P.J. Conlon was once a well known name in the Mets’ farm system, having been named Sterling Organizational Pitcher of the Year back in 2016 after recording a 1.65 ERA that season.

Conlon made his MLB debut two years later against the Cincinnati Reds in which he lasted 3.2 innings while allowing three runs. His debut was a historic one, as he became the first Irish-born MLB player since Joe Cleary in 1945.

The southpaw would make one more appearance for the club later that month before being designated for assignment by the Mets on May 30, 2018. Over the course of the next week, he found himself claimed by the Los Angeles Dodgers, DFA’d by the Dodgers, and then reclaimed by the Mets.

On June 10 of that year, he found himself in a Mets uniform again before being optioned back to Triple-A Las Vegas, at the time the team’s farm system.

“I remember we got off the plane going to Reno and I found out that I was designated by the Mets so I kind of just hung out for a couple days,” Conlon said. “I think three days later I woke up to a call from the Dodgers saying that they claimed me. I had all the stuff that I had in Reno and hopped on a flight to Oklahoma City.”

“I was there for one day and then flew to Sacramento and was there for two days. I woke up one morning, same thing, I got a call from someone on the Dodgers saying they put me on waivers, but the Mets already claimed me back so I have to fly back to Vegas.”

In November, Conlon was once again DFA’d, but this time stayed in the organization and was simply outrighted to Triple-A.

Coming into the 2019 season, the Mets determined that Conlon’s days of starting were over, as he was coming off a season in which he registered a 6.55 ERA at Triple-A and a 8.22 ERA at the major league level in three appearances there.

One of the bigger issues for Conlon throughout his career has been that he doesn’t throw particularly hard, but the hope is that coming out of the bullpen could possibly increase his velocity.

“One thing with starting, you always have to keep a little bit in the tank because you don’t really know how long you’re going to go for, you can’t really just go all out completely,” Conlon said. “Some guys can, but I was never one of those guys that could exert myself every single pitch if I was going to start and go five or six innings.”

“Another thing about starting is that I had to really be mindful of not showing my pitches too early and make sure I knew what I threw a guy earlier in the game since you face guys two or three times in one game. So, coming out of the bullpen I don’t really have to worry about that, I can just throw my best stuff right away and not really have to worry about saving anything.”

“I can get a little bit more behind it, my velo has jumped up a little bit this year and I think that’s because just coming out of the gate, you don’t have to save anything.”

Conlon made his third rehab appearance on Saturday night with the Brooklyn Cyclones coming back from a flexor strain that sidelined him for almost two months.

In two innings of work, the 2015 13th-round draft pick allowed no hits and two walks while striking out two batters. He threw 26 pitches in the game, 14 for strikes.

“I’m seeing if I can do it and seeing if I can be a multiple-inning guy out of the bullpen,” Conlon said. “That was really the plan this year. I haven’t really been healthy too much this year, but I’m hoping to come back from this and prove that I can be successful out of the bullpen.”

In regards to his actual performance, Conlon thought he did pretty well and that his breaking stuff was good, but recognized his lack of control on his fastball.

While he initially mentioned the multi-inning reliever role, he didn’t appear opposed to another role out of the bullpen, as he said that he would “love” the role of being a lefty-specialist and acknowledged that “those guys stay around for a long time.”

That being said, he doesn’t find himself in a situation where he feels he’s significantly better against lefties vs. righties or vice versa.

“I’m not more comfortable one against the other,” Conlon said. “I think my changeup helps me get righties out just as much as my breaking stuff helps me get lefties out. Whether it’s a guy that just comes in to get lefties out or whether it’s someone that comes in to get righties and lefties out, I’ll basically take whatever job I can get.”

It will certainly be interesting to see if Conlon can reinvent himself as a reliever and if the experiment works out, he could find himself with the Mets possibly even later this season especially given the team’s bullpen struggles.