Red Sox Prospect Watch: Left-handed pitcher Jason Groome
By Mike El-Far
After Michael Kopech was traded to Chicago to acquire Chris Sale, the top pitching prospect in the Boston Red Sox organization is now Jason Groome.
Realistically, Jason Groome could have been the No. 1 overall pick in last June’s draft, but teams shied away from drafting him due to concerns of him signing with a team. The Boston Red Sox weren’t fazed.
The Garden State native attended Barnegat High School his first two years, but transferred to IMG Academy for his junior year. IMG is one of the best sports-centered boarding schools in the country. Some notable alumni are Chris Perez, Brady Aiken, and Jose Fernandez. During his time there, he verbally committed to pitch at Vanderbilt University after graduating.
Feeling homesick, Groome transferred back to Barnegat for his senior season. Because it was only him who moved, and not a parent as well, he was suspended for 30 days. Also, Barnegat had to forfeit the two games he started to begin his senior season.
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Less than a month before the draft started, he switched his college commitment from Vandy to Chipola College, a junior college in Florida. The reason for the switch was that if Groome went to a junior college instead of a 4-year university, he could re-enter the draft after his freshman year. Many viewed the switch as “lacking maturity issues.” Also, his agent was floating around a possible $4 million signing bonus.
Due to these “issues”, Groome fell to 12th in the draft. At that point, Dombrowski and Co. could not pass up on the opportunity to take the tall lefty. Signing on July 15th, Groome was officially a member of his favorite team growing up.
Because Groome spent a while negotiating his signing bonus with Boston, he did not play that much last year. Appearing in only three games, it is very hard to take anything away from his first season in professional baseball.
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Looking at this upcoming season, expect Groome to start where he ended 2016 in: Lowell. After a handful of starts, he will more than likely get called up to Greenville. Now, there is a chance he starts the season at Greenville. Greenville’s season starts on April 7th, while the Spinners don’t start playing until the middle of June.
What made Groome one of the top pitching prospects in high school was his amazing strikeout rate. In less than 40 innings in his senior year of high school, he struck out 90. That will be the key to his success at higher levels.
In 2017, Groome should try to utilize the pitch that got him drafted so high: his curveball. ESPN’s Keith Law stated that Groome had one of the best curveballs he’s seen from a high-school, and that is his strikeout pitch. If he can keep bats guessing by utilizing his curveball, Groome is looking at a great career ahead of him.
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While he has only pitched three games as a professional, it is very clear why Jason Groome is rated so high by front offices around the league. There hasn’t been this type of buzz around a pitching prospect in Boston since Jon Lester, and I think he turned out pretty well. Many Sox fans are very excited to see this teenager handle his first full season in the majors, and hope this is the start of a very successful career.