Mets reliever Tyler Jay went unclaimed on waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Syracuse, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. He’ll stick in the organization without holding a 40-man roster spot.
Jay, who turns 30 today, had a brief stint on the big league team. He pitched twice, allowing only one run over four innings. That cup of coffee was the culmination of a lengthy climb through the professional ranks. The sixth overall pick in the 2015 draft by the Twins, Jay never reached the big leagues with Minnesota. Injuries, most notably a 2017 thoracic outlet procedure, stopped the Illinois product from moving past Double-A.
It looked as if Jay would never get to the majors, but he reinvigorated his career in independent ball. Jay showed enough with the Frontier League’s Joliet Slammers between 2022-23 to earn a minor league opportunity from the Mets. He made six appearances with Syracuse late last season and began this year with 5 2/3 scoreless innings there.
Despite his strong start, the Mets designated Jay for assignment when they reacquired the out-of-options Michael Tonkin on Wednesday. Jay will head to Triple-A and look to pitch his way back to the big league bullpen later this season.
I always feel bad for the high draft pick who used to be so good but then randomly scuffles, it always happens with the pitching prospects
And frequently
What a “Happy Birthday”
At least tomorrow is better (dispensary deals)
…and somehow the Minnesota Twins got screwed in this deal.
Not sure why he ever got released for Tonkin. We watched the latter implode and the former look promising. Thought we left this cycling of relievers behind when we got real baseball leadership in Stearns.
I’d rather have the second lefty in the pen than the three true outcomes pitcher Tonkin: strikeout-walk-home run.
3rd lefty? We have Raley and diekman
Raley is down for a two week respite, but they did bring up Josh Walker.
You’re talking about literally the last spot on the roster.
Failure to understand is user error at this point.
Failure to understand that player still gets called into games is user error.
That is exactly the point, Angel