With the Mets possessing the third worst team bullpen ERA in baseball (5.08) behind only the Washington Nationals (5.40) and Seattle Mariners (5.44), it’s easy to pick out the negatives, but in the mess of it all, there has been a silver lining.
Paul Sewald, the Las Vegas born right-hander, has gotten off to a strong start in his rookie campaign.
Sewald, 27 this week, has appeared in 10 games for the Mets and has registered a 2.70 ERA in 13 1/3 innings pitched, striking out 15 in the process.
Jerry Blevins has been the strongest Mets reliever besides Sewald with a 2-0 record and 1.80 ERA, but beyond that, each reliever has had their issues one way or another.
Closer Jeurys Familia will likely miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery to remove an arterial blood clot in his pitching shoulder, serving a gut punch to an already bloodied up bullpen.
Fernando Salas has looked like a shell of the pitcher the Mets saw at the end of 2016, logging a 5.59 ERA in 19 1/3 innings pitched.
Rafael Montero can’t get out of his own way, Neil Ramirez hasn’t been anything to write home about in the small sample size he’s produced since joining the team last week in a small sample size and Robert Gsellman‘s ERA is in the stratosphere at 6.75.
Hansel Robles is 4-1, but has an alarming 6.23 ERA, almost three earned runs higher than his career average.
With Addison Reed taking the reigns as closer, the Mets will need strong pitching to bridge the gap that leads to him.
Should Sewald continue pitching well, he may very well be used in higher leverage situations. But from what he has shown thus far, it’s worth seeing what he can do, since few others have been able to provide in 2017.
