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Bautista Called-Up

By John Sheridan

April 17, 2018 No comments

Gerson Bautista (Ed Delany/Mets Minors)

With the Mets needing a fresh arm for the bullpen, the Mets have called MMN‘s 16th ranked prospect RHP Gerson Bautista to the major leagues.

To make room for Bautista on the roster, Hansel Robles, who has allowed a homer in two of his last three appearances, to Triple-A Las Vegas. It should be noted this is Robles’ last remaining option.

Bautista was one of the three right-handed relief prospects the Mets obtained from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for RHP Addison Reed.

Of the trio, Bautista was the most talented of the group with the ability to ramp his fastball up to triple digits. However, he was also the most raw with his inability to harness both his fastball and slider. The end result was his having a 5.6 BB/9 and a 1.809 WHIP for the Red Sox High-A affiliate prior to the trade.

Since joining the Mets organization, Bautista has learned how to corral his electric stuff, and he’s put up incredible stats. So far this year for Binghamton, he’s walked none and allowed just two hits while striking out 11 over three innings.

With stats like those, he’s clearly impressed the Mets enough to call him up to the majors over other talented prospects like Tyler Bashlor or pitchers with MLB experience like Jacob Rhame or Jamie Callahan.

This now marks the second consecutive year the Mets have called a pitcher to the majors straight from Double-A (Chris Flexen).

It will be interesting to see if this is an Akeel Morris type situation or if the Mets are intending to give Bautista a long look.