Just Mets

How about Buddy Carlyle?

Just 11 days ago, it wasn’t clear he would even make the team – he had an opt-out in his contract and could have executed it by Opening Day.

It’s a good thing that didn’t happen.

On a night when the Mets were short in the bullpen, the Mets called upon Carlyle to pitch a crucial seventh inning. He retired the Phillies 1-2-3 in the seventh, throwing 12 of his 14 pitches for strikes.

Carlyle has only made three appearances so far this season, but he has been spotless in every single one of them. He’s allowed only one hit in his three games this year, a span of 2 1/3 innings.

He recorded the first save of his big league career on Opening Day, at age-37.

He may be the eighth man in the bullpen, but he sure has pitched like an ace of a bullpen not just this year, but dating back to his arrival with the Mets last summer.

Carlyle has now made 30 appearances for the Mets since last year – he is 1-1 with a 1.35 ERA in 33 1/3 innings, having allowed only 24 hits and five walks with 29 strikeouts.

Eventually, the Mets will have to trim down the bullpen. It was proven on Tuesday night the Mets cannot sustain themselves late in games playing with an effective three-man bench.

They’ll also have to make room for Bobby Parnell and Vic Black at some point in the near-term, as they began their rehab assignments with Single-A St. Lucie on Tuesday night.

Sandy Alderson said when and if the Mets make their changes in the bullpen, whatever they end up being, its not necessarily certain the Mets will remove one of the three lefties in the bullpen. That stands to reason considering Alex Torres isn’t a natural lefty specialist, and can be extremely effective against right-handers with his change-up.

That could ultimately leave Carlyle among those as the odd men out in the equation, even though he wouldn’t deserve such a fate.