Bubby Rossman loves to say “Get Big.” Well, at 6’5″ 230 lbs he’s well on his way. With a fastball that touches nearly 100 mph and a slider that touches 90, he has big league weapons at his disposal and is a welcome depth addition to the Mets after his impressive performance for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic.

In the WBC, Bubby had two innings, three strikeouts, one hit, and no runs or walks allowed. He sat in the upper 90s on his heater and blended in with the best relievers in the tournament, striking out Rafael Devers, Ketel Marte, and Hernan Perez.

Bubby completed a one-year minor league contract with the Phillies last season, splitting the season between Double-A and Triple-A, and debuted for the Phils in Toronto as a Covid replacement on July 13. In his lone big league outing he went one inning with a walk, a homerun allowed to Teoscar Hernandez, and a strikeout against Matt Chapman.

Bubby has made many stops on his baseball journey, starting as a two-way player at DII Cal State Dominguez Hills. He was drafted by the Dodgers back in 2014, released in 2016, made several independent league stops from 2017-2021, played in the Arizona Fall League in 2019 following a stint in a strange independent winter league, and spent time the Australian Baseball League this winter, collecting a championship ring with the Adelaide Giants. Back in 2019 he hit 99.3 mph at Driveline Baseball in Seattle, WA to set the facility’s velocity record, but didn’t find his way back to affiliated baseball until 2022, nearly six years after his release from the Dodgers.

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In the Phillies’ minor league system last season, Rossman boasted a 27.4 K% and a 13.9 BB%. While the walk rate was high, he still had an xERA over 10% above league average last season and 5% above league average in AAA alone. He averaged 95.7 mph (T99.1) with 17.7″ VB (80th percentile for 4-seam fastballs) on his heater and 86.6 mph (T91.2) with 3.4″ VB and -4″ HB on his slider. He also threw his change up 24% of the time but looked to be primarily FB/SL in the WBC.

He has one of the most unique paths to the MLB of anybody in recent memory and it looks like his days of independent baseball are in the rearview mirror. He should start for the Mets in Syracuse and compete for a bullpen depth role as they scramble to fill innings following the injury to Edwin Diaz. He isn’t a replacement for Sugar yet but between Rossman, Bryce Montes de Oca, and Grant Hartwig, the Mets have several high-velocity options in the ranks to add depth and Vegas odds say at least one will contribute in a meaningful way this season.