Jimmy Yacabonis, Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized
The New York Mets announced another round of cuts this morning. The team announced that relievers T.J. McFarland and Jimmy Yacabonis were assigned to minor league camp, while former Marlins’ bullpen piece Jeff Brigham was formally optioned to Triple-A. This leaves John Curtiss, Stephen Nogosek, Dennis Santana, and Elieser Hernández fighting for the three remaining bullpen spots.
Both Yacabonis and Brigham had themselves very strong springs. Yacabonis threw seven innings where he only allowed two runs (2.57 ERA) and striking out eight. Meanwhile, Brigham threw 7 2/3 innings where he struck out 10 and only allowed four hits and three runs (3.52 ERA). Yacabonis was signed via a minor league contract earlier in the offseason while Brigham was brought over via trade. Each will surely factor into the bullpen at some point during this season.
McFarland struggled the most out of the three. The left-handed pitcher allowed 11 hits and six runs over eight innings this spring. That is good for a woeful 6.75 ERA. McFarland was one of the arms gunning for a left-handed reliever role out of camp, but, as his statistics indicate, came up very short. The Mets signed him to a minor league deal earlier in the offseason.
As for the aforementioned four pitchers listed above battling for what seems like the last three spots, Curtiss owns a 2.70 ERA over 6 2/3 innings pitched. Further, Nogosek has allowed three runs over five innings and Santana owns a 3.38 ERA over eight innings. Lastly, potential spot starter and long man, Hernández, has struggled, posting a 7.45 ERA and allowing 12 hits over 9 2/3 innings.
