Paul Gervase Continues To Make Noise Within The Organization

Blade Tidwell rightfully got a lot of the attention in Brooklyn’s (High-A) 5-1 win on Friday. He threw seven innings of three-hit ball allowing only one run to go along with 11 strikeouts. However, the individual who followed him on the mound needs to start getting more attention within the New York Mets’ organization.

Right-handed relief pitcher Paul Gervase threw two shutout innings to cap Friday’s ball game. He only allowed one hit while striking out three. With that performance his season ERA for the Cyclones now sits at an excellent 1.10. He has been thriving all season long and if this continues he should work his way up the organization sooner rather than later.

Gervase was drafted in the 12th round of the 2022 MLB Draft. The 23-year-old spent his age-22 season in college pitching out of the bullpen for Louisiana State (LSU). He pitched to a 1.85 ERA across 39 innings allowing only 22 hits while striking out 52. Of course, Gervase was a little older than his opposition, specifically 1.2 years older compared to the weighted average age of those in college that season.

Regardless, the Mets took a shot on him drafting him in the 12th round. He struggled across 10 1/3 innings with St. Lucie (Single-A) after getting drafted last year, however, has been lights out at the High-A level this season. Gervase has thrown 32 2/3 innings allowing only 15 hits and four earned runs (1.10 ERA) while striking out a staggering 50 batters. He also has yet to allow a home run.

Here are how some of his numbers rank in the Mets’ organization so far this season:

• ERA: 2nd (1.10)
• AVG: 2nd (.133)
• K%: 4th (34.7 percent)
• HR/9: t-1st (0.00)
• LOB%: 3rd (84.8 percent)

Note, these figures are among 57 pitchers in the organization that have thrown at least 20 innings. 

If you want to take it even a step forward and compare these figures with his peers around the South Atlantic League (SAL) and minor league baseball as a whole, they are even more impressive. Gervase leads the SAL in ERA, he is second in average allowed, and 13th in K%. This is among 154 pitchers in the SAL who have thrown at least 20 innings. When taking a look at minor league baseball as a whole, Gervase is 16th in ERA and 21st in average allowed. This is among the 1,791 pitchers who have thrown at least 20 innings in minor league baseball this season.

The most impressive statistics of all is as mentioned above Gervase has yet to allow a home run. He is one of 32 pitchers who have thrown at least 30 innings in all of minor league baseball yet to give up a long ball. That includes a total of 1,120 minor leaguers.

It will be interesting to see how Gervase continues to develop. It is worth mentioning that Gervase’s FIP of 3.47 and xFIP of 4.41 show that he may have experienced some good luck thus far this year. Further, he has had walk issues, walking 7.4 hitters per nine innings (27 walks in 32 2/3 innings).

Regardless, if he can continue to develop and keep this up, the Mets may just have a very effective right-handed arm that can serve in the major-league bullpen one day. Look for him to be on the move up the organization shortly.

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