Mike's Mets - Building a Better Bullpen

By Mike Steffanos March 14, 2021

Given the scattershot nature of spring training telecasts, it's been difficult to judge the performance of Mets pitchers so far. This is particularly the case for relief pitchers, who you're only going to see for an inning even when a game is on tv. That holds true for Miguel Castro, the young pitcher acquired from the Orioles by Brodie Van Wagenen last season. I've personally only had the opportunity to watch the man pitch once. I liked what I saw, but I understand that it's folly to extrapolate a good inning into a potential full season's performance.

I remember when the Mets picked up the then 25-year-old Castro at the end of August last season, I wasn't impressed. It was already fairly apparent by that point that the Mets were not a legitimate playoff contender. Despite his relative youth, the Mets were Castro's fourth Major League team. His strikeout numbers with the Orioles were not impressive. In 226 innings over three seasons in Baltimore, Castro only averaged 6.6K/9IP. That's a meager number for a reliever. Even more concerning, he issued walks at the unacceptable rate of 4.7/9. In a bullpen that already infamously wild, adding another rightie who couldn't throw the ball over the plate seemed ill-advised, to say the least.

Miguel Castro only pitched 9 innings for the Mets last September as they stumbled their way to the conclusion of another playoff-less season. He struck out 14 batters, which was certainly promising, but he also walked an astonishing 8 batters and gave up 11 hits. A WHIP of 2.111 will earn any reliever little more than a ticket on the last train to Palookaville but, despite those poor numbers, Castro looked interesting.

For a time this offseason, it seemed that the Mets might be trying to construct a super-bullpen. They signed Trevor May, went down to the wire with Brad Hand, and were rumored to be in pursuit of some other top firemen. In the end, however, May and lefty Aaron Loup were the only significant names signed.

Meanwhile, the Mets were also bringing in a bunch of interesting arms with the idea of finding some gems among that group. It's not an indefensible way to construct a bullpen. Still, it's only going to work if pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and his fellow instructors could help at least a couple of these guys take the next step in their development as pitchers. That, of course, still remains to be seen. The proof will play out against real competition in April and May as the 2021 Mets bullpen comes into focus.

Miguel Castro looks like a guy who may be ready to take a step forward and challenge for some late-inning high-leverage relief action. Greg Joyce had a piece in the New York Post today about the young pitcher, who may be ready to start earning some more important innings for himself. He's only walked one batter over three one-inning outings. He's struck out 2 and not allowed any hits. Without going too crazy about 3 innings in March, it's fair to say that Castro is certainly making a case for himself in the early going.

I thought coming into this spring that a spot in the Opening Day bullpen was Castro's to lose, figuring that displaying the same wildness from last September could take him out of the mix. All things being equal, though, I felt that he had enough of a track record to at least stick as a middle relief option. That he's done so well is legitimately a good sign for the future.

Castro is an interesting pitcher. Listed at 6' 7" and 205 lbs., he looks a bit skinnier than that. Watching him pitch, he looks all arms and legs, which can work well for a relief pitcher. Of course, guys that tall have more work to do to maintain their delivery, which could explain the problems with walks. Manager Louis Rojas was quoted about Castro in Joyce's article, citing increased experience and the improvement of one of his pitches as reasons for Castro's promising spring:

"He’s still so young and his abilities are special. Last year coming over to us, it's just another stepping stone in his career where he's learning. He's more mature, he's more experienced. I think he’s slowed down a little bit some of the things he needed to get better at. That's what he's doing right now in this camp."

"This changeup is a lot better. Last year, he even said it to me a couple times over the phone that he wanted to work on everything, but specifically getting lefties out more. So his changeup right now is in a good place. He threw a couple and they looked really good. So the command, along with a third pitch that he can bring with the fastball-slider mix that he usually showed last year, is what I've seen."

Now, I'm not sure that I buy the "more mature... more experienced" bit. That sounded like manager-speak to me. Castro had accumulated over 270 Major League innings before he got here. He wasn't unsuccessful, but his success was uneven. The talent was obviously there. That's why Toronto, Colorado, Baltimore, and the Mets have given him the ball since he was 20 years old.

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