After a head scratching move earlier this week that saw the Mets’ brass promote Akeel Morris from Single-A St. Lucie straight to the big leagues, the team righted the ship by demoting Morris to Double-A Binghamton after he surrendered five runs in two-third’s of an inning in Wednesday night’s loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
“It’s what you dream of,” Morris said. “To get up there and pitch in the big leagues. It didn’t go the way that I drew it up. It happens. You shake it off and get back at it next time.”
To replace Morris, who made it abundantly clear that he wasn’t ready, the Mets subsequently called up Logan Verrett from Triple-A Las Vegas, who has definitely racked up some frequent flyer miles to start off his rookie campaign.
The Mets left him off the 40-man roster at the conclusion of last season, exposing him to the Rule 5 draft, where he was picked up by the Baltimore Orioles.
Verrett was then claimed off waivers by the Texas Rangers, whom he made his major league debut for, before being returned to the Mets last month.
For the 51’s this season, Verrett was 2-0 with 3.00 ERA in 11 games (4 as a starter). In his minor league career, Verrett is 30-13 with a 3.83 ERA in 80 games (73 as a starter).
“I know he throws strikes, and that’s been the key,” Terry Collins said
“This guy knows how to pitch. He knows how to use his stuff. He’s got an outstanding breaking ball. We’re hoping that he gives us a right-hander down there who will throw the ball over the plate.”
“If somebody needs a day off or we’re getting deep in a game and we need someone who can give us multiple innings, he’s the perfect guy.”
Used primarily as a starter in the minors, Verrett surely impressed in his Mets debut out of the bullpen Thursday night, and was certainly the silver lining to an otherwise horrendous game that saw the Mets muster up a dismal one run on three hits, and saw Bartolo Colon get shelled after Wilmer Flores failed to catch what looked like a routine line drive.
Entering the game in the bottom of the seventh, Verrett pitched two scoreless innings, recording four strikeouts.
In what has become a very taxed and heavily depleted bullpen, Verrett will look to solidify himself as a reliable reliever in the wake of all the injuries the Mets have had this season.
What we saw Thursday was impressive, and hopefully Verrett can seize this opportunity in the big leagues this time around after having a bit of a rough time in Texas to start the season.
