A Mets insider told Adam Rubin of ESPN New York that pitching prospects Jack Leathersich and Jeff Walters are candidates to make the opening day roster and fill out the Mets bullpen. Rafael Montero or Cory Mazzoni were also not ruled out.
We have several original MMO articles spotlighting all four of these players in great depth and detail. And earlier this week we projected that Walters has the best shot of making the club with Leathersich still needing some seasoning before he eventually gets the call as well.
Me and many of my colleagues at MMO do not see Montero serving in a relief role at this time regardless of what’s been speculated by other outlets.
With the disastrous way in which Jenrry Mejia was handled still fresh on their minds, we doubt the Mets would take the number two pitching prospect in the system and throw him into the bullpen.
While Rubin says the Mets bullpen is light on lefthanded relievers, I would argue that Scott Rice pulled his weight just fine last season and that Josh Edgin ended the season with some signs of dominating before being lost for the season to injury.
Mazzoni is a different case. MMO projected that he profiled as a reliever last March. We still feel the same way a year later. However, we’re not quite sure that the righthander is ready to make the jump from Double-A to the majors just yet.
I’ll continue to stick with Walters as the favorite to make the team and my confidence is fueled by the fact that of the four, he’s the only one on the Mets 40 man roster.
