The Mets announced that Jeff Walters and Jacob DeGrom have been optioned to Triple-A this morning. Both pitchers were vying for jobs in the Mets bullpen and were having solid Springs.
The Mets signed deGrom in the 9th round of the 2010 June Amateur draft out of Stetson University. The right-hander has pitched in 51 minor league games, while posting a 17-11 record, with a 3.76 ERA to go with 238 strike outs in 285 innings. He turns 26 in June.
Walters is a hard-throwing reliever who saved a record 38 games last season for Double-A Binghamton. The 26-year old was 4-3, with a 2.09 ERA, and 60 strikeouts in 56 innings, and now enters his 5th season in the Mets organization.
Of the two, I thought Walters had the best chance of making the Mets bullpen heading into spring training. But the signings of Jose Valverde, John Lannan and Kyle Farnsworth put a big damper on that.
Walters had a 2.45 ERA in Grapefruit League games, while deGrom owned a 1.23 ERA in 7.1 innings this Spring.
