With a scoreless appearance yesterday against the Rockies, Addison Reed extended his scoreless inning streak to 16.1 innings. Reed allowed one hit, but struck out three batters to pick up his 26th hold of the season, tying a franchise record set by Aaron Heilman in 2006
“His command is off the charts,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “His improvement with his slider has really helped him.” (Anthony McCarron, NY Daily News)
Reed’s ERA stands at 1.81 and he holds an outstanding at 0.85 WHIP. He has also struck out 63 batters in 49.2 innings while only walking nine.
“He just goes at you,” the manager noted. “I know there’s a lot of movement. It’s a strange delivery, that slide step, even if there’s nobody on. It might be a lot of arms and legs. They (hitters) just don’t seem like they pick the ball up.”
It’s been a career year for the Mets’ dominating set up man, who ranks inside the MLB top ten in WHIP, OPS against and strikeout to walk ratio.
While he previously had success as a closer for the White Sox and Arizona, he’s never been this dominant this dominant before. His lowest ERA prior to this season was 3.38 in 2015.
The Mets acquired Reed last year after he he was in dire need of a change in scenery. He lost his job as the Diamondbacks closer, and he was having a mediocre season with an ERA above four.
But Reed turned things around immediately when he joined the Mets, posting a 1.17 ERA in September. He’s carried this success over to this season, and has been a shutdown reliever in the 8th inning.
In fact, Reed has been so good that Collins was even thinking about naming him to the All-Star team.
“That’s what he’s meant to us,” Collins said.
Looking back on it, the Reed trade has truly been a steal as the Mets got him cheaply for two minor league pitchers, Miller Diaz and Matt Koch. Diaz has an ERA above seven in Arizona’s Single-A affiliate while the 25-year old Koch has a 4.70 ERA in Double-A.
