According to Andy Martino, The Mets could use Gonzalez Germen in save situations on the road in order to get him used to high pressure situations. The goal is not to make him a future closer, Martino explains, but to better acclimate him to a seventh or eighth inning role by throwing him into the fire. That’s an interesting concept to say the least, and Germen has enough potential that he might pan out to be a useful piece in the ‘pen next year. Germen is 1-1 with a 3.52 ERA through 23.0 innings with 20 strikeouts.
Germen’s got one hell of a nasty change-up that I’ve really come to appreciate, and I’ve warmed up to him since we first called him up. There are a lot of legit names in the mix for the pen next year, including new acquisition Victor Black, who I hope gets a chance to close or at least pitch late in games for the Mets.
He also names potential September call-ups:
With a roster already populated with players fresh from the minors, the Mets do not plan on recalling many players when the rosters expand, but will summon Ruben Tejada, Mike Baxter, one of the Las Vegas catchers, a starting pitcher and another reliever or two. Double-A Binghamton righty Jeff Walters also has a chance to be called up.
That last statement struck me as weird, because I didn’t foresee the Mets calling up Jeff Walters. He would be a useful piece for the back end of the bullpen, without question, but the MLB Mets aren’t going anywhere while the B-Mets could be ticketed to win it all in the Eastern League. This 2013 B-Mets team is one of the best I’ve ever seen and it’s stacked both offensively and defensively — it makes more sense for Walters to at least finish the playoffs with the team before anything close to a call-up.
