The New York Mets have their stars in camp, and they’re making comments and generating controversy. That’s what they do, prompted by the usual gentle shoves from the ravenous New York media.
But one player who’s going under the radar to date is reliever Tobias Myers, who was acquired in the trade for new ace Freddy Peralta. Myers was barely mentioned in most of the reporting about the trade, but he’s actually a promising young pitcher who could play a significant role in the Mets’ revamped bullpen.
Color Juan Soto impressed. The outfielder took live batting practice against Myers this week, and afterwards Soto asked the reliever about a specific pitch in an exchange that was reported by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.
“Good s--- today,” Soto told him, stopping to ask about a specific pitch. “That was a cutter?”
Myers nodded. “It wasn’t good,” he said.
“No,” Soto corrected him. “That was a good pitch.”
Myers has thrown plenty of good pitches in his brief career, but it’s somewhat understandable if he was surprised by Soto’s assessment. He was a successful starter with the Milwaukee Brewers when he first came up, but injuries put Myers and the shelf and relegated him to the bullpen in the role of swing man.
But the Mets have no interest in stretching Myers out as a possible rotation option, even though he still has a minor league option that would allow them to do just that. They value Myers in that important swing-man role, and they’ve been making some mechanical adjustments in his grip so he can use his splitter more effectively.
Myers has a 3.55 ERA using the splitter in place of his changeup, according to DiComo, who added that Myers also has below-average velocity, strikeout and chase rates. As a reliever, though, he’s been virtually unhittable, posting a 1.62 ERA in 18 career appearances as a receiver to date.
“You’re going to need guys like him,” said Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said, and Myers verified that when asked about his ability to start and relieve, saying, “I know that they know and they like that I can do both.”
Given the state of the back half of the Mets rotation, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if Myers got stretched out at some point this season to take on a larger role. Starters like Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga were unreliable last year, and David Peterson and Clay Holmes failed badly down the stretch. Myers could be a plug-and-play option if that starts to happen again, and he could easily stick if he can stay healthy.