(Photo Courtesy of MLB.com)
The New York Mets announced this morning that RHP Paul Sewald has been re-assigned to minor league camp. Sewald pitched extremely well this spring in an effort to win a spot in the MLB bullpen. In 14.1 IP, Sewald posted a 2.51 ERA with a paltry .143 AVG against and a 7.5 K/ rate. Despite the strong performance, his inclusion would have required a spot to be opened on the 40 man roster. With David Wright already swinging again in camp, and everyone else seemingly in good health, there were no options to be placed on the 60 day DL to free up that spot.
As a result of this move, RHP Rafael Montero seemingly will win the middle reliever job. Montero has also been pitching well this spring with a 1.96 ERA across 18.1 IP. His high strikeout totals (10.3 K/9) and ability to pitch multiple innings provides the Mets significant flexibility for the early part of the season when they are trying to keep SP inning totals down.
As a result of this move, RHP Rafael Montero seemingly will win the middle reliever job. Montero has also been pitching well this spring with a 1.96 ERA across 18.1 IP. His high strikeout totals (10.3 K/9) and ability to pitch multiple innings provides the Mets significant flexibility for the early part of the season when they are trying to keep SP inning totals down.
(This is just me reading the tea leaves......but I wonder if Montero winning this job is a pre-cursor to the Mets also bringing Zack Wheeler up north with them. The club already had a guy with the ability to provide length out of the bullpen in Seth Lugo...for them to carry another guy of that nature makes me wonder if they plan on going with a "piggyback" system between Wheeler and Lugo? Having the 2 of them combine for 7 IP and letting Montero be the official long man in the pen would effectively keep Wheeler's inning count down enough to get him to at least September without crossing that 120-125 IP limit that the team has initially set.)
