Stephen Nogosek/Photo by Ed Delany, MMO

The Mets come into Friday with a 5.13 bullpen ERA that ranks 12th in the National League and have already rifled through almost every healthy reliever on the 40-man roster in hopes of finding help.

Right-handers Stephen Nogosek, Ryley Gilliam, and Stephen Villines have yet to make their big league debuts, but all three have been impressive in 2019 and are currently pitching in Triple-A Syracuse. Though, none of them are currently on the 40-man.

Nogosek, acquired in trade for Addison Reed, is having the best season of his pro career between the Double-A Binghamton Mets and Triple-A Syracuse Mets. In 30.2 innings, he has a 0.59 ERA (2.83 FIP). 1.17 WHIP, 5.6 H/9, and 9.7 K/9. The only blemish for Nogosek has been his 17 walks (5.0 BB/9), though his walk rate his been better in Syracuse at 3.9 BB/9.

The 24-year-old has struggled with his control and command since coming to the Mets in 2017 as evident by his 5.82 BB/9 overall in the Mets system. He recently talked to FanGraphs about how he found he had been traded.

Nogosek is a mid-90s fastball guy (has hit 97 mph), slider in mid-80s with good late bite, and he mixes in a cutter and change every once in awhile as well.

Gilliam was drafted by the Mets in the fifth round on June 5, 2018 and made his Triple-A debut on June 11, 2019. One of the big reasons behind taking a reliever that high was the Mets felt he could move quickly, and he’s done exactly that.

In his debut for Syracuse he pitched 1.1 scoreless with two strikeouts. He now has a 3.94 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and a whopping 13.5 K/9 this season between St. Lucie, Binghamton, and Syracuse.

The former Clemson closer has kept the ball in the park, allowing only one homer in 30.2 innings. He has struck out 37.4% of the hitters he’s faced this year, tied for 17th among 977 qualified minor leaguers. Still just 22 years old, Gilliam has a legitimate chance at making his MLB debut the year after being drafted.

Gilliam is pretty much a two-pitch guy, four-seamer up to 97 and a plus curveball that he has thrown in all counts this year. One big thing to note with Gilliam is his quick arm action that makes that low-to-mid-90s fastball even faster.

Stephen Villines/Photo by Ed Delany, MMO

The side-arming Villines has not pitched as well for Syracuse (4.20 ERA), but overall this year he has a 2.28 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and 25 strikeouts in 27.1 innings. For his minors career, he has 162 strikeouts compared to only 27 walks and has held hitters to a .211 average.

He’s shown that he can pitch multiple innings, close things out, and go multiple days in a row. Villines would offer a change of pace (low arm-angle, fastball only sits 86-88) that’s shown he can strikeout hitters at a high rate (12.0 K/9) and keep the ball in park (0.5 HR/9).

Gilliam has the highest ceiling of the trio with the possibility of him being a high-leverage MLB league reliever if he commands both his fastball and curve. Nogosek and Villines could provide valuable middle relief for a team that has struggled to find consistent guys for the role this year.

One thing to keep in mind when seeing numbers from Syracuse Mets pitchers (and hitters too of course) is that the league became a hitters dream overnight. Runs per game jumped from 4.16 in 2018 to 5.24 this year, OPS from .709 to .788, and at-bat per home run from 41.4 to just 26.2 this season.

Beyond the aforementioned trio, right-handers Matt Blackham and Adonis Uceta are two relievers to watch in Double-A Binghamton. Blackham’s 39.6 strikeout % is tied for 23rd among 1502 minor league pitchers with at least 20 innings this year. His .144 opponents average is tied for 30th. Uceta has a 1.65 ERA and 0.88 WHIP in 27.1 innings.