On Friday, the New York Mets took a step in solidifying the back-end of their bullpen, bringing right-hander Brad Brach back into the fold on a one-year, $850,000 deal with a $1.25 million player option for 2021.
Considering the level of production the 33-year-old brought to the Mets after signing with the team as a free agent on August 8 (3.68 ERA, 15 strikeouts, three walks, 1.23 WHIP over 16 appearances; 14.2 innings) — albeit, in an extremely small sample size — this appears to be a terrific signing for Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen.
Before being cut loose by the Cubs just days before signing in Queens, Brach owned a 6.13 ERA over 42 relief appearances for Chicago. Relying mostly on his four-seam fastball, slider, and changeup, the righty trudged through the first four-plus months of the season with a .284/.392/.419 slash line against.
That’s not ideal. The player who rolled from 2013 through 2018 (mostly with Baltimore; 27 appearances with Atlanta in 2018) with a 2.92 ERA had appeared to all but fall apart during his first season on the North Side.
Though, once Brach arrived in Flushing, things took an encouraging turn.
Under the presumable direction of Mets pitching coach Phil Regan, the Freehold, New Jersey native began using his four-seam and cutter almost exclusively while mixing in his 6.2-inches-of-vertical-movement-versus-average (elite, per Baseball Savant) changeup to solid results.
Over his 16 appearances with the Mets, Brach pitched to a 2.67 FIP — 15th among qualified MLB relievers from August 8 through the end of the season — and 27.9 percent hard-hit rate — good for eighth-best among the same group over the same span — with a .211/.297/.278 slash line against versus right-handed batters.
That will most certainly play. And Brach’s change in pitch usage appears to have directly factored into his resurgence.
Per Brooks Baseball, from the time of the trade through the end of the year, Brach threw his cutter 80 times, resulting in a .182 batting average against and .318 slugging percentage against, and threw his four-seam 74 times, inducing a .222 BAA/.222 SLG — starkly in contrast to his arsenal leading up to his release from the Cubs.
His changeup got beat up (.385 BAA/.615 SLGA; 46 pitches), but between the cutter (90.7 MPH average) and the heater (94.4 MPH), Brach appears to have a solid, effective foundation to build off of.
After Seth Lugo, Justin Wilson, Edwin Diaz, Robert Gsellman, and Jeurys Familia, the quality of arms in the Mets ‘pen falls off a bit. Brach and whoever else the Mets add before Opening Day 2020 will reinforce that weak spot, no doubt.
As Van Wagenen continues to fill out this roster this offseason, he can check right-handed relief depth off his list thanks to the low-risk/high-reward deal he awarded Brach.
Plus, plugging a hole ahead of Monday’s Winter Meetings with a viable option while saving a few bucks is never a bad thing.
