New York Mets left-hander Aaron Loup has been putting together a historic 2021 season.
The southpaw continued his dominance on Sunday night, earning his sixth win of the season in the team’s 3-2 defeat of the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field. He was thrown into one of the biggest spots in the game, and yet again was able to get the job done.
After right-hander Seth Lugo allowed Freddy Galvis and Jean Segura to reach, Mets manager Luis Rojas turned to Loup to face MVP candidate and Met-killer Bryce Harper with two on and two out in a 2-2 game in the top of the seventh.
Loup entered and issued just his 14th walk of the season, pitching around Harper to load the bases. However, he bounced back right away and was able to get J.T. Realmuto to ground into a force out and end the threat.
Jeff McNeil launched a solo home run into the Mets bullpen to give them a 3-2 lead in the bottom half of the inning, then Loup returned to the mound and worked around a two-out bloop single in an easy top of the eighth.
He finished the night with 1.1 scoreless innings of work, earning himself his sixth win and yet another ice-cold Busch Light. Loup lowered his ERA on the season to a spectacular 1.00 mark over 54 innings pitched, which would be a franchise record if the season were to end today.
“It would be a great accomplishment. I’ve had a great year on the mound. To finish the year with an ERA under one would be the icing on the cake, I guess you could say,” Loup said postgame on Sunday.
Luis Rojas also acknowledged the spectacular year Loup has been having following Sunday’s win, saying he’s not only been the team’s best relievers, but easily their best pitcher not named Jacob deGrom.
“It’s definitely a lot more than we expected. We knew how good of a pitcher he was, we felt that he was going to have a good year, but this is a special year. He’s easily been one of the best relievers in all of baseball,” Rojas said.
Loup has provided the Mets with incredible value after they signed him to just a 1-year, $3 million deal in January. He is easily putting together one of the best seasons by a reliever in franchise history.
In 28 innings since the All-Star break, he has allowed just one run and 13 hits. Loup pitched to a stellar 0.82 ERA over 14 outings in August, and has yet to allow a run in nine innings of work in September.
On the season, he has allowed just six earned runs, one home run, and 35 hits, while striking out 54 over 54 innings pitched. The Mets will certainly face some competition for Loup’s services this time around.
Luckily, they do seem to have some factors working in their favor. For the second time in the past few weeks, the southpaw told reporters how much he has enjoyed pitching in New York and that he would love to return to the Mets next season.
“I’d love to come back,” Loup said. “I’ve had a blast playing here, I’ve had fun with the guys all year long, and I’ve had a great year, so I see no reason not to.”
While there certainly figures to be some regression for the 33-year old next season, reaching a deal with Loup should absolutely be one of the Mets’ top priorities heading into what figures to be a very busy and interesting offseason.
