On Monday the Mets announced they had signed left-handed pitcher Andrew Barbosa to a minor league deal.  Barbosa finished the season at AA for the Mississippi Braves after starting the year pitching for the Mobile BayBears who are the AA affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In between those two stops he pitched for the Long Island Ducks where he was a teammate of Mets minor league knuckleballer Mickey Jannis. He went 4-1 with a 2.82 ERA and 1.235 WHIP in nine starts spanning 51 innings for the Ducks.

The 28-year old pitched in 19 games (six starts) combined in AA during the 2015 season going 5-3 with a 3.42 ERA and 1.225 WHIP in 47.1 innings. He struck out 56 batters in that span and allowed just 36 hits. Left-handed batters hit only .200/.323/.291 this past season.

Barbosa will remind some of ex-Met pitcher Chris Young as he is 6’8 but his fastball generally sits in the 88-92 MPH range. He comes close to straight over the top and that combined with his height allows him to get a great downward plane that produces swings and misses. He also throws a curveball and changeup with the latter being his best pitch.

Andrew was drafted a whopping four times, three times by the San Francisco Giants (06, 07, 2010) but never signed with them. He was taken a final time in 2012 by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 36th round. He played at South Florida Community College before transferring to University of South Florida and walking on to the baseball team.

He was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico before moving to Florida and going to Sarasota High School. He did have Tommy John Surgery in 2011 during his junior year at USF and surgery for a posterior labrum tear back in 2008. Here is an interview he did this season after striking out 12 batters in his debut with the Braves against the his former team the BayBears.