Right-hander Casey Delgado began his professional baseball career as a nomad.
Despite filling out questionnaires from major league teams, Delgado went undrafted as a senior out of Austin Peay in 2013. So he landed a job with the Frontier Greys -- a team that entirely played on the road in the independent Frontier League.
“I was kind of counting on getting drafted,” Delgado said. “I didn’t get drafted. That was upsetting, disappointing.”
Delgado went 2-6 with a 3.51 ERA in 15 appearances (13 starts) that season for the traveling independent team.
“We basically lived out of our bus,” Delgado said. “We played away games every game, just going hotel to hotel. It’s not a very good situation because you never get to hit in the bottom of the ninth, and everybody is always rooting against you. Obviously family if they come, but there’s nobody cheering for you or anything. We were pretty good. It was a good group of guys. I think we’d always lose in the bottom of the ninth.”
Delgado remained in independent ball the following season, but at least he had a team with a home stadium -- the Traverse City Beach Bums in Michigan. Finally, in his second season with that club, he got a break two starts into the season.
While throwing on the field four hours before a game, manager Dan Rohn approached Delgado, holding Delgado’s cell phone.
“I’m thinking, ‘What did I do? I’m in trouble,’” Delgado said.
“Is this your phone?” Rohn asked.
“Yeah,” Delgado replied.
“You might want to keep it on you. The Mets are about to call you. They want to buy your contract,” Rohn told him.
Said Delgado: “It was a really cool situation. I’ve been waiting for that forever. I was speechless at the time. I’m so grateful that it happened.”
Delgado spent the remainder of last season pitching for Savannah in the South Atlantic League. This year, he raced to a 4-0 record and 2.67 ERA in four starts for St. Lucie. That earned the 25-year-old Delgado a promotion to Binghamton. He is 2-2 with a 4.79 ERA in four starts since joining the Double-A club.
“We have a pretty good defense down there,” Delgado explained about his St. Lucie success. “[Amed] Rosario and [Luis] Guillorme up the middle, I was able to throw a lot of strikes and get ground balls. And we had a lot of run support, so that helped.”
Delgado throws a four-seam fastball, sinker, curveball and changeup. His fastball sits at 87-90 mph. He prides himself on keeping the ball down in the zone and inducing ground balls.
Delgado learned from farm director Ian Levin after joining the Mets that he actually was on their draft board in 2013, even though he went unselected.
“I’ve always been the undersized pitcher that doesn’t throw hard,” said Delgado, who is listed at 5-foot-11. “I go out and I battle. I think that’s really the biggest thing. I feel like I might have been a little overlooked. But I’ve worked really hard to get here. I’m happy where I am.”
ORGANIZATION LEADERS
Average: T.J. Rivera, Vegas, .364; Wuilmer Becerra, St. Lucie, .333; Vinny Siena, Columbia, .314; Kevin Taylor, St. Lucie, .301; Matt Oberste, Binghamton, .298; Brandon Nimmo, Vegas, .297; Travis Taijeron, Vegas, .297; Amed Rosario, St. Lucie, .293; Roger Bernadina, Vegas, .290; David Thompson, Columbia, .288.
Homers: Marc Krauss, Vegas, 9; Dilson Herrera, Vegas, 8; Travis Taijeron, Vegas, 8; T.J. Rivera, Vegas, 6; Ivan Wilson, Columbia, 5.
RBIs: T.J. Rivera, Vegas, 45; David Thompson, Columbia, 40; Travis Taijeron, Vegas, 39; Dominic Smith, Binghamton, 33; Amed Rosario, St. Lucie, 29.
Steals: Champ Stuart, St. Lucie, 15; Amed Rosario, St. Lucie, 10; Roger Bernadina, Vegas, 9; J.C. Rodriguez, Columbia, 7.
ERA: P.J. Conlon, Columbia, 1.42; Ricky Knapp, St. Lucie, 2.08; Gabriel Ynoa, Vegas, 2.40; Robert Gsellman, Binghamton, 2.78; Kevin Canelon, Columbia, 3.16; Joe Shaw, Columbia, 3.21; Tyler Badamo, Columbia, 3.47; Casey Delgado, Binghamton, 3.59; Duane Below, Vegas, 3.70; Sean Gilmartin, Vegas, 3.92.
Wins: P.J. Conlon, Columbia, 7; Casey Delgado, Binghamton, 6; Gabriel Ynoa, Vegas, 6; Ricky Knapp, St. Lucie, 5; Sean Gilmartin, Vegas, 5.
Saves: Paul Sewald, Vegas, 7; Alex Palsha, Columbia 7; Corey Taylor, St. Lucie, 6; Chasen Bradford, Vegas, 4.
Strikeouts: Tyler Pill, Binghamton, 49; Corey Oswalt, St. Lucie, 49; Tyler Pill, Binghamton, 49; Joe Shaw, Columbia, 48; P.J. Conlon, Columbia, 47.
SHORT HOPS
St. Lucie first baseman/left fielder Kevin Taylor proposed to his girlfriend Erin at Tradition Field on Monday’s day off. Taylor had a message set up on the video board and music playing on the public-address system. That followed a pretty good weekend for Taylor, who was plucked out of independent ball by the Mets. In consecutive weekend games, Taylor produced two-out, two-run homers in the first inning. The latter long ball came against former major leaguer Justin Masterson. In both games, the homers accounted for St. Lucie’s only run production.
Brandon Nimmo pinch hit on Monday, then homered in his return to Las Vegas’ starting lineup on Tuesday after a nearly full-week absence. Nimmo had been sidelined with an upper-body bruise.
Infielder T.J. Rivera lost a 17-game hitting streak Tuesday when he went 0-for-5 for Las Vegas at Reno. He hit .453 (34-for-75) with two homers and 21 RBIs during that stretch.
First baseman-turned-outfielder Jayce Boyd made his season debut with Binghamton on Tuesday. Boyd had been sidelined for the opening two months of the season with a shoulder issue. He underwent surgery during the 2013-14 offseason for thoracic outlet syndrome, but has continued to have shoulder difficulty.
The Mets added right-handed reliever Jeff Walters to the 40-man roster for the second time in his career during the offseason. Now, Walters has been bounced again. Walters was designated for assignment Tuesday when the Mets needed to free a 40-man roster spot for recently acquired James Loney. Walters had a 9.27 ERA in 23 relief appearances with Las Vegas.
After a cold start to the season, L.J. Mazzilli had hit safely in seven straight games until the streak was snapped Tuesday. For the stretch from May 22 through Monday, Mazzilli led the Eastern League with a .524 batting average (11-for-21).
2013 first-round pick Dominic Smith snapped a nine-game RBI drought with a first-inning RBI single on Monday. Smith leads the B-Mets with 33 RBIs.
St. Lucie endured a tough week. It entered a four-game series against Bradenton up one game in the division. After getting swept, the Mets dropped three games out of first place. Of the 18 games remaining in the first half, only three are at home. The offense has gone into a funk. St. Lucie has produced 25 runs in its last 14 games.
St. Lucie right-hander Kevin McGowan made a spot start in Game 2 of Friday’s doubleheader and contributed four scoreless innings. That shaved his ERA to 1.00. McGowan has 29 strikeouts and two walks this season. Has allowed only three earned runs in 2016 -- and only one since the season opener.
South Atlantic League RBI leader David Thompson returned from the disabled list Tuesday as the designated hitter after recovering from a rib-cage strain. He last had appeared on May 19.
“Farm Report” appears on Wednesdays during the regular season.
