Mets Ink Dotson As Deadline Neared

It took longer than anticipated, but the Mets finally signed 2009 13th round pick Zachary Dotson just as the deadline for signing neared. Dotson, a high school product, features strong promise from the left side and spoke of his excitement about one day playing close to home in Savannah.

[FREE PREVIEW OF PREMIUM CONTENT]

It took till the last day of the 2009 First Year Players Draft deadline, but Zachary Dotson is now a member of the Mets organization.

The 6-foot-3, 200 pound southpaw has been hard at work all summer to perfect his game in order to get in the best shape possible to compete at the professional level.

“My velocity was down this spring so I’ve been working all summer on it and I got it where it needs to be,” said Dotson.

“The Mets wanted it in the low 90’s and I was able to get it there,” he added.

After losing some weight his senior year, the young left-hander was able to put back on a few pounds this summer to add some more power to his fastball that already has good movement.

Dotson, the 13th round pick (404th overall) by the Mets in this year’s draft, held back in June, faced a decision of whether to start his professional career or pursue a scholarship with the University of Georgia.

Dotson’s decision ultimately came down to finances.

“I wanted to play for the Mets since they drafted me,” he said. “The decision came down to seeing what was there and when the offer was where I liked it, the decision was made.”

Brett Griffin, Dotson’s head coach at Effingham County High School in Rincon, Ga., says that he is impressed with the hard work Dotson has put in over the course of the summer.

“He’s by far the best pitcher that I have ever coached and was dominate at the high school level but it will be much harder for him at the next level where everyone is highly talented,” said Griffin.

“His command got a lot better last spring. The main concern was his velocity. It wasn’t where it needed to be,” Griffin added.

“He lost a lot of weight and he’s starting to put that back on. His velocity has improved a lot and as long as he can keep his command on point with his new velocity he should be fine.”

Outside of a rare three-seam fastball (similar to a turned-over forkball) that now has improved velocity, Dotson possesses a nice breaking ball and slider and is developing a changeup, a pitch that is valuable for every young pitcher to learn.

A local kid to the Savannah area, Dotson said that he is excided to possibly have the opportunity to play for the Mets single-A affiliate early in his pro career.

“I probably thought about that everyday,” Dotson said about the chance to play with the Sand Gnats. “It would be great to be down there close to my family where they can head down to Savannah anytime to watch me play.”

To get constant access to news across the farm system and not miss a beat of the rest of the 2009 season, CLICK HERE to become a subscriber of InsidePitchMagazine.com