Note from Joe D.
As we reported yesterday, Hansel Robles was called up to replace the injured Jerry Blevins who sustained a fractured forearm after he was hit by a come-backer to the mound on Sunday.
Robles was off to a good start in his first taste of Triple-A for Las Vegas where in five relief appearances he’s pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing only six hits and a walk with ten strikeouts.
Some may wonder why not Jack Leathersich to replace the lefty Blevins and why Robles.
Two reasons.
One, while the Mets love Leathersich’ potential and high strikeout rates, they are extremely concerned with his lack of command and the extremely high walk rates.
Two, reverse splits. Leathersich has fared significantly better against right-handed hitters than their counterparts over the last two seasons. At Triple-A this year they are batting .300 off him.
Meanwhile, Robles has been adept at neutralizing lefthanded batters in his minor league career. In ten plate appearances so far in Las Vegas this season, he has not allowed a hit or walk.
The Mets made an excellent choice.
Hansel Robles donning his “Get Metsmerized” t-shirt and button after a Cyclones game in Brooklyn. Obviously he’s uber-cool!
Only 24, Robles signed with the Mets as a free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2009. While this talented young righty has been predominately a starter in his pro career, that all changed in 2014 with Double-A Binghamton.
The following is how MMO Minor League Reporter John Bernhardt explains it. Enjoy his excellent analysis…
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Entering 2014, Robles had always been a starting pitcher his minor league career and for much of last season it was no different in Binghamton. Robles had a spot in Pedro Lopez’s B-Met rotation, but was an enigma of sorts in eighteen starts, often either very effective or otherwise looking like a train wreck.
But sometime in mid July the composition of the Binghamton roster changed. Greg Peavey, Tyler Pill and Matt Bowman were elevated to Triple-A. Cory Mazzoni, Gabriel Ynoa, and Steven Matz joined the B-Met rotation. In a July 19th contest against Trenton, manager Pedro Lopez called for Robles’ services out of the bullpen. It was his first relief appearance of the season and one of only a handful during his minor league career.
Nothing in his first appearance out of the pen served as an omen of what was to come. Robles threw two innings allowing an earned run while walking one and striking out one.
His impact as a relief pitcher began to emerge on August 3rd when in his 4th appearance out of the pen, Robles struck out the side in his inning of work that day and then fanned four more in two perfect innings of relief four days later against Richmond.
Down the homestretch, Robles’ confidence soared. In fact, by the end of the post season Robles was almost emboldened when Lopez would make the call and signal him into a game. Out of the pen, Robles’s fastball jumped up several ticks on the radar gun coming in regularly between 93 and 96 miles per hour and occasionally inching even higher. A sweeping slider in the 84-87 mph range complimented the heater.
Now a lat inning reliever, Robles pounded the strike zone like he had in his NY-Penn days. His issues with yielding extra base hits almost completely evaporated. Most impressive, was the bigger the importance and the higher the stakes, the more dominating Robles became.
What started out as an experiment evolved into a critical component of Binghamton’s Eastern League title run. As impressive outing followed impressive outing, by the post season, it was Lopez’s blueprint to stretch his starters to the point where he could use Robles as a bridge to his B-Met closer Cody Satterwhite. The relief duo rewarded their skipper with 11 innings of scoreless relief, a huge factor in Binghamton’s championship season.
What does it mean? Where does it lead? No one is really certain. Many unanswered questions remain. Can Robles work his relief magic for an entire season and at elevated levels of play? Are two pitches adequate to find success in a major league bullpen? (Robles is also working on a change-up) Can Robles handle back-to-back relief appearances, something he was never asked to do with the B-Mets?
For me the only no-brainer seems to be that with all the young starting pitchers in the Mets youth brigade, it is prudent to continue to develop Hansel Robles as another live arm out of the Met bullpen. Something clicked after this kid was converted to a reliever, he opened a lot of eyes in Binghamton and apparently in the Mets front office as well.
