With Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia in the fold, the Mets have their eighth and ninth innings guys set up for next season. In 2016, that tandem was the best in baseball. However, it was also the most taxed. The duo pitched more innings than any other reliever combination in the major leagues. The main reason is that the Mets played many close games that necessitated Terry Collins going to the whip with them time and time again. It was needed in the regular season, but as we saw in September and the Wild Card Game, they were beginning to show some signs of fatigue.
With that, obtaining a seventh inning reliever, preferably one with closing experience, should be a high priority this offseason and ideally, the Mets should re-sign Fernando Salas.
Salas, 31, had a Reed-like impact on the Mets after he was acquired from the Angels on August 31. In 17 appearances, he was 0-1 with a 2.08 ERA, a 0.635 WHIP, and a 9.9 K/9. Salas completely took over the seventh inning role, and he allowed both Reed and Familia some rest down the stretch.
Understandably, between his usage and his statistics prior to joining the Mets, you could expect him to regress. That’s almost assuredly true of his 0.635 WHIP. However, his regression would not be as troublesome as one would have you believe because, like Reed, Salas has benefited tremendously from the Mets’ exceptional pitch framing.
Keep in mind, there was no change to Salas’ stuff or his pitching patterns when he became a Met. It is similar to Reed who became a completely different pitcher when he was acquired by the Mets at the 2015 trade deadline. Before joining the Mets, Reed had a 4.20 ERA and a 1.275 WHIP.
In Reed’s season-plus with the Mets, he has a 1.84 ERA and a 0.957 WHIP. When Reed became a Met, he didn’t develop a new pitch or pitching patterns. Rather, it was the Mets catchers getting that extra strike for him.
It is something Reed emphasized when he said of Travis d’Arnaud, “There’s been a couple of times just this season that I’ve went back and looked at video just because I wanted to see how low the ball was, and how good of a strike d’Arnaud made it look.”
“He’s the best I’ve ever thrown to at doing that. Just the way he frames the ball, it’s unbelievable. He makes balls that are four or five inches below the zone look like they’re almost right down the middle by just the way he flicks his wrist. I couldn’t even tell you how he does it.” (ESPN.com)
Given the pitch framing having a similar impact on Salas, you could expect Salas to have a similarly terrific 2017 season. Given that, Collins can be more judicious in how he uses both Reed and Familia and allow all three relievers to be fresh through the stretch run and into the postseason; and hopefully, dominant all the way up until the World Series.
Another important point is that pitching in New York is a completely different animal. Some guys can do it and others can’t. The best and most recent example of this was Antonio Bastardo. Prior to joining the Mets, Bastardo had a 3.58 ERA and a 1.198 WHIP. He spent 2015 with the Pirates, and he was 4-1 with a 2.98 ERA and a 1.134 WHIP. Those numbers were why the Mets gave him a fairly lucrative deal for a seventh inning reliever.
However, it never came together for Bastardo, who made 41 appearances with the Mets and posted a 4.74 ERA and 1.420 WHIP, while leaving many of his outings to a chorus of boos. Things got so bad, the Mets finally traded him back to the Pirates in exchange for Jon Niese and some cash. Naturally, Bastardo pitched better with the Bucs, posting a 4.13 ERA and a 1.250 WHIP in 28 games for them.
Like Addison Reed before him, Fernando Salas showed that he could pitch very effectively in New York, and thrive under the pressure of chasing a postseason berth. It took the Mets five months to finally have that reliable seventh inning reliever this season. Now that we’ve found him we should make every attempt to try and re-sign him.
