Mets: Let’s talk about Stephen Gonsalves and what he can offer

Pitcher Stephen Gonsalves is a new member of the New York Mets franchise and a younger player who may still have a bright future ahead of him.

Stephen Gonsalves got off to a fine start to his career as a New York Mets hopeful. The 25-year-old lefty tossed two shutout innings to open exhibition action on Saturday, offering up a solid first impression.

Gonsalves came to the Mets via waiver claim as a guy I’m not sure anyone expected to seriously compete for an Opening Day roster spot. With the rotation overflowing and the bullpen equally as tight, there wasn’t much room for anyone on the minors to contend for a job.

However, injuries are inevitable. Someone could eventually go down. When he does, Gonsalves may be the guy who takes his spot.

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In limited big league action, Gonsalves was 2-2 with a 6.57 ERA. This all came as a member of the 2018 Minnesota Twins over the course of 24.2 innings.

The minuscule sample size hardly tells what Gonsalves is capable of. A better example is what he did from 2013-2018 as a minor leaguer.

During those years on the Minnesota farm, Gonsalves was fantastic. He worked mostly as a starter, never finishing a season with an ERA above 3.27. In 2015 and 2016, he pitched 134+ innings in each with ERAs of 2.01 and 2.06.

I know spring training numbers don’t matter much. And two innings in the first outing in spring training matters even less.

Nevertheless, it’s time we start paying attention to this kid for the mere fact that he is still just a kid and has a solid track record as a professional ballplayer.

Gonsalves’ streak of pitching well came to an end in 2019 when he battled injuries throughout the year. He only managed to appear in 13 innings as a minor league pitching, failing to get back to the big leagues.

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At such a young age, you have to think there’s some potential left in him. Whether it be as a starter or reliever, Gonsalves is a guy the Mets may have stumbled into as a future contributor. It’s important he stays healthy this year in order to prove to everyone the guy he was early on his professional career was the real deal.