Robert Gsellman, RHP
Player Data: Age: 25, B/T: R/R
Free Agency: 2023
2018 Stats: 68 G, 4.28 ERA, 13 SV/20 SVO; 1.30 WHIP 3.95 FIP, 0.90 HR/9, 3.15 BB/9, 7.88 SO/9, 0.3 WAR
2019 Salary: Pre-arbitration
GRADE: C
2018 Review
The 2018 season brought a lot of change for Robert Gsellman as he made the full move from rotation to the bullpen. He did struggle overall, but made strides in a few areas as well. Two stats to think of are his percentage of pitches for strikes and his pitches per innings pitched. His strike percentage increased from 63.3 % in 2017 to 64.6 % this year and his pitches per inning decreased from 17.1 in 2017 to 16.0 this season.
The best of Gsellman was seen in August, as he finished the month with an ERA of 1.54 with three saves in 11 games. Also during the month of August, he let up his least amount of hits (7) in 11.2 innings. He fumbled down the stretch however, allowing 10 earned runs over his last 9.1 innings.
By the end of the season, Gsellman blew seven saves. These all occurred when he had two or less days of rest in between appearances, something to keep an eye on going forward.
2019 Outlook
Though this season wasn’t his best, it is important to take into consideration that the adjustment from rotation to relief is not all that easy. Now that he has gotten experience coming in from the pen, Gsellman will have to take it to the next level in order to truly show how valuable he is and can be to the organization.
His role in 2019, could significantly change depending on what the Mets do this offseason in free agency or on the trade front. Whatever happens, Gsellman is likely guaranteed a spot in the pen alongside Seth Lugo.
