Right-hander Sean Reid-Foley is on his way to join the Mets from Triple-A Syracuse, as first reported by Mike Mayer of Metsmerized. He’s not on the 40-man roster, so New York will need to open a spot on the 40-man roster to formally select his contract.
The 27-year-old Reid-Foley is 15 months removed from last year’s Tommy John surgery and has pitched 22 innings of 4.09 ERA ball across three minor league levels as he’s worked back into game shape. That includes a less palatable 4.96 ERA in 16 1/3 Triple-A frames, though the former top prospect has a 3.95 ERA and 42.5% strikeout rate over his past 14 Triple-A appearances (23 strikeouts, 54 batters faced).
Reid-Foley has pitched in parts of five big league seasons, all of them coming with either the Blue Jays or the Mets. In 102 1/3 innings at the MLB level, the former second-round pick (2017) has posted a 4.66 ERA with a solid 23.6% strikeout rate but a bloated 13.7% walk rate. He’s split his time relatively evenly between the bullpen and the rotation, carrying very similar marks in ERA, strikeout rate, walk rate, ground-ball rate and home run rate, regardless of role. Like most pitchers, he’s thrown harder out of the bullpen; last year’s career-high 96 mph average on his fastball in relief was 2.4 mph north of the 93.6 mph he averaged in 2017-18 when working primarily as a starter.
The Mets’ bullpen has been a revolving door since the trade deadline. While veterans Adam Ottavino, Brooks Raley, Drew Smith and Trevor Gott have been constants, but they’ve used a stunning 17 relievers since the trade deadline. The Mets have cycled through journeymen such as Jimmy Yacabonis, Dennis Santana, Tyson Miller, Vinny Nittoli and Adam Kolarek (among others) while trying to patch things together on a thinned out pitching staff. Reid-Foley will become the latest entrant into that relief corps carousel. He’s out of minor league options, so he’ll have to either stick in the bullpen or else quickly be designated for assignment to make way for the next arm.
The Mets haven’t had a starter complete five innings since Kodai Senga tossed seven frames on Saturday. Their bullpen has covered 11 2/3 innings in the past three games alone, so it’s not exactly a surprise to see them bringing in a fresh arm.
More must-reads: