Gerson Bautista Photo by Ed Delany, MMO
In order to make room on the active roster for infielder Todd Frazier and reliever Anthony Swarzak, the New York Mets have sent right-hander Gerson Bautista to Triple-A Las Vegas and designated for assignment southpaw Buddy Baumann.
Bautista, 23, was acquired at last year’s trade deadline from the Boston Red Sox along with pitchers Jamie Callahan and Stephen Nogosek for Addison Reed.
He has high velocity, but proved in his limited time in the majors that his stuff is raw and he needs to refine it in the minors before making any impact at the big league level.
In five appearances for the Mets this season, he has allowed six runs on eight hits in just 4.1 innings pitched. He has also allowed two home runs and issued five walks.
Baumann, 30, has an 0-2 record with a 27.00 ERA in four games this season between the Mets and San Diego Padres. New York chose to keep him for this weekend’s series with the Chicago Cubs instead of fellow lefty P.J. Conlon who was DFA’d instead and picked up by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Perhaps what is most surprising is the Mets chose to keep infielder Jose Reyes and catcher Jose Lobaton in favor of two relievers. However, with Yoenis Cespedes and Noah Syndergaard slated to return this weekend, it might mean those two don’t survive that roster crunch.
