Thus far in New York Mets camp, one of the players who has really opened some eyes is non-roster invitee Trevor Hildenberger. With one full week of Grapefruit League games down, Hildenberger has been one of the biggest standouts on the mound for the Mets.
The right-handed sidearmer looked very strong, striking out the side in his second scoreless outing of the spring on Sunday afternoon in the teams 4-4 tie with the Miami Marlins at Clover Park.
To this point in spring training, all six of the outs Hildenberger has recorded have come via strikeout. Mets manager Luis Rojas has certainly taken notice of the 29-year old’s relievers success.
Rojas told reporters on Monday morning that he thought Hildenberger looked really good, and he was really impressed with his outing. The skipper added that Hildenberger and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner “have a really good thing going on right now.”
Hefner served as an assistant scout and then the assistant pitching coach during Hildenberger’s three seasons with the Minnesota Twins. The righty told MMO earlier this offseason that he has a good relationship with Hefner, and he’s excited to be reunited with him.
Hildenberger’s first season in the big leagues was his most successful, as he pitched to a 3.21 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, and averaged just 1.3 BB/9. He continued that success early in 2018, but fell apart in the second-half of the season and finished up with a 5.42 ERA and 3.2 BB/9.
He battled injuries and his struggles continued in his third year in Minnesota, and he ultimately ended up spending time in Triple-A. Hildenberger was non-tendered following the 2019 season, and wasn’t able to crack the big league level with the Boston Red Sox in 2020.
Hildenberger mainly relies on his changeup, sinker, and slider, three pitches that Rojas called “weapons” for the right-hander. According to Mathew Brownstein, thus far in camp Hildenberger’s slider has been his swing-and-miss pitch with an 80% whiff rate.
To this point in his career, Hildenberger’s changeup has been his best pitch at the big league level. Also as noted by Brownstein, between 2017-2019 the pitch has generated Hildenberger the 7th highest whiff rate at 42.8%, among 86 pitchers who threw a minimum of 400 changeups that were swung at.
Hildenberger’s success has come in a very small sample size, but if he can keep this up and cut down his walk rate a bit, his deceptive side-arm delivery could make him an interesting addition to this Mets bullpen.
The right-hander has made a very strong case for a bullpen spot early on, and he is definitely one of the pitchers to keep a very close eye on as spring training progresses.
