Mets Select A New Left-Hander Who Could Be Joining Their Beleaguered Bullpen Soon

The New York Mets need bullpen depth, especially after last night’s  12-inning, 16-7 win over the Washington Nationals, and they announced today that they’ve selected the contract of life-hander Anderson Severino, according to a report from Darragh McDonald of MLBTradeRumors.com. 

Severino has been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse, so he will be with the club, and he’s also on the 40-man roster. Severino will now be eligible to be called up to the active roster. Pitchers have to wait 15 days after being optioned before they can be recalled, according to McDonals, although there are injury exceptions for that. That definitely applies here with starter Clay Holmes being transferred to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move. 

The Mets also made a series of associated moves, with Austin Slater designated for assignment and Nick Morabito getting recalled. Those moves drop the roster count to 39, which will give the Mets room to add Zach Thornton tomorrow so he can make his start. There will also be another roster move in conjunction with that as well. 

The 31-year old pitcher signed a minor league deal with the Mets in the offseason, and it’s possible that that signing came with an opt-out or assignment clause. That’s usually the reason a club would give a pitcher like Severino a spot, but it also doesn’t require them to call him up immedaiately, which makes sense given the amount of churn on the Mets pitching staff these days. Their current series with the Washington Nationals has been especially taxing, especially given the bad start by rookie Nolan McLean. 

Another reason the Mets are going this is because of Severino’s hot start at Syracuse. He’s thrown 17-1/3 innings there so far, and his ERA is just 1.04. His walk rate is high at 12.1 percent, but Severino is also striking out 27.3 percent of the hitters he’s facing, and he’s inducing grounders on 52.6 percent of balls he’s allowed in play. His fastball is averaging 96 mph, and he’s also throwing a mid-80s slider, which helps explain the impressive results. 

But Severino has also had trouble replicating those results at the big-league level, which is a big reason why he’s only thrown 7-1/3 innings in MLB for the Chicago White Sox in 2022. The Mets think there’s more to be mined, and right now they only have two left-handers in their bullpen, Brooks Raley and demoted starter Sean Manaea, so put him down as a coming attraction at Citi Field.