Author: Frank Caggino
Editor: Mark Awadallah
For the New York Mets during Spring Training, one roster opening has yet to be filled, tthe last bullpen spot. Following the release of Brad Brach and injury to Seth Lugo, the Mets need another reliever for the major league roster. The Mets have invited a ton of different pitchers to Spring Training, to determine who will make the team. In the first week of Spring Training, a few relievers have performed well, but only one might make the opening day roster.
The favorite to make the bullpen is Drew Smith. Smith has been with the Mets for a few years and has some good outings on the MLB level for the Mets. Smith is now two years removed from the Tommy John surgery and has pitched well in Spring Training so far. There is no guarantee that Smith will make the team since other pitchers have done well also.
An intriguing candidate to be in the Mets bullpen, is Sean Reid-Foley. He came to the Mets from the Toronto Blue Jays in the Steven Matz trade. Reid-Foley was effective for the Jays in a very small sample size of games in 2020, having a 1.35 ERA in 5 games. He brings in a valuable element of someone who can start games, which can give the Mets a long reliever. He can come into the game if a pitcher has a bad outing and gets pulled early or gets hurt during the game. Reid-Foley can come in during a blowout, to rest the other pitchers in the bullpen. He had a scoreless outing in his one Spring Training appearance, but there is a lot of Spring Training left.
A player worth mentioning based off his outings in Spring Training, is Trevor Hildenberger. He has pitched well and has been generating strikeouts. The most intriguing thing about Hildenberger, is his delivery as a sidearm pitcher. This can make him useful in certain matchups to give hitters a different look. If he continues to pitch this well, he can end up getting some innings for the Mets this season.
Some other pitchers that are competing include Jacob Barnes, Sam McWilliams, Jerry Blevins, Tommy Hunter, Arodys Vizcanio, and more. All of these pitchers are going to be trying their best because, even if they do not make the Mets major league team, they want to try to make another major league team. It will be interesting to see who makes the team, since the bullpen can be the deciding factor in how the Mets season goes. The lineup is expected to do very well, and the rotation should be vastly improved with Marcus Stroman, Carlos Carrasco, and Taijuan Walker. The one question mark will be the bullpen because fans do not have trust in some of the pitchers that are guaranteed to be in the bullpen, such as Jeurys Familia and Dellin Betances. Throughout the course of the regular season, a ton of different pitchers will be used. In this year in particular, pitchers may miss games because they are sick or due to contact tracing. These Spring Training games will help decide which pitchers to call up when they need an extra arm. The Mets have not had this kind of depth before and one of these relievers can help finally get the Mets back to the postseason.
METS ARE OUR UNIVERSE
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