During the 2017 season with the team falling out of playoff contention, Mets’ general manager Sandy Alderson decided to trade away some of his veteran players for pitching prospects in order to bolster the team’s future bullpen.

Of the players they acquired was right-hander Drew Smith from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for first baseman Lucas Duda. Currently, he along with fellow righty Stephen Nogosek, are the only two left standing from those acquisitions.

What the future holds for Nogosek is unclear, but the 27-year-old Smith, finally a hundred percent healthy after Tommy John surgery, has been throwing this winter and blasting it out on his Instagram and his stuff looks filthy.

Smith appeared in eight games for the Mets during the shortened 2020 season, and had a 6.43 ERA, 5.76 FIP and 5.08 xFIP in seven innings.

Prior to Tommy John surgery, Smith had a solid campaign for the 2018 Mets where he logged a 3.54 ERA, 3.66 FIP, 4.91 xFIP and was worth 0.3 fWAR in 27 games (28 innings pitched).

During that 2018 season, Smith’s fastball velocity ranked in the 93rd percentile by Statcast, while his curve spin was in the 82nd percentile. His fastball spin was also strong, ranking in the 72nd percentile.

The Mets bullpen at the moment is more or less full unless they shed a player or two. Spring Training is right around the corner, but if the team needs to unload some salary, one of Jeurys Familia or Dellin Betances could potentially be moved in a deal.

The team is also only paying Brad Brach around $2 million and if he has a bad spring could be expendable.

Smith won’t become a free agent until 2025 and has two minor league options left, so even if he doesn’t crack the team on Opening Day, he’s someone who can be waiting in the wings if they need another arm.

If Smith can replicate some of the Statcast numbers he had in 2018, the Mets could have a viable option as a middle reliever going forward.