Mets prospect Justin Dunn on the team’s radar next year

New York Mets prospect Justin Dunn could get his first taste of big league action as soon as 2019.

Over the winter, we’ll watch the New York Mets roster take shape in preparation for the 2019 season. One of the transformations to pay attention to is whether or not there’s room for first base prospect Peter Alonso. Certainly the most exciting minor leaguer in 2018, he deserves an Opening Day roster spot.

A little further down in the minor leagues, there’s a pitcher named Justin Dunn already catching the attention of the big league club. Mets manager Mickey Callaway made reference to him in a recent interview, suggesting we could see one of the franchise’s best pitching prospects in the big leagues next year.

Dunn was the 19th overall pick in the 2016 draft. Through three professional seasons, he’s 14-15 with a 3.87 ERA.

As underwhelming as these numbers may appear, he’s a fresh 23-years-old with a whole lot of promise ahead.

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Dunn averaged 10.4 strikeouts per nine this past year in both Single-A and Double-A. We did see his overall numbers dip once promoted to Binghamton, but not to a great extent. He still managed to keep his ERA at 4.22 while at this level, adding a strikeout rate of 10.5 per nine frames.

Along with David Peterson, Dunn is one of the best pitchers they have in the minor leagues. While we shouldn’t expect to see him until later in the 2019 campaign at best, it’s nice to know Callaway is actually familiar with the name.

After all, this is the same guy who said Jeff McNeil is exclusively a second baseman despite playing multiple positions throughout his professional career. He also claimed David Wright was healthy enough for the minor leagues, but not MLB.

So, taking those previous quotes into account, maybe we shouldn’t take what Callaway says all that seriously. Nevertheless, Dunn is back in the future plans following a poor 2017 campaign.

For as deep of a starting rotation as the Mets have compared to most, the last notable starter they promoted was Steven Matz back in 2015.

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They’re due for someone new to come along. Dunn looks like the first in line.