Double-A Pitcher Of The Week: Braves Rob Whalen

By David Conde
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Updated: June 21, 2016

In 2012, the New York Mets drafted pitcher Robert Whalen in the 12th round of the MLB June Amateur draft out of Haines City High School in Haines City, Florida.

Whalen pitched in the Mets organization from 2012 to 2015 and was traded to the Atlanta Braves on July 24, 2015 along with RHP John Gant in exchange for Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe.

His best season within the New York’s system came in 2014, when he finished 9-1, with a 2.01 ERA in 11 starts with the Savannah Sand Gnats (former Class-A Advanced affiliate of the Mets).

After the trade, Whalen was placed with Atlanta’s Class A Advanced squad the Carolina Mudcats and in three appearances he was 1-2, with a 3.29 ERA.

This season, Whalen was promoted to the organizations Double-A affiliate Mississippi Braves and in 14 starts he is 5-4, with a 2.16 ERA and 70 strike outs in 79.1 innings.

Over the past week, spanning June 13 to June 19th, Whalen was 1-0, with a 2.26 ERA, in 13 shutout innings, allowing one unearned run, five walks and 12 strike outs. The highlight of the week was on June 19th, when he won his fifth game on the season, after tossing seven strong innings, allowing two hits, one unearned run, a walk and struck out eight, tying a season high.

The #26 prospect on Atlanta’s prospect watch list, was a rising star before the Mets chose to trade him away, and now as the season progresses, Whalen continues to dominate the Southern League, especially with his 0.35 ERA so far in the month of June.

Whalen is a prospect to keep an eye on and in time he may be able to help an organization looking to turn around their current misfortunes. The future is bright for this rising star.

David Conde

David is the Co-Founder and Executive Editor of Legends On Deck®, as well as a Co-Host on Legends On Deck Podcast. David was a Senior Editor for MetsMerizedOnline.com, MetsMinors.net and Contributor for Hardballchat.com that spanned from 2010 to 2014. David made his MLB Debut as a writer in June 2014, while covering the NY Mets at Citi Field, for MetsmerizedOnline.com. David also coaches baseball for ages 13-15, a Babe Ruth League team in his local community. David's passion is coaching the game he loves to the future Legends of Tomorrow as well as making available a website that people can have fun sharing and reading. David is also passionate about his career as a Mortgage Loan Officer which allows him to help many families reach their dreams of owning a home. Connect with David via his Social Media pages as he loves to chat all about baseball.

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