The Mets made some more camp cuts as Opening Day approaches, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo and The Athletic’s Will Sammon were among those who reported that right-handers Jose Urena and Chris Devenski, left-hander Genesis Cabrera, utilityman Donovan Walton, and catcher Jakson Reetz won’t be making the team. The five players were all in camp on minor league contracts, and Urena’s deal contained an XX(b) out clause that he won’t be exercising, as Urena will remain in the Mets organization and pitch at Triple-A.
Urena inked his minors deal less than a month ago, and he has been rocked for a 19.29 ERA over three Grapefruit League appearances (2 1/3 total innings). It’s fair to assume that Urena guessed there might not be much of a market for his services if he re-entered free agency, so he’ll stick with the Mets and try to regain his form in the minors.
A veteran of 10 MLB seasons, Urena has worked primarily as a starting pitcher but operated in a swingman capacity with the Rangers last year, starting nine of his 33 appearances. The righty had a solid 3.80 ERA over 109 innings for Texas, with his typical strong grounder rate (50.1%). Urena is a groundball specialist who rarely misses any bats, and he has had some issues in preventing home runs when batters are able to square up on his offerings.
Having an experienced swingman at Triple-A gives New York a helpful depth option to call upon in the event of an injury within either the rotation or the bullpen. Urena’s deal also has standard opt-out dates on May 1 and June 1, so he’ll have a couple more chances in the near future to evaluate his status with the Mets.
In other Amazins news, left-hander Danny Young and righties Reed Garrett and Jose Butto were all told they’d be breaking camp for Opening Day as part of the Mets bullpen. There wasn’t too much drama in these decisions, and the fact that Young and Butto are both out of minor league options might’ve added to their cause.
You linked to the wrong Jose Urena
He hasn’t been the same since he accidentally hit Acuna a couple of times.
“accidentally”
I love that, even to this day, Braves fans think the second coming of Nolan Ryan was on the mound and hit Acuña on purpose when Jose Ureña was – and is – a horrible pitcher who should have been demoted the next morning.
Interesting that Danny Young was told he’ll break camp with the big league team. Management has said that Canning, Blackburn, and Megill are all likely to make the team as well. Holmes, Peterson, and Senga are locked into rotation spots. Diaz, Minter, Stanek, Garrett, Butto, Nunez, and Kranick seem like bullpen locks, health permitting. So there would not seem to be room for Young unless they release Blackburn (unlikely), option Megill (unwise), or start Minter or Nunez on the IL (most probable outcome I think).
I think Nunez will start on the IL from what I’ve heard. They are trying to be very careful with his workload this year. It’s a possibility that Minter starts with a short IL stint as well.
Not so interesting, you’re overthinking it – and also underthinking it at the same time.
It was widely expected that Nunez will start the season on the IL. He still isn’t pitching in back-to-back games. Mets’ brass has repeatedly stated over the past several years that this was a key criterion for a reliever returning from injury. And they’ve stated a couple of times over the past few days that they intend to go very slowly with Nunez.
Besides, Young provides a need: a situational lefty. This frees up Minter for late inning work, something that has become more important in light of Diaz’ significant drop in velocity this spring.
Let’s hope all this talk about Diaz’s velocity ends up in what Comrade Vladimir Lenin called, “the dustbin of history”.
Reetz is more of the surprise here. They either prefer Chris Williams as the backup or have someone from the outside in mind while Alvarez is out.
I stand corrected. Maybe Senger is the choice over Reetz and Williams.
Yeah it’s Senger for now I think.
They officially sent Williams down a week ago. And Senger has been getting more of the playing time recently.
That said, never rule out the possibility of Stearns making another acquisition. He has said numerous times that whenever he sees a chance to upgrade the roster, he will always look to do so. Let’s see who gets waived or opts out over the next few days.
Urena going where he belongs AAA.
Urena isn’t betting on his own improvement alone—he’s betting on the Mets’ failure to maintain pitching health, a near-certainty given historical MLB data (average of 2-3 starters per team on IL by June) and the Mets’ reliance on aging or unproven arms.
Urena has about 4 or 5 guys ahead of him to get a start unless he shows drastic improvement or he is a one and done.
I would say they are looking at him as more a reliever swing man if he is in any extended plans as he showed some promise in the role last year and that is where they are weakest.
@Flyby
You’re right that Urena’s behind 4-5 guys for a start, but he’s not just counting on his own improvement. The Mets’ rotation has older and injury-prone pitchers—teams lose 2-3 starters by June. His 3.80 ERA and groundball knack last year make him a solid bet to step in, maybe even 10+ starts by August. Swingman or not, he’s positioned for their collapse, not a one-and-done.
correct and i already accounted for that as they have lost 2-3 pitchers already with Manea Montas and Scott out. You have 5 starters now and atleast 3 i would definitely put ahead of him and with options that will start in the minors. Thats also not including who the long man in the pen between canning, megill and blackburn. So he would be close to 12 or 13th on the list if he is not further down outside of a one and done.
Also majority of that 3.8 is as a reliever his last 3 starts in august amounted to near a 7 ERA and for the season as a starter he was over 5. with 8 homers over 9 starts. So you would need literally a rotation and a half to go down for him to have a meaningful role and that assumes Stearns does no trades or waiver pickups. If he is getting 10 starts by august you might as well have ended the season already.
This is coming from someone that said the mets should have grabbed him last offseason for depth with the rotation much lighter on paper as there really wasnt much depth in the upper minors.
The notion that anyone is ahead of anyone is empty and pointless fanspeak, not reality. The reality is that the team will use/promote whoever is pitching best at the time that a need arises. Sometimes, secondary factors like options or how long the injured pitcher will be out play a role in the decision as well.
Between now and the time a pitcher is needed, things will change. Someone you think is ahead of him might get hurt or pitch poorly. A prospect who isn’t ready now might surpass him by then. And sometimes a lesser pitcher gets called up ahead of a better one simply because he is expendable and the team doesn’t want to disrupt the better pitcher’s progress for one or two starts.
There’s just no point in defining a pecking order.
so what your saying is they are getting rid of diaz and butto for deverenski and brazoban because they are doing better this spring? Or that Manea is going to the bullpen when he comes back if all the current starters are on cy young paces?. How about bringing someone back to pitch in the playoffs that has had 5 innings for the season. There is always a pecking order
As i said outside of a one and done Urbena is not likely to see much as a starter especially for an extended time. At best a swing man but they arent even stretching him out to that at the moment as if i recall correctly he is not even averaging an inning an outing yet unless you are considering an “opener” as a starter. If he is your starter for an extended time you are most likely done for the season at that point.
An interesting piece of data, never seen that before. Let’s hope, in that case, that we’ve already fulfilled our injury quota and we don’t see Urena.
Urena is Teheran 2.0.
He wishes.
Butto didn’t need that advantage. He was an effective pitcher last year. Valuable.