Mike O’Connor Could Be A Nice Fit In Mets Bullpen

On Tuesday, the New York Mets announced that they had re-signed lefty reliever Mike O’Connor to a minor league contract with an invite to major league spring training.

According to Bisons.com, O’Connor, 30, spent the entire 2010 season with the Bisons and was the club’s most used reliever. In a team-high 51 appearances, O’Connor was 5-2 with a 2.67 ERA and six saves (70.2 IP, 65 H, 25 R, 21 ER, 17 BB, 70 K). He ranked 1st on the Bisons in saves, 3rd in games finished (118) and 4th in strikeouts.

O’Connor allowed just nine of 35 inherited runners to score in 2010 (26%) and pitched more than one inning in 21 of his 51 outings with the team. He posted a sub 3.00 ERA in the final four months of the season: June (1.76), July (2.38), August (2.25) and September (1.69).

Opponents hit just .191 (13-68) against O’Connor with runners in scoring position.

O’Connor is continuing to post excellent numbers in the Dominican League where he agreed to play Winter ball.

In 16 appearances, he has a 1.59 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. In 11.1 innings pitched, he has struck out an amazing 16 batters while walking only three. 

I don’t know about you, but looking at these numbers makes the loss of Pedro Feliciano a lot more palatable for me.

I’m excited to see how well he performs this spring.