An Analysis of the Mets Bullpen

Baseball is that much closer to starting, Hallelujah!
Photo Credit to NY Post

     We know that this could easily be the best bullpen the team has had in years. In fact, if all goes as planned, this might be one of the best bullpens the team has ever had.
     We have hard throwing right handers galore, and they are also able to suppress hard contact very well. This is evidenced by a BABIP against that ranked 5th among National League bullpens. Understandably BABIP also has an element of uncontrollability to it, but the Mets bullpen also ranked 12th in the Majors in groundball rate. The Mets bullpen also showed a propensity for coaxing whiffs, as they also ranked 6th in the Majors in swinging strike%. However, they also struggled to throw strikes as evidenced by a walk rate of nearly 10%, which was third worst in the Majors. The Mets bullpen was basically the pitcher equivalent of Zack Wheeler.
     What's interesting about the team is that some of the relievers essentially personified their bullpens statistics. These relievers were Jenrry Mejia, Jeurys Familia and Vic Black. Each reliever was able to induce whiffs, as each registered a swinging strike % of over 10%. They were also able to limit hard contact, as each of the three pitchers either had a ground ball rate of at least 50% or had an infield fly ball rate of at least 10%. They also had problems keeping the ball in the strike zone. This was evidenced from how even though Jenrry Mejia had the best strike rate (46.7%) among the three pitchers last season, 49 other relievers had a better percentage than him.
     What's great about the upside of the team's bullpen is that they are also able to sport relievers that can also eat innings, and even be able to make spot starts if necessary. According to the teams depth chart, we have Carlos Torres and Rafael Montero who will likely make the team out of Spring Training. We also have Eric Goeddel, Dario Alvarez and Sean Gilmartin who have shots to make the team and can be called up as an injury fill in. Obviously it's not something that is ideal, but with the aforementioned pitchers, all of them have had a good amount of experience starting in their professional careers.
     The team also has a wildcard, Bobby Parnell. In a bullpen where good stuff with little control reigns supreme, Parnell is a pitcher who has seemingly adapted his style and relies more on inducing weak contact and limiting walks. This could be key because Parnell could easily become a pitcher who Terry Collins can call on to stop rallies and due to becoming more of a thinking man's pitcher, he may be more difficult to figure out than the other pitchers we have. As a result, Parnell could be stretched out for more than one inning every few outings (I am a big fan of using relievers for multiple innings).
     Where the bullpen starts to get sketchy though, is their lack of quality left handed pitchers. Per the teams depth chart, Josh Edgin, Dario Alvarez and Sean Gilmartin are pegged as the left handers that can break camp with the parent club. Edgin had a good 2014 across the board, as he struck out nearly 27% of the batters he faced, while only walking around 6% (both spectacular totals). Edgin also posted a groundball rate of 50.7%, as well as limiting contact (evidenced by a 12.2 swinging strike percentage). However, Edgin is a murky candidate at best to be relied on throughout the season. This is because first things first, his walk rate may not hold up due to a zone% of 42.4 despite his walk rate. This points to his stellar walk rate from last season regressing between last season and what he's done in the past. Another thing to point out is that Edgin has only averaged 38 games per season, or 27 innings. This goes to show that Edgin will likely not be able to be counted on to hold up for the season, something that is imperative in a guy who will be called on as the team's top lefty option.
    In conclusion I can say this, the teams bullpen has a lot of depth in terms of stoppers in Mejia Parnell, Familia and Vic Black. They also have pitchers who are capable of making spot starts if necessary. I am not very confident in our lefty options though, and that could end up costing the team a few must-win games. These few games could end up making the difference between making a second wildcard spot, and missing out by one or two games. However, the power arms we have could very well end up bringing us that much closer to the wildcard dance.