Just Mets

Last night at NYSEG Stadium in Binghamton, both Bobby Parnell and Vic Black pitched scoreless innings for the B-Mets in their 8-5 loss to the Portland Sea Dogs (read more about their outings here).

It was Black’s second outing in as many days, a prerequisite for activation from the disabled list for any reliever. Parnell has yet to pitch on back-to-back days.

Both of them are getting closer to returning and making their season debuts. But the Mets need to make two roster moves in their bullpen to accommodate them on the 25 man roster.

Here are the options:

Demote a bench player.

The Mets could certainly consider going with an effective three-man bench and Anthony Recker, which would make room for one of Parnell or Black and mean they’d carry eight relievers in the bullpen.

However, this scenario is all but not going to happen for a reliever.

The Mets have already said they intend to go with a short-bench beginning next week when they activate Dillon Gee to form a six-man rotation, beginning on June 2. If the Mets option another guy of their bench, they’d have an effective two-man bench which won’t cut it, especially late in games and in extra-innings.

Both moves will clearly come from the bullpen.

The Mets have three left-handed relievers.

The Mets currently have three left-handed relievers with Sean Gilmartin serving as the only natural left-handed specialist in the group. However, he has struggled against left-handlers so far this season – they’re 6-for-23 with a home runs and six strikeouts. Still, assuming it evens out for him, his specialty is something they don’t otherwise have and will need going forward. With that in mind plus his Rule 5 roster status, he is probably safe.

Alex Torres seems unlikely to go as well. He has struggled at times with his control but he has also pitched well for the most part against both left-handlers and right-handlers. Lefties are 5-for-25 with 9 strikeouts against Torres, righties are just 2-for-33 with 13 strikeouts. That along with the fact he is out of options make him certain to stay.

That leaves Jack Leathersich, who is the logical candidate to go. He comes with roster flexibility and he isn’t getting much work, either. It’s not fair to judge his body of work to date because he’s working inconsistently, but he isn’t a natural lefty specialist, and the ability to option him with no consequence solves one roster spot with relative ease.

Erik Goeddel vs. Hansel Robles?

Up until this past weekend, Goeddel had been lights out good thanks to his newly discovered split-fingered fastball. That pitched helped him rack up 12 strikeouts in his first 12 innings before hitting a wall to an extent last Wednesday and again this past Sunday. He has started to work in higher-leverage situations and mostly come up aces for Terry Collins most every time. It would be an undeserved demotion, but not something which would be terribly surprising.

He has earned his keep and the praises from his manager – Terry Collins said himself on Tuesday Goeddel is a legitimate big league reliever.

As for the starter-turned-reliever Robles, he has had one bad outing in an otherwise great start to his big league career. He has shown a plus fastball and slider and at times has dominated with his stuff. He has shown sporadic wildness but has been able to regroup instantly each time.

It’s worth mentioning that until Tuesday, he had held left-handers to just one hit in 14 at-bats. He got hit hard by two lefties yesterday, but the larger sample size suggests he can be a big strikeout weapon against certain lefties late in games.

Like Goeddel, Robles has earned more late inning spots lately thanks to his ability to miss bats with the two aforementioned pitches, and really has been a valuable piece for Terry Collins since he was promoted a month ago.

If it were my choice between the two, I’d have to consider keeping Robles over Goeddel. It’s really hard for the Mets to take his arm out of the bullpen, especially since both Black and Parnell are still building arm strength and can’t be depended on yet for consistent hard stuff late in games. Demoting Robles could cause more harm than good, even more so than taking Goeddel out of the mix.

That’s not a knock on Goeddel – both deserve to be here and not in Las Vegas.

What about Carlos Torres?

He’s worth mentioning in this discussion mostly because every other reliever with the exception of Jeurys Familia has been discussed.

A lot has been asked of Torres already this year. Originally, he was set to be one of the club’s long men out of the bullpen possibly along with Gee. But that quickly changed once the Mets started losing relievers in March. Torres converted to short relief and that’s been his primary role through the first two months of the season. He has worked in half of the team’s games already which is way too heavy a workload, and at times he’s struggled with his arm slot which suggests fatigue, although he will never admit it.

In the end, Torres does not profile as a late inning reliever. He’s allowed too many base runners in this role, and while he’s filled in admirably, he’s being overexposed right now.

But with two arms returning soon, Terry Collins can convert Torres back to where he is strongest which is middle and long relief. The Mets really lack a long man, and if Gee is going to be in the rotation, Torres instantly deepens the bullpen and provides insurance as an emergency starter if he’s taken out of his current short relief role.

Besides, Torres is out of options – he cannot be sent to the minor leagues without his permission if he were to clear waivers, which he probably wouldn’t.

What’s going to happen?

If I had to bet, I’d say ultimately Black and Parnell will replace Leathersich and Goeddel. Parnell is probably a little bit further behind Black as he still has to work back-to-back days, but his velocity is creeping up which means that could happen in the very near-term. So, the decision can be prolonged a bit.

And, who knows? These things tend to work themselves out. Someone could get hurt, which would make the decision potentially easier for the Mets front office.