New York Mets infielder Jose Reyes pitched one inning in a blowout loss to the Washington Nationals during the 2018 while catcher Kevin Plawecki pitched in two games back in 2017.

Position players threw a whopping 63 innings last season with an ugly 11.73 ERA and more walks than strikeouts.

Earlier this offseason, the Mets traded prospects Luis Santana, Ross Adolph and Scott Manea to the Houston Astros for J.D. Davis.

Davis, 25, played almost exclusively third base during his first two seasons in pro ball. His third season he played four games in left field and in 2017 he mixed nine games at first base and three in right field. In 2018, Davis played 23 games at first base (13 in majors), 16 in left field (5 in majors), 11 in right field, and 74 at third (23 in majors).

On August 29, 2017, Davis pitched the ninth inning for the Astros in a blowout loss to the Texas Rangers. The right-handed Davis faced three batters, retiring them on nine pitches (six strikes) including a strikeout of Shin-Soo Choo on a breaking ball. He hit 92 mph with his fastball and a curve around 77-78 mph.

Later in the 2017 season, the Astros were getting blown out again and brought Davis back out to the mound. A walk and single allowed to inherited runners to score, though he also struck out Marcus Semien and Khris Davis swinging. Brooks Baseball had his fastball up to 93.83 mph against the Rangers.

Davis, former third round pick, pitched in another blowout for the Astros in 2018 against the Los Angeles Angels. After allowing a solo homer to Ian Kinsler, he retired the next three batters in order including getting Jose Briceno swinging with 92 mph fastball. Interesting to note that Davis has struck out four of the 11 major leaguers he’s faced, and all of them swinging.

Eno Sarris of The Athletic reported the Mets are considering using Davis as pitching option in mop-up type duty. During the press conference to introduce Jed Lowrie, Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen told Matt Ehalt of The Record the Mets are open to using Davis as a pitcher.

Pitching isn’t a new thing for Davis. The power hitter (.521 SLG in minors career) pitched in all three years that he spent at Cal State Fullerton. His freshman year he made five starts, with a 3.52 ERA and 1.39 WHIP in 23 innings. He pitched in 16 games (3 starts) with 2.74 ERA, four saves, and 1.13 WHIP in 23 innings he next year. His final season at Cal State, he was strictly a reliever and finished with seven saves, 2.66 ERA, and 9.74 K/9.

Davis was certainly acquired from the Mets more for his potential with the bat (.342/.406/.583, 17 HR, 81 RBI in minors last season), but it will be interesting to see if he’s able to save the bullpen a few times in 2019.