The New York Mets added another depth arm on Tuesday, signing right-handed sidearmer Trevor Hildenberger to a minor-league contract, per Andy Martino of SNY.
Hildenberger, 29, was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 2014 (22nd round), making his MLB debut in 2017 (3.21 ERA, 3.01 FIP, 1.29 walks per nine over 37 appearances).
He tacked on another 73 appearances in 2018 (5.42 ERA, 4.53 FIP, 70 strikeouts in 70 innings) before shuttling between Minnesota (10.46 ERA in 22 games) and Triple-A Rochester (4.74 ERA in 14 games) in 2019 due to underperformance and injuries.
A former pupil of current Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, Hildenberger relies on three pitches mostly — a changeup, sinker, slider, mixing in a four-seam fastball sporadically — enjoying considerable success with his changeup (.163 batting average against the pitch in 2018; .250 BAA in 2019).
The California product spent the 2020 season in the Boston Red Sox organization, though he didn’t make any appearances with the major league club.
