The Mets should have no worries about signing their top draft choices this season, as two of them inked today.
Today, the Mets announced the signing of their first round pick Justin Dunn and third round pick Blake Tiberi.
Dunn will receive a reportedly $2.3788 signing bonus.
As a native of Freeport, Dunn is familiar with the area and although he says he grew up a Yankee fan, he has enjoyed watching games at Citi Field.
“I still live in Freeport. It’s about a 30-, 40-minute trip from here,” Dunn said. “So I came to Citi Field and Shea a lot over my years. I’ve loved the atmosphere ever since I was a little kid. It’s been one of my favorite stadiums to watch a game at.”
The 20 year-old comes from the new hotbed for pitchers in Long Island. Both Steven Matz and Marcus Stroman hail from Suffolk county as does the Mets other first round pick Anthony Kay, who is still unsigned.
“A lot of people think Long Island can’t play baseball, but look at the track record. You have Marcus and then you have Steven Matz, and they’re doing pretty well in the league,” Dunn said. “You have guys like Keith Osik that have played, and other guys. This is something that should be known, that Long Island can play. I’m just happy to have my little part of it.”
Dunn who moved from the bullpen to the starting rotation during the season won’t be subjected to the limits that most first year college pitchers go through. Along with Tiberi, a third baseman, the 20 year-old will be playing in Brooklyn.
Tiberi played against Dunn this season and gave this scouting report: “He’s got a running fastball. He threw me a few good changeups. He’s got a good breaker. It’s got plus depth and it’s pretty hard. He’s one of the toughest pitchers I faced this year. It was a good feeling knowing he’s going to be on my team when I was saw the draft board, so I don’t have to face him again.”
Dunn said the biggest change from the bullpen is the intensity that he threw, since he didn’t have to go 100 percent every pitch like he did when throwing one inning.
It worked for him as he went 4-2 with a 2.06 ERA (15 earned runs/65.2 innings) in 18 games, eight starts for Boston College as a junior this year. He issued 18 walks and struck out 72.
Tiberi hit .340 (83-244) with 47 runs scored, 18 doubles, two triples, 10 homers, 51 RBI with a .387 on-base percentage in 64 games this season for the University of Louisville as a redshirt sophomore.
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