On Monday, the Mets included reliever Josh Edgin among their first wave of cuts and reassigned him to minor league camp. Edgin was not happy with the decision according to several beat reporters, however his reduced velocity has been a big concern and most likely factored into the Mets’ decision.
That leaves John Lannan as the lone contender for the role of second lefthander in the bullpen, and Terry Collins intends to start using him in relief effective immediately.
Lannan, 29, has never made a relief appearance in his eight year MLB career, but says he understood all along that it could be the plan when he signed with the Mets.
“They’ve been pretty transparent with that,” he said Tuesday morning. Obviously I’ll do anything to help the team, in any capacity.”
He admitted that he may need to adjust to the role.
“I want to see how I am when the phone rings and I don’t have any warning,” Lannan said. “You always hear about that adrenaline rush when the phone rings. If it does come to that point, I want to see how I react to that.”
When asked if he had any resignation about relieving because he will no longer get the same consideration as Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jenrry Mejia for a starter’s role, Lannan said:
“I don’t think anything right now. I’m just going to take it as it is. I think that I’m not done as a starter. I think the last few years I’ve kind of run into, I don’t want to say back luck, but some unfortunate circumstances…I don’t think I’m done [starting], but I’m looking forward to the possibility of pitching in the big leagues. Whatever capacity that is, I’m just looking forward to it.”
One of our readers pointed out Lannan’s splits over the last three years and I must admit they look impressive:
2011-2013
Vs Lefty .245/.313/.344/.657
Vs Righty .289/.365/.418/.783
There’s a lot of different things to consider between starting and relieving, but the Mets have nothing to lose and it’s not like they have any other options either.
(Updated 3/11)
