RHP Chris Schwinden To Make Mets Debut On Thursday

According to Assistant GM John Ricco, RHP Chris Schwinden, 1B Valentino Pascucci and OF Mike Baxter will all be promoted to the Mets later today.

Schwinden is someone we’ve talked a lot about on MMO and if the reports I’m hearing are true, he is expected to make his major league debut with the Mets this Thursday against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field. The Mets have a doubleheader scheduled for that day, and Schwinden will start one of those games.

Adam Rubin of ESPN said the Mets might be somewhat concerned that the 24-year-old Schwinden “ran out of gas late in the season” with the Bisons.

The former 22nd-round pick out of Fresno Pacific had a 5.63 ERA in August, then allowed two runs in 4 1/3 innings at Lehigh Valley in a 72-pitch effort in his final Triple-A outing on Saturday. But the organization proceeded with the promotion.

“We’ve talked about that, but then he had one decent start. And he’s been pitching pretty well,” Ricco said. “And he’s definitely had the type of year that you want to reward. He’s been one of our better pitchers. It will be a nice thing for him to come up and join this team.”

Schwinden began the season at Double-A Binghamton but after a spot start on April 17, he secured a spot in the Triple-A rotation. From there, he led the Bisons in starts (26), innings pitched (145.2), ERA (3.95) and strikeouts (134) while tying for the team lead with eight wins.

He’s not overpowering, but has good command of his fastball and has a plus changeup that he uses quite effectively. Schwinden was just named the Bisons’ pitcher of the year.