Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

New York Mets reliever Miguel Castro continued his strong spring training performance, tossing a perfect inning during the teams 4-3 loss to the Washington Nationals in West Palm Beach this past weekend.

The hard-throwing right-hander told reporters via Zoom following his outing that he has felt a lot more comfortable and confident heading into his first full season with his new squad.

“I feel much more comfortable around the guys. Seeing Diaz and Familia pitch the way they’re pitching right now is motivating me to go out and do the same thing. I’m going out there competing the same way they are, and we’re doing what we need to do right now,” Castro said.

The Mets acquired Castro from the Baltimore Orioles at the trade deadline last season. He appeared in just ten games for the Mets, and allowed four runs while issuing eight walks. Thus far in camp, he has tossed three scoreless innings with just one walk and a pair of strike outs.

Mets manager Luis Rojas said the 26-year old certainly has the potential, and he’s really liked what he’s seen from the righty thus far in camp.

“He’s still so young, his abilities are special.. He’s more mature, he’s more experienced. I think he’s slowed down a little bit of the things he needed to get better at. That’s what he’s doing right now in camp,” the second-year skipper said.

Both Castro and Rojas mentioned that the righty was working on refining his changeup this offseason, and early on in camp he has been making adjustments with pitching coach Jeremy Hefner. So far, the tweaks have led to success for Castro.

“His changeup is a lot better. Last year, he even said it to me a couple of times over the phone that he wanted to work on everything, but specifically getting lefties out more. So his changeup right now is in a good place. He threw a couple and they looked really good,” Rojas said.

If you look at Baseball Savant, the advanced metrics are all there for Castro, he just needs to maintain command of his pitches. Last season he finished with a 11.3 BB% which was a tiny step up from the 13.3 and 12.9 he posted the past two seasons, respectively.

With Seth Lugo missing some time at the beginning of the season, the Mets could use another weapon alongside Edwin Diaz and Trevor May towards the backend of the bullpen. Castro certainly has the tools, confidence, and potential to be that piece for this Mets team.