The New York Mets bullpen was a hodge podge of ineffective pitchers who couldn’t form a bridge to closer Edward Diaz, but reliever Dylan Ross is one pitcher who could help change all that. 

Ross is a hard-throwing, dynamic young prospect, and the Mets are hoping he can step in and play an important role in their bullpen this season. He’s been through two UCL surgeries, though, and it was only this past season that he was able to work his way back to Triple A Syracuse. 

“I’ve gotta have the outlook of ‘It’s just another day,'” Ross said in a piece written by Mojo Hill of Metsmerized Online. “You kind of prepare yourself through rehab the whole time of, like, ‘I guess it’s just the best outcome it possibly could have been, coming off that situation.'”

Ross’s fastball typically sits in the mid-90s, and he’s been clocked as high as 102. His splitter lands in the high 80s to low 90s, which gives opposing hitters plenty to think about when he’s coming at them on the mound. 

He’s also got the size of a power reliever. Ross is 6’5”, 251, and he started playing baseball in Georgia before he landed at Eastern Kentucky University. The key to his current status as a promising prospect, he indicates, was about mastering his mechanics. 

“I used to land very closed and long,” Ross said. “I’d always say I was like lawn-chairing myself with how closed off I was, trying to get extension. So it was almost as if I was bending my back.”

He throws the splitter with exactly the same motion, which is why Ross trusts it even more than the fastball. 

“It’s like the one pitch where it’s never not on,” Ross said.

One of the reasons he signed with the Mets after being drafted, Ross added is about their medical staff. 

“With the Mets, it was a lot better fit than I could ever imagine,” Ross said.

The right-hander had an ERA of 2.56 across three minor-league levels, so if he stays healthy he's clearly ready. But Ross will come to camp without a defined role. The Mets would love to see him become their version of Padres reliever Mason Miller, and he could even be their closer of the future, but Ross isn’t counting on anything. 

“I thank nobody but God just to be in the position that I’m in now,” he said. “I could never imagine the ride that I’ve been on now. So I just try to make sure not to look too far ahead and try to determine what it’s supposed to look like. I just try to stay grounded and do what I’m doing now.

“I guess it’s as simple as that. Just enjoying the ride.”