very raw. My hope was that the Mets could help Rustich harness his stuff the same way they were doing with Parnell.
Aside from Brad Holt, I can’t think of another Mets pitching prospect that has the pure stuff that Rustich has. Problem is (and there are two big ones) that he can’t stay healthy and he’s wild. The elbow issues concern me as does the issue he apparently was reported as having with his index finger, which he cut or broke in college. It prevents him from properly feeling the ball from what I’ve read.
He’s 24 so he has to start showing he can stay healthy and start logging quality innings to build up his arm and repetoire. Either way I’d have him start this year so that he can catch up. 2008 was a waste, so Rustich is behind. If healthy last year, he’d be in AA with a probable AAA call up soon. Now he’ll start in St. Lucie.
If Rustich can somehow stay healthy and start haressing his stuff, we could be debating who’s better – Rustich or Holt by year’s end. Still, there’s a lot that has to go right.
I’m surprised that Toby rated him so high, considering he was injured and showed little command prior to his injury. I guess his potential is what got his rated this high and there’s no problem with that. Everyone has a different way/ideology for doing these rankings.
Agreed – his stuff could make him quite the exciting prospect. I note in that last paragraph though you are coming back to the point I was making….
I do believe he should be moved to the bullpen. I always thought that was his future anyway, but I loved the move of putting him in the rotation to work on his pitches. But given all his injuries and the fact that he’s pitched about 100 innings combined over the past two seasons, it seems to me like asking him to stretch out his arm for even a reasonable minor league workload is a… no pun intended, stretch.
I could see him making 5-10 starts at St. Lucie and then switching to relief in Binghamton if he’s been having success, but I have to wonder if having him pitch short stints from the get-go wouldn’t be a safer bet for his health problems.