The Mets went a few months without needing to make any pitching transactions. They sure are making up for it now. The club has made a move for pitching in each of the last seven days in a row, shuttling arms back and forth from Syracuse to Atlanta, Philadelphia and New York to replace injured arms and overtaxed arms, mostly to continually replenish the bullpen.
Wednesday, they decided to go for a new location, calling up Jonathan Pintaro from Double-A Binghamton. A 27-year-old who was playing in the independent Pioneer League after leaving college at Division II Shorter University, Pintaro is a unique story and scouting success story of sorts. A right-handed starter, the Mets plan to use him out of the bullpen.
They also called up left-hander Brandon Waddell from Syracuse, and designated left-hander Jose Castillo and right-hander Richard Lovelady for assignment.
But his call-up also underscores how difficult things are for the Mets in the midst of a streak of 10 losses in 11 games.
“Pretty special day for him; a dream come true,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Wednesday at Citi Field. “With where we’re at, bullpen-wise, he’s a guy that can give us up to 75-80 pitches, if we need him to. So [we’re] looking for length here, and we’ll go from there.”
The Mets used five relievers Tuesday night in a loss to the Atlanta Braves, including Lovelady and Castillo. Monday night, they used all of their high-leverage relievers, with closer Edwin Diaz throwing 24 pitches and setup man Ryne Stanek throwing 28. But with five more games to play until an off-day, the carousel may keep turning through the weekend.
“Guys will come in and out and it comes down to them helping us win baseball games at this level,” Mendoza said. “So, yeah, we don’t make too much of it. It’s part of the grind, especially when you face injuries and you’re playing a stretch of games where there’s no off days in between, this is going to happen. So that’s why you build that depth, and here we are getting tested.”
It will be quite the test for Pintaro as well.
Pintaro pitched in the MLB Draft League twice before playing indy ball. The Mets gave him his first entrance into affiliated baseball when they purchased his contract from the Glacier Range Riders in Kalispell, Montana, last June. The Alabama native went from High-A to Double-A to Triple-A within the span of a summer, and then the Arizona Fall League so he could face top prospects and get experience with Major League baseballs.
“That’s part of the development with the kids now, where you try to tell them to use the big league ball before they get to Triple-A level, so when they do get there — or in this case, when they get to the big-league leve — it’s not so different,” Mendoza said. “It’s a big jump for a lot of different reasons. You’re facing big-league hitters 1-9; at the Double-A level, not so much. But this is a kid, Pintaro specifically, who has been through a lot and he earned it.”
Pintaro didn’t believe the Binghamton Rumble Ponies staff when he was informed he was being called up to the big league Mets. He thought the coaches were playing a joke on him. The Major Leagues weren’t on his radar, and since he wasn’t on the 40-man roster, he had no reason to think he was close.
“It’s been unreal,” Pintaro said. “A dream come true. I did six years of college and nothing happened, so I went to indy ball in Montana and thought I’d give it one or two more years and see how it goes. My second year, it happened.”
After signing with the Mets last June, Pintaro went 3-6 with a 2.68 ERA over 15 starts and 17 appearances. This season, he’s posted a 3.40 ERA over 11 Double-A starts. He has a funky delivery, throwing a cutter, a low-to-mid 90s four-seam fastball and sinker, a changeup and a sweeper. Control has been an issue, but he throws enough pitches to be able to work out of trouble.
Over the last week, the Mets have called up Justin Hagenman, Justin Garza, Dedniel Nuñez, Tyler Zuber, Chris Devenski, and Blade Tidwell for a spot start, as well as signed and designated Lovelady. Now, they have Pintaro to go long, and Waddell, who will be used as a one-inning lefty instead of a long man. It’s not ideal, but it’s what the Mets have to do to get through this stretch of games.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Third baseman Mark Vientos is expected to return to New York from his minor league rehab assignment Thursday. The trainers will reevaluate his status to determine whether or not the Mets can use him right away. If they get the green light, they can activate him and put him into the lineup right away. Vientos, who has been out since June 3 with a right hamstring strain, played back-to-back games at third base Tuesday and Wednesday, something the Mets needed to see before calling him up again.
He hit .174 with a .530 OPS and two extra-base hits in six minor league rehab games, all with Triple-A Syracuse.”
