24-year-old LHP Sean Gilmartin toiled around the Braves and Twins minor league systems since being selected by Atlanta in the first round of the 2011 first-year player draft.
He joined the Twins organization before the 2014 in a trade for Ryan Doumit, and was assigned to Double-A New Britain. He spent half a year there and pitched well, earning a promotion to Triple-A Rochester. However, he struggled with his command in the International League and was not added to Minnesota’s 40-man roster last September or in November to avoid being eligible for the Rule 5 draft.
Gilmartin historically has had success against left-handed hitters – he held left-handed hitters to a .190 average at Triple-A and a .215 average at Double-A last year in particular, and shown to be effective against the left side throughout his professional career.
With the Mets in need of left-handed relief help this winter and being unable to find a suitable solution on the free agent and trade market, the Mets decided to chance it with Gilmartin, selecting him in the Rule 5 draft at the Winter Meetings in December.
Gilmartin’s success against lefties continued into Spring Training, holding lefties to a .227 average throughout the month of March.
That – along with his roster status – earned him a promotion to the Mets for Opening Day, and on Friday night, Gilmartin made his long awaited big league debut, retiring Nick Markakis and Freddie Freeman – two lefties – in the seventh inning of the team’s 5-3 loss to the Braves.
There’s no way to know how long this experience will last for Gilmartin. His roster status makes his situation harder to manage – since he’s a Rule 5 selection, the Mets would have to waive him if they decide to remove him from the Active Roster, and then he has to be offered back to the Twins.
With Bobby Parnell, Vic Black, and later Jenrry Mejia returning from the disabled list, more than one person will fall victim to the numbers game. With the Mets carrying three left-handed relievers and both Alex Torres and Jerry Blevins being out of options, Gilmartin might eventually find himself the odd man out.
But for now, Gilmartin is a big leaguer, and he did his job last night.
Just Mets 