The Mets have designated right-hander Jordan Yamamoto for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster for left-hander Chasen Shreve, whose contract has been selected to the 40-man roster, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. Shreve told reporters earlier this week that he’d been informed he’s made the roster.
Yamamoto, 25, joined the Mets last offseason in a trade that sent minor league infielder Federico Polanco to the Marlins. He only made two appearances with the big league club and tallied only 32 2/3 minor league innings while battling a right shoulder injury. Originally drafted by the Brewers, Yamamoto was part of the Christian Yelich blockbuster with the Marlins and made his big league debut with the Fish in 2019, pitching to a solid 4.46 ERA with a 25.2% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate in 78 2/3 frames.
The shortened 2020 season was a nightmare for Yamamoto, as he surrendered 24 runs in just 10 2/3 innings. That ballooned his career ERA north of 6.00, but Yamamoto has generally been a solid pitcher in limited work outside that outlier season. He carries a career 3.79 ERA with a 25.3% strikeout rate, a 6.9% walk rate and a 44.6% ground-ball rate in 495 2/3 minor league innings as well.
Yamamoto does have a minor league option remaining, so it’s certainly possible that another club in need of some rotation depth will take a chance on a still-young righty who has had plenty of minor league success and also some success in the big leagues (2020 aside). The Mets will have a week to trade Yamamoto or attempt to pass him through outright waivers. If he clears waivers, they can assign him to Triple-A Syracuse to begin the season, and he’ll continue to serve as depth in the upper levels of their system. Given that Jacob deGrom is expected to miss months and the Mets’ rotation has several other injury risks and situations worth monitoring, that’d be a welcome bonus for the organization.
With deGrom slated to start the year on the injured list, it’s looking increasingly like young righty Tylor Megill will be tabbed as New York’s Opening Day starter (Twitter link via Mike Puma of the New York Post). Max Scherzer has been slowed a minor hamstring issue but is back on track and looks ticketed for the season’s second game. Taijuan Walker recently had what the team hopes to be a minor knee issue pop up in his final spring start. Carlos Carrasco is looking for a rebound after an injury-ruined 2021 season, and righty Chris Bassitt, acquired from the A’s over the winter, is expected to round out the Mets’ rotation to begin the season.
Odd choice for a Team needing SP depth.
Could of just 60 day Dl’d DeGrom as he won’t be pitching for them until June. LOL Mets
Nothing odd about this choice as they won’t need Yamato for the time being. No reason to jump on the Mets here.
The Mets don’t even have an opening day SP as of this moment.
Funny situation for a Team with a $ 300 MM Payroll touting their SP.
Scherzer is pushed back a day. No big deal really. deGrom is an injured mess. Very big deal, but no surprise. The Mets will be fine.
Walker who pitched yesterday to the Nats was lit up and left the Game due to sore Leg after having Surgery in January. His rotation spot is questionable now. Phillies should be seeing him this weekend.
Not having an Opening Day starter and not yet announcing the OD starter are two different things.
Spring Training is meaningless, but the knee injury is a concern for sure. Mets are banged up, but injuries are going to happen everywhere.
I disagree with the Mets being “fine”. I actually think they are worse shape this year than they were last year when they finished below .500.
I’m not a big fan of the Phillies moves either, seems like both will be fighting it out for 2nd but I see the Braves running away the division and neither Mets or Phillies making the playoffs.
If you think the Mets are in worse shape now than they were at the end of last season, then you either have no idea what you’re talking about or you’re trolling. I’m not predicting major success or anything, but they’re unquestionably better now than at the end of last season.
I could see the Braves running away with it, but the Mets and Phillies are both vastly improved in every way. The problem is they have some of the same weaknesses they had last year, but their strengths are stronger.
I also believe the 2nd place team in the NLE will indeed make the playoffs. I have a hard time finding 6 NL teams that are definitively better than the Mets and or Phillies, but it could happen. For example the NLW can pound on the Diamondbacks and Rockies while the central can feast on the Pirates and Reds. I do think the NLE finally has a bottom feeder in the Nats, so whomever has 15+ wins against them may make the difference.
The Mets are better than last year. They replaced Stroman with Scherzer. They added Marte, Canha and Escobar, losing Conforto. They still have half a season of deGrom if they are lucky and zero if they are not.
The Phillies are better than last year, adding Schwarber, Castellanos, Stott (by acension) and Knebel.
The Atlanta ball club is still the best team in that division, adding Acuna, Ozuna, Olsen, Duvall and Rosario, and losing Freeman.
Right now I see the NL post-season teams as Dodgers, Atlanta, Giants, Brewers, Cardinals and Padres. Mets could easily move up that list if deGrom comes back or if they acquire another starting pitcher.
@MannyBeingMVP This is a good take. I’m not as big on the Padres, Cardinals and Giants as most. The Giants played out of their minds last year. Almost every player on that team had a peak year. Can they do that again? The talent is there, but usually things don’t bounce that way again. The Cardinals went on an incredible hotstreak. Can they match that? Again, the talent is there, but it’s hard to maintain. And the Padres losing Tatis. Can they overcome that? There are of course just as many questions with the Mets and Phillies, but I do think one of them sneaks in. I have the Braves as the clear division favorite once again.
yes “but injuries are going to happen everywhere”
but when you have a GM who is an idiot and has no starting pitching depth its a crime.
Mets lost 2 pitchers Thor and Stroman
Mets pick up 2 pitchers .Scherzer and Bassitt
That’s a wash…
Eppler counted on DeGrom big mistake
Original 3,4,5 a giant question mark and now Walker is out
That is the difference, GM is a moron
Canha and Escobar are journeymen ; no real upgrade and Marte is a Marlins cast off not where in the same class as Olson, Schwarber, Castellanos.
Loup, Familia, Castro all gone
Mets are definitely not improved over last year.
Thor pitched what 1 game last year? How is Scherzer/Bassitt a wash over Stroman/Thor? That’s ridiculous. Bassitt is better than both. Scherzer is obviously better than both. Thor was a non-factor last year. I’m not even a Mets fan, but you’re being silly. Plus the Mets biggest weakness was a horrific offense. They’ve completely upgraded that lineup. Their bullpen is worse, but I think they focused on starting pitching, offense and defense. They’ve improved those area immensely.
I agree with you that the Mets should be fine, but would have felt more comfortable if they would have picked up one more decent SP. I would hate to see a rerun of last year with Jake injured.
Just to clarify here, Walker is not missing any starts as of yet. He’s not out as of now. Not sure why you keep saying he’s out.
The Mets problems last year were on offense. The off season and the spring have addressed them pretty well. They are certainly not worse than last year. They also have greatly improved their manager and coaching staff.
Oh Yes Canha a real powerhouse hitter 17 home runs and .231 BA with over 500 plate appearances. Real upgrade to the offense.
Thor looked good in the spring with the Angels and is 2 years out of TJ
Definitely superior to Bassitt hound.
Stroman was solid for the Mets and who do you have behind Bassitt and Scherzer pitched late into the season with high leverage games and a dead arm to boot.
3, 4, 5 for the Mets rotation are unproven and often injured for 2 of the 3
Time will tell; either you will be right or I will be right when the Mets finish 78-84 in 3rd or 4rth place
Completely upgraded what? Cano as a DH LOL
Escobar a 250 hitter? yeah that will compete with Olson, Castellanos; Soler, and Schwarber LOL
Who’s being silly now?
PurpleHayes,
As a Philly fan you should hope that Walker pitches this weekend against your murderers’ row. He was giving up mostly long balls yesterday against the Nats and couldn’t get out of the 2nd inning. His Fastball was topping out at 88 MPH. He needs to be Dl’d. I don’t understand why he waited until January to get knee surgery. What was wrong with October? LOL
Hilarious Jerkoff.
@Canosucks I didn’t say the Mets offense was better than the Braves and Phillies. It’s not. Not even close actually. Those teams improved a lot as well in my opinion. I think the Mets are a bit more well rounded than the Phils. Braves are still the division champs in my eyes. But you saying the 2022 Mets aren’t better than the 2021 Mets seems absolutely insane to me.
Yamamoto is recovering from a shoulder issue and building his velocity back up. Most likely candidate not to be picked up by a team. Also he would be #8 in SP depth, even if he’s healthy.
The Pirates should pick him up. He’s relatively young and very controllable.
When healthy he wasn’t even that good, plenty of better options out there
He might not even be gone. Don’t players get DFAd and then return to the team anyway quite often?
Not an odd choice if you consider that Billy Eppler is a complete moron!
He traded Castro to the Yankees for nothing. Just from a pure business point of view anyone growing up and living in NY knows you don’t help the Yankees in any way shape or form. Yankees own publicity department bashed the Mets in the Media last year.
Castro’s first appearance for the Yankees solid; 1 inning 2 strikeouts.
Lowley Rodriguez first outing for the Mets; he go lit up and his spring ERA is north of 23
So continue to expect bad moves from Eppler; he did it with the Angels and bad pitching from Lowley Rodriguez; but then again Eppler was quoted as saying ” results are not important”
Tbh good pickup for any team in need for a starter, can run innings until the bullpen is ready
He has starting experience but I don’t think he’s a starter, myself. He hasn’t shown he can get through a lineup more than one turn, on a regular basis. At least not in the majors. He also seems to spend a lot of time on the IL. Having said that, I’m still a bit surprised that the Mets DFA’d him since they need rotation depth. Putting DeGrom on the 60 day IL would be premature at this point. If his injury turns out to be more serious, he can always go on it retroactively. Someone had to go to make room for Shreve. Yamamoto was the odd man out. I can see him winding up back with the Mets at some point
Mark my words he’ll be an Angel.
Suga Monkey Don’t I know you from somewhere?
I still think Yamamoto has a bit of upside. I hope he gets a shot at a rotation spot with a rebuilding team.
Opening Day starter for Pirates.
He’s overqualified.
*ROCHESTER RABBITS
Rochester Dead Rabbits
We all know that Yamamoto is a Japanese name but not many know that Jordan is also Japanese. It means “joke”. No l’m not joking, ask the sushi chef next time you go to your favorite Japanese cuisine. But be extra careful he could be Chinese…
Lololol the Mets need pitching but designate s starter. I can’t. I’m a Mets fan and lolmets keep coming up
Scherzer, Bassitt, Walker, Carrasco, Megill to start the season. You can call up Yamamato, Pederson when you need them. Roll with this offense. See if it clicks. I see no reason to panic yet. Question marks? Of course. But no need to jump off a cliff.
The “cookie” has crumbled in Carrasco and Walker couldn’t even pitch a complete season last year and now is injured and got LIT UP!
So all you have left is Scherzer, Bassitt and Megill who I do like.
Scherzer pitched high leverage innings deep into the year.
Mets are in BIG trouble and Eppler is a moron.
Cano does suck. Good name
Walkers knee is messed up and Carrasco is cooked. What are ye smoking? Pass it
Could be a pickup for the A’s.
And to think that the Mets and their fans tried to paint the narrative that Yamamoto would be fixed by them. It was clearly some more Mets Hyperbole.
Based on Yamamoto’s time with the Marlins, he seems to have a work ethic problem.
What Met fan ever painted such a narrative?
SNY broadcast team…and some of the usual suspects for blind homerism on this site.
Yea I’ll give you the SNY team. They do tend to paint some absurd narratives
The trolls here continue to make believe we’re the lolmets still, when clearly we’re not. Injuries are expected, deGrom’s moreso than anyone else after last year. It’ll get taken care of, don’t you worry.
Clearly you’re not??? So let’s cancel the season then because that will be proof of nothing.