Mets' demotion of Huascar Brazoban further highlights a major trade-deadline need
The Mets' Huascar Brazobán walks to the dugout after pitching against the San Francisco Giants in the sixth inning of a game Friday in San Francisco. Credit: AP/Godofredo A. Vásquez
SAN DIEGO — The Mets are no strangers to creativity when it comes to their bullpen management. There was that horrific month of June, when injuries forced a near constant carousel between Triple-A and whatever city the Mets happened to be in at the moment. There was the occasional dance that saw them designate relievers for assignment just to bring them back shortly after.
And then there was Tuesday.
This time, the victim was Huascar Brazoban, who, at nearly 36 years old, leads the bullpen in innings and is tied with Reed Garrett for first in appearances. The righty, one of the few relievers with options left on his contract, was shipped to Triple-A Syracuse not too far removed from being one of the Mets’ most reliable arms out of the bullpen. In his stead, the Mets signed Chris Devenski to a one-year contract despite DFA’ing him a week prior.
It wasn’t personal, even if Brazoban did allow two inherited runners to score in the nightmare fifth inning of their 7-6 loss to the Padres Monday, misplayed a first-base coverage, and then allowed another run of his own. The issue, at least in part, is that Brazoban threw 26 pitches, has already logged 51 2/3 innings this season (his career high is 58 2/3 which he did when he was 33), and has declined dramatically after a stellar first two-and-a-half months of the season.
His ERA was 1.62 on June 17, and 10.66 since then.
“He’s done a lot for us,” Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday. “We’re going to continue to use this time to build him up for a potential role here because we told him, you’re going to be back here. The plan is for him to have a more scripted throwing program where he’s pitching, 35 pitches, three days off. At the big-league level, you’re not going to be able to do that.”
The move continues to highlight two issues the Mets hope to address.
The first: With the trade deadline looming Thursday, they — and most every other contender — are looking for bullpen help. Relievers are already starting to fall off the board, and the market was dealt a significant blow when the Guardians’ Emmanuel Clase, thought to be a trade chip, was placed on non-disciplinary paid leave as part of MLB’s investigation into sports gambling.
Clase’s case has far greater ramifications in the long term, especially if the league discovers wrongdoing by him and Luis Ortiz, the other Guardians pitcher being probed. But in the short term, you can’t ignore that the hard-throwing, three-time All-Star would have been a near-perfect fit on a team in search for another high-leverage right-handed reliever. His departure likely also means the price on remaining arms has gone up.
Then there’s the second: President of baseball operations David Stearns is certainly open to adding a starter, but noted it could be a challenge. But save for David Peterson, the Mets’ starters simply don’t pitch deep into games. Going into Tuesday, starters have thrown 538 2/3 innings, 25th in baseball, while the bullpen has tossed 411 1/3 innings, which is sixth.
That’s simply unsustainable — high-leverage innings take their toll, and there will be no shortage of them during this stretch run, meaning that their most valuable arms will be pitching in their most important games at their most tired.
Which brings us back to Brazoban. Tuesday, Mendoza basically said the candidates for demotion were him and Rico Garcia, who’s been highly impressive since returning to the Mets. (There’s that carousel again: Garcia pitched for the Mets, was DFA’d, was claimed by the Yankees, pitched poorly, was DFA’d, was claimed by the Mets, and in the five innings since, has allowed no runs on two hits with a walk and nine strikeouts.)
Brazoban is expected to return to the team eventually, but with things in flux the Mets needed an insurance policy. He’ll be stretched out to 30, and ideally 40 pitches, Mendoza said. It makes sense when your rotation can’t eat innings. It’s also possible that a guy like Clay Holmes, who’s already outstripped his career innings high, could use a sort of piggyback situation down the stretch — not unlike how the Mets used him against the Royals earlier this month when Holmes pitched five innings before handing the ball to Sean Manaea.
“It was a combination of a lot of different things,” Mendoza said. “It was just where we’re at bullpen-wise. We needed a fresh arm for tonight’s game.”
And the game after that, and the game after that. And so the carousel turns on unless a more permanent solution rolls along.
Notes & quotes: Paul Blackburn (shoulder) will throw one more rehab start on Saturday . . . Tylor Megill (elbow) has a two-up bullpen scheduled Wednesday before facing live hitters . . . Jesse Winker (back) is still weeks away from baseball activities but “I haven’t heard anything as far as, oh, he’s done for the year,” Mendoza said.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
