On Tuesday, the Miami Marlins brought a familiar Met face into the fold, signing infielder Neil Walker to a one-year pact. In order to make space on the 40-man roster, right-handed pitcher Nick Wittgren was designated for assignment.
Wittgren, 27, has generally enjoyed success out of the Marlins bullpen since debuting in 2016. Last year, the Torrance, California native registered a 2.94 ERA, 125 ERA+, 3.13 FIP, 1.307 WHIP and 8.3 K/9 over 33.2 innings pitched.
It was a curious move for Miami to part ways with Wittgren, who comes with team control through the 2023 season, especially for a team that is destined to finish in the cellar of the National League East in 2019.
Regardless, Wittgren is an interesting target, and for the Mets, they should take a flyer.
According to Brooks Baseball, Wittgren generates a heavy amount of swings and misses on his four-seam fastball compared to other pitchers’ four-seamers. He also mixes in an average changeup, a standard curveball, but a quality sinker that can be used as a put-away pitch.
The Mets have done a nice job improving their bullpen this winter, but you can never have too many arms. With the possibility of injuries or underperformance, you never know when you’ll have to tap into your depth.
Perhaps the Mets and Marlins could swing a deal surrounding Wittgren and recently DFA’d Mets’ infielder, Gavin Cecchini. The only caveat is that each team would then, in turn, have to make another move to make space on their 40-man rosters.
For New York, Wittgren would provide them with a stronger alternative for their bullpen as opposed to someone like Jacob Rhame or Tim Peterson.
To get some visuals, check out this performance by Wittgren from the 2016 season:
While the Mets are going to have a much stronger bullpen in 2019 as I detailed on Saturday, every team can use depth and options of this caliber do not present themselves very often.
