When the New York Mets signed left-handed pitcher Tom Gorzelanny to a minor league deal and invited him to big league camp, it created hardly a ripple and was widely overshadowed by the bigger signings of that day, those of Jerry Blevins and Fernando Salas.
The decision to sign Gorzelanny could pay some dividends for the Mets and they not only got themselves a lefty to provide some depth behind Blevins should they need it, but in this 12 year veteran they’re also getting someone highly motivated to be part of a playoff bound bullpen. There’s one thing left on Gorzelanny’s MLB bucket list, a championship ring.
“You don’t want to go somewhere where you don’t have an opportunity,” Gorzelanny told Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. “I felt like the Mets, I had a decent opportunity of making this club. I just wanted to keep that going and extend my career as much as I could. Obviously this is a really good team, and we have a really good chance of winning. I’m getting a little older now, and I still don’t have a ring, and I’d love to get one. You always want to be with a team that has a good chance of doing that.”
Gorzelanny, 34, pitched only three major league innings in 2016 with the Cleveland Indians. In those three innings, he allowed seven runs on four hits, five walks and four strikeouts. He spent a bulk of last season in the minor leagues for the Indians and Orioles. He pitched 39.1 innings combined in Triple-A with a 5.95 ERA.
However, he has picked up a new sidearm deliver which has given him some great downward sink on his breaking pitches and the results have been eye-opening against left-handed hitters who he held to a .163 batting average last season between the majors and minors despite the unsightly ERA. And in 12 major league seasons, Gorzelanny has held lefty batters to a .229/.302/.356 batting line.
“He’s an experienced guy who changed his pitching mechanics to make him more effective against left-handed hitters,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “Now that he’s dropped down at that tough angle for lefties, we’re going to see how he does in spring. But it’s nice to have another veteran in camp who has done both roles, start and relieve. And I think he knows what he’s got to do to get lefties out. We’ll see how it works out this spring.”
Here’s the catch. Gorzelanny signed a $1 million dollar deal with the Mets and he could earn up to another $1.8 million in incentives. But – and it’s a big but – he has a March 24 opt-out date in the contract. So the Mets have to tell him he made the team by that date, or he’ll find another taker. Or they could convince him he has a really, really good chance of being promoted sometime in April. We’ll see.
Photo: Ed Delany, MMO
