Stephen Nogosek/Photo by Ed Delany
In advance of the doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves, the New York Mets have activated Stephen Nogosek from the IL. According to various reports, left-handed reliever Zach Muckenhirn ‘s contract will be selected from Triple-A Syracuse.
Before going on the IL, Nogosek had made three scoreless appearances pitching 6 1/3 innings. He struck out eight and walked three.
Nogosek had made one rehab appearance for Double-A Binghamton. Over 1 2/3 innings, Nogosek allowed three earned on two hits and three walks while striking out three.
Muckenhirn, 28, was signed this past offseason by the Mets as a minor league free agent. He has made six appearances for Triple-A Syraucse pitching 11 2/3 innings. He has one save on the season while posting a 0.77 ERA, 1.200 WHIP, 3.1 BB/9, and a 3.1 K/9.
Opposing batters have a 51.3% ground ball rate against Muckenhirn. In his professional career, Muckenhirn has struck out at least 22% of the batters he faced in a season, but so far this season, that rate has plummeted down to 8.5%.
Of note, Muckenhirn replaces the injured Brooks Raley as the long left-handed reliever in the Mets bullpen. This season, left-handed batters are only hitting .125/.263/.313 against Muckenhirn. Right-handed batters have had more success batting .296/.321/.296.
As noted by Abbey Mastracco of the New York Daily News, Muckenhirn will become the first ever player from the University of North Dakota to make his Major League debut. As noted by Mastracco, with the University of North Dakota disbanding their baseball program, Muckenhirn may be the only player from that school to pitch in the majors.
In fact, there are only two players from the University of North Dakota to play in the minors. The other was Tyler Follis, who was the Colorado Rockies 28th round draft pick in 2018. Follis was released by the Rockies organization on March 22, 2017, and he has not signed for another team.
The Mets have no officially announced Muckenhirn, so at this moment, it is not clear if he will be active for both ends of the doubleheader. One factor at play is the Mets will have to make a roster move to add Muckenhirn to the active roster.
In addition to Nogosek and Muckenhirn, José Butto will be available to pitch out of the bullpen in the second game. While Butto was recently sent down, roster rules permit him to be activated as the proverbial 27th man on the roster for a doubleheader.
Another important note is the Mets will only be permitted with 25 players in the first game of the doubleheader and 26 in the second. The reason is a consequence of Max Scherzer‘s suspension is the Mets are not permitted to carry a player in that roster spot. Of course, as we saw with Fernanado Tatis Jr. and the San Diego Padres, a PED suspension does not cost a team the use of a roster spot the way Scherzer’s suspension did.
