The biggest question after the Mets' trade deadline deals were completed was, why didn't they acquire a starting pitcher?
While Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said in his post-deadline Zoom he was engaged with teams in that market, he ultimately went with revamping his bullpen. As he put it, "there's multiple ways to build a pitching staff," and he hopes the arms he has on the big league roster and even those in the minor leagues can help his team down the stretch.
"As we saw, there were some starting pitchers that were traded not every pitcher who was rumored to be available was ultimately moved. We were engaged throughout," Stearns said. "We’re really happy with the arms we were able to acquire, who are going to pitch out of our pen. And we have confidence in the starters not only who are here, who will keep us competitive and help us win games, but also pleased with the development of some of the guys in Triple-A are progressing. We understand that they could, may not definitely, but they could be part of the mix going forward if needed."
Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat are two such minor league arms that are the closest to making the jump to the major leagues. When their names were brought up specifically to Stearns, he praised both of their development so far this season.
"They can help. It’s just a matter of their continued development and when does the opportunity arise, and is it the right time," Stearns said. "Both guys have taken very nice steps forward in their development. We’re going to continue to challenge them. We’re going to continue to ask them to get better and work on things. They are doing a good job. If we need someone from Triple-A, we’ve got people down and they are among them who can help us."
McLean, 24, has had a great year for Syracuse, posting a 3.01 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP across 14 games (11 starts). In his last start (July 30), McLean allowed two runs across six innings while striking out six batters.
Sproat, 24, has been just as good as McLean. Entering Thursday's start, Sproat pitched to a 4.30 ERA with a 1.29 WHIP but hadn't allowed a run in more than a month before his July 25 start, where he gave up two runs. But Sproat is now starting a new streak, as he pitched five scoreless innings for Syracuse on Thursday.
Both have been impressive this year, but like Stearns said, the team needs to wait for the right opportunity for a call-up. The Mets' rotation is healthy, with David Peterson, Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes pitching without issue — physically — in weeks. The team also has Paul Blackburn in the minors, who Stearns said a conversation about his role on the Mets needs to be discussed, so there's currently no room for young arms.
And unless there's an injury, a win-now team in the midst of a race for the division may not want a youngster pitching.
However the rest of the season shakes out, the Mets have made it known they believe in Sproat and McLean, we'll just have to see if that "opportunity" Stearns spoke of arrives.
Read the full article here