Just Mets

LHP Eric O’Flaherty is viewed by the club as a necessary upgrade to the left side of the Mets bullpen, assistant GM John Ricco said on Tuesday night after the club announced they had acquired the left-hander from Oakland.

Ricco said because they are unsure when Jerry Blevins will be returning, the club felt they needed to improve their situational pitching late in games, considering both Alex Torres and Sean Gilmartin have proved inadequate in getting left-handed hitters out.

As it turns out, O’Flaherty struggled to get left-handed hitters out himself in his Mets debut on Wednesday night in Miami.

O’Flaherty allowed four hits – three of which were to left-handed hitters – in the ninth inning of Wednesday’s 8-6 win over the Marlins as the Mets nearly blew their first eight-run lead since 1980.

“It’s not the start you’re looking for,” O’Flaherty said. “It’s just good to get the first one out of the way.”

O’Flaherty said he left his home in Seattle at 4:00 AM PDT and arrived only a couple of hours before game time in Miami.

“You don’t want to make excuses. It’s a crazy day,” O’Flaherty explained. “But that’s my job there, to come in and just finish that game out. Three lefties coming up in the ninth. That’s on me. I’ve got to do that.”

His whirlwind of a day is understandable to a degree. It’s not easy coming east from the west coast and playing the same day. Most of the time, teams have off-days in-between the cross-country travel, and certainly can depend on a few hours of sleep if that off-day doesn’t exist.

O’Flaherty did not have that, and it potentially showed in what a startling performance, considering he entered the game with an eight-run lead.

It certainly wasn’t indicative of his track record against left-handed hitters. He has held lefties to a .201 average with a .528 OPS in his ten-year career with the Mariners, Braves, and A’s. In 2015, he’s held left-handed hitters to a .229 average.

“He’s going to be run out there again in those situations,” Terry Collins said.

It’s why they got him. He just didn’t get it done, regardless of the reasoning. His sinker is the key for him against lefties, and the bottom line is it was not particularly effective for him in his Mets début.

As long as O’Flaherty faces only left-handed hitters, he should be fine. But before being acquired for the Mets, it looked as though he was finally hitting his stride after dealing with a shoulder injury earlier this year, and the Mets are obviously banking on that to continue despite his poor performance against Miami on Wednesday.

No matter what, they’re going to need this to be chalked up simply to a crazy day ending in a crazy manner for their new left-hander.