New York Mets manager Mickey Callaway confirmed on Friday afternoon that right-hander Wilmer Font will get the ball next Tuesday in Washington, making his second start since his May 6 acquisition.
Font, 28, pitched four innings in Wednesday’s 3-2 loss to San Diego, allowing two runs on three hits with a strikeout and no walks allowed, lowering his season ERA to 5.50 (4.02 FIP, 1.28 WHIP, 9.5 K/9, 2.5 BB/9).
The Venezuelan native compiled a 5.79 ERA over 10 appearances (14 innings, all in relief) with Tampa Bay before jumping into the Mets’ rotation in the absence of left-handers Steven Matz (nerve irritation) and Jason Vargas (hamstring).
Callaway briefly spoke about Font on Friday afternoon (video via Mets social media account), alluding to giving the right-hander a longer leash to work with after throwing 60 pitches (39 strikes) in his Mets debut.
“At this moment, we feel, the way he threw the ball the other day, now that [Matz] for sure can’t go [on Tuesday], Font will fill in and hopefully have another great start with us with even more of a pitch count to work with.”
We’ll keep you posted as more information becomes available.
