During the offseason, the New York Mets signed right-handed pitcher Jimmy Yacabonis to a minor league deal. The Mets were interested like many teams have been because of his stuff.
Yacabonis, 30, is a sinker/slider relief pitcher. In his career, he’s posted elite vertical movement with both pitches. That was recently highlighted by the Pitching Ninja:
Jimmy Yacabonis, 92mph Sinker with 24 inches of run. pic.twitter.com/di4teeD5bW
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 4, 2023
When things are going well for Yacabonis, he will strike out batters at a high rate. However, that has always been tempered by his walking batters at a high clip.
It’s one thing to have terrific movement on your pitches and be difficult to hit. It’s a whole other thing to control those pitches to be a reliable and effective pitcher.
Through his five year Major League career, the results have not matched the stuff. He has a 6.03 ERA, 1.656 WHIP, 6.09 FIP, and a 74 ERA+.
Last season, he made 14 appearances between the Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays. He was 1-1 with an 8.36 ERA, 2.143 WHIP, 6.4 BB/9, and a 13.5 K/9.
In the minors, he would have more success. In 27 appearances between Double-A and Triple-A, he was 6-4 with two saves, a 3.21 ERA, 1.188 WHIP, 4.0 BB/9, and an 11.5 K/9. Again, the talent is there, but he has to find a way to translate it to the majors.
On that front, Jeremy Hefner has a track record of success working with sinker/slider pitchers dating back to his days as an assistant pitching coach with the Minnesota Twins. While a different style reliever all together, the Mets did see Adam Ottavino have one of the best years of his career in 2022.
There also could be some comfort for Yacabonis with the Mets. He previously played for Buck Showalter with the Baltimore Orioles. He is also an Elizabeth, New Jersey native.
With all of that, chances are he is going to start the season with Triple-A Syracuse. There he will work with Kyle Driscoll, who previously worked with Cressey Sports Performance.
All told, the Mets have the people in place to get Yacabonis to get control of his pitches. If that happens, we could see his stuff translate to him becoming a very effective Major League reliever, and the next time we see him featured by Pitching Ninja will be his getting big outs from the Mets bullpen.
