Michel Otanez, Photo by Ed Delany of MMO

With the rash of pitching injuries for the New York Mets, the Syracuse Mets pitching staff has taken quite a hit. Recently, Syracuse has seen Colin Holderman, Adonis Medina, Stephen Nogosek, and David Peterson promoted to the majors. Seeing how each have performed, they are making their case to stay long past the respective IL stints which led to their promotions.

These promotions have created opportunities for other relievers to prove they are ready for their next challenge in their own paths to the Major Leagues. On that front, the New York Mets recently promoted hard throwing right-handed relievers Michel Otanez and Bryce Montes de Oca from Double-A Binghamton to Triple-A Syracuse.

When we saw hard throwing, we mean hard throwing. In fact, both Otanez and Montes de Oca have hit 102 mph on the radar gun this season.

We have seen both pitchers translate that velocity to strikeouts as each reliever has struck out over 12 batters per nine. They have also each struck out over 30% of the batters they have faced this season.

Between the two, Otanez is having the stronger season as he has slightly better control. So far this season, he is 0-1 with a 1.69 ERA, 1.250 WHIP, 4.5 BB/9, and a 12.5 K/9. He is also a perfect 6/6 in save opportunities.

For Otanez, while he is able to hit triple digits with his fastball, he generally sits in the upper 90s with his fastball with a tendency to dip into the mid 90s on occasion. He has combined that with a slider which looks sharper this season. The end result isn’t just big strikeout numbers, but it is also weak contact. To wit, Otanez has not allowed a homer this season.

While Otanez has a big arm, Montes de Oca has a bigger arm. He consistently stays in the upper 90s, and he will reach triple digits with relative ease. In fact, it is not out of the ordinary to see Montes de Oca throw multiple pitching of 100-plus mph in a game.

Montes de Oca combines that with a wipeout slider. Really, when you see him pitch, you wonder how anyone ever does damage against him. In reality, batters don’t. On that point, batters are only batting .172 off of him with a .219 SLG. Again, he is as difficult to hit as any pitcher in the Mets system.

The issue with Montes de Oca is he doesn’t always know where his pitches are going. He has walked 7.3 batters per nine this season and 6.5 per nine in his professional career. As a result, while his upside is massive, he is not going to reach his full potential until he starts harnessing his fastball and slider to get it in the zone more.

On that front, Montes de Oca may just be where he needs to be. Syracuse pitching coach Steve Schrenk has done an incredible job getting pitchers like Holderman and Nogosek ready to pitch well in the majors this season. With respect to Nogosek, he had very similar control issues to Montes de Oca, and Schrenk helped him harness his stuff better, and his career has seemingly taken off as a result.

Overall, the Mets have two very big arms in Otanez and Montes de Oca in Triple-A. They also have the pitching coach in Schrenk to get the most out of these pitchers. All told, we may very well see one of these pitchers reach the majors at some point either this year or the next.