Stephen Nogosek/Photo by Ed Delany, MMN
Stephen Nogosek, RHP
2018 Stats: 1-1, 4.99 ERA, 39 G, SV, 52.1 IP, 1.471 WHIP, 6.7 BB/9, 10.0 K/9
2019 Stats: 3-0, 1.07 ERA, 3 SV, 50.1 IP, 0.993 WHIP, 4.5 BB/9, 8.9 K/9
Heading into the 2019 season, Nogosek was the only pitcher remaining from the Addison Reed trade. Jamie Callahan had been released after dealing with shoulder problems. Gerson Bautista was part of the package sent to the Seattle Mariners in the Robinson Cano trade.
The aforementioned two relievers had made their Major League debuts for the Mets. As for Nogosek, there was a real question whether he was going to reach the majors. Nogosek had deception in his unique delivery leading to him striking out batters at a good clip. However, that unique delivery also led to him having control issues. They were at their worst in 2018 with him walking a career worst 6.7 per nine.
If Nogosek was going to have any chances of making it to the Major League level, he was going to have to cut down on his walks. When Nogosek was promoted to Triple-A Syracuse on May 24, that is exactly what he did.
In his 24 appearances for Syracuse, Nogosek only walked 3.7 per nine. This was a significant improvement. We really saw that improvement when he walked just one batter across seven July appearances. Since his promotion to Syracuse, he only walked more than one batter in an outing just once, and that was in his final appearance of the season. His cutting down on his walks was one of the reasons why he finally received his promotion to the majors.
Now, one of the trade-offs of his reducing his walks was a reduction in his strikeout rate. It would drop from a 10.0 in 2018 to just an 8.6 with Syracuse. To a certain extent, this was a positive step. With his delivery and his stuff, Nogosek is a pitcher who is difficult to square up. That was evidenced by his allowing a career best 3.4 H/9 with Syracuse. Ultimately, batters would only hit .188/.288/.259 off of him for the year.
When Nogosek is trusting his stuff, he is getting outs. At the end of the day, it does not matter if those outs come via strikeout or in the air, especially when Nogosek typically induces weaker contact. When Nogosek pitches this way, he looks like a Major League caliber pitcher, and that is what he was when the Mets called him up to the majors.
As noted by Baseball Savant, “If he can continue to throw enough strikes and miss bats as he reaches the upper levels, a future as a middle reliever awaits.”
Due to his throwing strikes in Syracuse, we saw him scratch the surface of his ability to be a Major League caliber middle reliever. Judging from his struggles in his brief Major League appearances, he is not quite there yet. However, due to the significant strides he made with Syracuse, it is now possible to foresee him being a Major League reliever.
