Stephen Villines, Photo By Ernest Dove
Tim Britton of The Athletic reports right-handed reliever Steve Villines has been promoted from Double-A Binghamton to Triple-A Syracuse. The side winding reliever has made eight appearances thus far. In 12.2 innings, he has a 2.13 ERA with three saves, a 1.105 WHIP, 3.6 BB/9, and a 9.9 K/9.
Mets sidearmer Steve Villines has been promoted to Syracuse per @TimBritton.
He has not allowed an earned run in 12.2 innings this season and has a 2.36 ERA in 106.2 pro innings. Also has remarkable 151 strikeouts compared to only 19 walks in that span. pic.twitter.com/5lq3VNgdnD
— Michael Mayer (@mikemayerMMO) May 7, 2019
In his career, Villines has shown remarkable control striking out 151 batters while walking just 19. As remarkable as his K/BB is, it is also noteworthy that even with his delivery, Villines has been a platoon neutral reliever in his career. This year, left-handed batters are hitting .160 off of him, and right-handed batters are hitting .238. That was the same last year with left-handed batters hitting .167 and right-handed batters hitting .213.
This marks the third straight year Villines has received an in-season promotion. Notably, last year, he started the year in Columbia, and he would be promoted twice and finish the year in Binghamton. With how well Villines has been pitching since he was the Mets 2017 10th round draft pick out of the University of Kansas, it should not be surprising if he is eventually promoted to the majors.
