PORT ST. LUCIE — Jon Rauch certainly gives the Mets a different look.
It isn’t just the obvious: his 6-foot-11, 290-pound presence or the various tattoos that adorn his arms, neck and back. The real different look comes when Rauch starts his overhand delivery and leaves batters wondering if they are standing in a ditch.
“You’re not used to seeing the ball come from an angle like that,” David Wright said yesterday. “Obviously Randy Johnson had great stuff, but part of it was you’re hitting and it’s almost like you’re looking up, and the ball is coming at such a downward angle that it makes it difficult.”
As the tallest player in major league history, Rauch can certainly create a downward arc with his pitches. The Mets are betting the 33-year-old righty’s career isn’t heading in that same direction.
With the team needing a bullpen overhaul after last season, Rauch was signed to a one-year contract worth $3.5 million and given a setup role. He joins Frank Francisco and Ramon Ramirez among the bullpen’s key additions.
Rauch went 5-4 with a 4.85 ERA and 11 saves in 53 games for the Blue Jays last year, but also battled right knee problems that ended his season in September, following surgery for torn cartilage.
Rauch said part of the reason he had the Mets high on his list was a chance to reunite with general manager Sandy Alderson, who was part of the 2000 U.S. Olympic baseball committee. Rauch was part of that gold medal winning team.
“[Alderson] is just a very professional, no-nonsense kind of guy,” Rauch said. “He expects a lot out of his players and he expects them to go out and perform and do the things we’re supposed to do.”
For Alderson, the reunion is less about sentiment than potential.
“I think he can be an intimidating presence,” Alderson said. “We think, based on the surgery he had last fall, it will give him an opportunity to get back to the form he’s exhibited over the years and he provides us with a tremendous amount of depth, just as the other two [relievers] we acquired did.”
Francisco, who spent 2011 in Toronto, said Rauch was clearly hurting last year. But it didn’t become evident to Francisco until late in the season, when he became friendly with Rauch.
“I didn’t know him [at first], so I didn’t know what kind of person he was, so he might sometimes have an attitude,” Francisco said.
“But I didn’t know if that’s him. We didn’t talk a lot until the end of the season. He knew [the knee] wasn’t right, he was probably fighting the injury and going through tough times. This year he looks good to me.”
Rauch rated reaching the playoffs in 2009 and ’10 with the Twins as the highlight of his major league career. But he said he also enjoyed his experience with the Blue Jays.
“Being in Toronto, with a younger team, and seeing those guys develop was another reason I really wanted to come here and be a part of watching these guys get better,” Rauch said.
Wright senses Rauch can help the Mets create the kind of bullpen dynamic that has been lacking in recent years.
“When I’ve been involved in very good bullpens and facing good bullpens, it seems like it’s not just everybody comes in and has good stuff — it’s different looks,” Wright said.
“It seems like that’s what we have this year. We have guys that throw it from way over the top that are tall and other guys who kind of sling it a little bit. We’ve got a variety of different looks.”
mpuma@nypost.com