Mets: What to expect from Chris Flexen’s debut?

The recently turned 23-year old will make his first MLB start against the Padres on Thursday

Chris Flexen will make his major league debut when the New York Mets take the field on Thursday night for their series finale against San Diego. The 23-year old has been the quickest riser through the Mets’ system and has been dominant between St. Lucie and Binghamton.

What should we expect from Flexen tonight? First, it’s sort of a homecoming for Flexen who was born in California (although it would be closer to an actual one if he were pitching against San Francisco). The Newark, CA native is in his sixth professional season after being drafted by the Mets out of high school in the 14^th round of the 2012 Draft.

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Flexen made three starts for St. Lucie before being promoted to Binghamton. His numbers with the Rumble Ponies have been eye popping: 6-1, 1.66 ERA, 28 hits and 7 walks allowed in 48.1 innings with 50 strikeouts. He has also thrown two complete games with Binghamton this season.

You’ll see a four-pitch mix from Flexen. His fastball routinely sits around 93-94 and he offers a curve, slider, and occasional change-up. The last two have been developing while the curveball is his best secondary pitch. Beyond that, he has shown the ability to pitch out of tough spots when they arise.

In his last start against Akron, Flexen dealt with some control issues mid-game. He allowed three walks in between those two innings, but escaped with just one run allowed in that span.

The Mets held Flexen in high enough regard to add him to the 40-man roster and protect him from the Rule V Draft last winter. You can even draw that back to the draft when the Mets signed Flexen for $274,000 above pick value. Flexen had Tommy John surgery in 2014 and underwent knee surgery in March. Once he returned to the mound, his career has taken off and it’s landed him a Major League debut in late July.

It’s about as favorable a match-up as Flexen could ask for in his debut. He’ll get a Padres team that is very young and swing happy. The Padres have the third highest strikeout total and are 25^th in walks drawn entering Thursday. To top it off, he doesn’t lack confidence.

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An injury ravaged pitching staff and the lack of options in Triple A combined to give Flexen this opportunity. We’ll see how he does with it when he takes the ball. Stay tuned to Rising Apple for a postgame analysis of his debut.