The Mets are shaking up the pitching staff.
In an effort to strengthen the bullpen and rotation, the team will call up prospect Rafael Montero from Triple-A Las Vegas to start on Wednesday against the Yankees at Citi Field and has moved Jenrry Mejia to the bullpen.
In addition, Jacob deGrom will be called up from Las Vegas on Tuesday and join the bullpen mix. That move became official after the Mets’ 9-7 victory over the Yankees on Monday, when the team placed reliever Gonzalez Germen on the disabled list with a virus.
In eight starts for Las Vegas, the 23-year-old Montero was 4-1 with a 3.67 ERA.
“We think he is ready now,” general manager Sandy Alderson said.
Mejia had expressed a strong desire to remain in the rotation, but after three straight lackluster starts, began his bullpen tenure on Monday by pitching 1 ¹/₃ scoreless innings for the victory. Mejia entered with two outs in the seventh and pitched through the eighth. No decision has been reached, according to Alderson, on whether Mejia will become the team’s closer.
“We’ve got to be careful with him,” manager Terry Collins said. “Make sure he gets his proper rest and we don’t overdo it with him.”
Alderson said Mejia will be capped between 100-125 innings this season, in part necessitating the right-hander’s move to the bullpen. Montero will be capped around 180 innings, giving him a longer leash.
Kyle Farnsworth, who picked up the save Monday night, has been the team’s closer in recent weeks, but the veteran right-hander’s hold on the job is tenuous, at best.
“We don’t have a guy we can count on in the ninth inning, and that colors everything,” Alderson said.
Noah Syndergaard, the organization’s top pitching prospect, was not a consideration for promotion, according to Alderson.
The Mets are expected to wait until June or July before promoting Syndergaard to prevent his arbitration clock from starting a year early.
Alderson said it’s possible the 25-year-old deGrom will remain with the club for two or three weeks just to get major league experience as the organization decides if he’s best suited for starting or relief.
DeGrom was 4-0 with a 2.58 ERA in seven starts for Las Vegas.
“Give him a little taste of what it is to be in the big leagues,” Alderson said. “Other teams have done this — they have done it relatively successfully. A guy like deGrom would have to be well-managed in terms of his appearances and probably not used back to back.”