The Gamers vs. The Gifted: Huchingson vs. Urbina

We're starting to get towards some players I happen to really like. Huchingson is a lefty... and crafty lefties are well... more valuable than crafty righties. Urbina on the other hand is a legacy prospect who has plus stuff and a bit of a faithful following.

Full Name: Daniel Chase Huchingson

Born: 04/14/1989

Birthplace: Fayetteville, AR

College: Central Arkansas

Height: 6' 5"

Weight: 197

Bats: L

Throws: L

Being essentially a giant (I'm 5'9"... anyone over 6'2" is a giant) Chase Huchingson actually skirts the border between gifted and gamer. 93 MPH isn't PHENOMENAL, but for a lefty it's pretty solid. He could even beef that MPH out a bit if he moved to the pen. I think the pen is where he'll end up but I also think he'll get the chance to start until he fails.

Most people will tell you that the jump from A+ to AA is a killer but the Mets have a friendly pitchers park in Savannah and that makes the jump to Port St. Lucie scary for a guy like Chase.

Huchingson's Scouting Report:

These phenoms in A-ball come along every year. Sometimes they are named Eric Beaulac while other times it Mark Cohoon. They dominate this level after coming out of college and, in the case of Chase, dominate at both a starter (1.77) or out of the pen (1.62). What I like from the 6-5 lefty is the 86-Ks in 80.0-IP. It’s obvious he will play St. Lucie next spring and I would love to see him stay in the pen.

He was described as having a 91-93 MPH fastball with little to no breaking stuff. That was college and things seem to have progressed.

Full Name: Juan Manuel Urbina

Born: 05/31/1993

Birthplace: Ocumare Del Tuy, Venezuela

Height: 6' 2"

Weight: 170

Bats: L

Throws: L


How can I say Huchingson (with a 91-93 MPH heater) is a gamer and Urbina (with 88-91 MPH) is gifted? The answer is in Urbina's changeup... and his age. Urbina is 4 years younger than Chase and still in a period of his life where adding horse-power is a REAL possibility. Add to this that he has a "Major League" breaking pitch and you can see why people are intrigued.

Sadly he has not turned his "stuff" into success in the minors. I think his time to cut the cheese as a starter is running out and despite his lack of success in the GCL or APP I have him moving on into Brooklyn. If he fails again he'll need to be moved into the bullpen because something isn't adding up.

Urbina's Scouting Report:

Widely regarded as the best International pitcher available, except some guy named Chapman, the Mets signed the 16yo to a $1.2MM bonus. Urbina already throws a 90MPH fastball, and a change that projects to be at least Major League average. He commands both pitches well, and has an extremely advanced feel for pitching, for a player so young. The downside is that he still struggles with his secondary offerings, and will need an improved Slider to experience significant success. The success rate for high profile 16yo Latin American pitchers isn’t great, but Urbina has all the makings of a good one. Expect for the Mets to have him make his U.S. debut in the GCL later this summer

Partially because Huchingson is almost classified as gifted and partially because he's farther along with more success than Juan, round 3 goes to the gamers.