New York Mets: All-time weirdest pitching windups in franchise history

The goal of a pitcher is always the same. These New York Mets pitchers from the past did it a little different with their weird windups.

One of the beautiful quirks of baseball is how different pitchers can have wildly different windups. The New York Mets have had several pitchers throughout their history who made a name throughout their careers for their unconventional ways of delivering the ball to the plate.

Some fans may wonder why certain pitchers have a smooth, almost effortless delivery, and others go through an elaborate routine that resembles a dance sequence more than a pitching windup. Pitchers are constantly looking for any edge they can get over the hitters they face, and one way to throw hitters off their game is to distract them with an unusual delivery to the plate.

Over the last couple of years, the Mets’ pitcher roster has mostly featured arms with a conventional pitching windup, but in their 58+ year history, they have had quite a few pitchers who were known for their eye-catching delivery to the plate. Let’s take a look back at some Mets pitchers who made a name in Queens for their unusual pitching windups.

Memorable Mets Windups: Chad Bradford

Mets fans today may struggle to remember a time when the bullpen was a strength of the Amazins, but back in 2006, the Mets boasted one of the best bullpens in the league. Submarine-slinging Chad Bradford was a big part of that formidable Mets bullpen. He came to the Mets as a free agent after the 2005 season and spent only one season in Queens.

Despite his short tenure in Flushing, Bradford made his mark in 2006. He was a workhorse, appearing in 70 out of the team’s 162 games and posting a 2.90 ERA. In a bullpen that sorely missed the presence of Duaner Sanchez in the second half of the season, Bradford consistently stepped up and got key outs in a Mets uniform. He also got many clutch outs in that year’s postseason, appearing in seven playoff games in 2006 without surrendering a run.

Bradford succeeded with the Mets by continuing what had given him a lengthy baseball career in the first place. His trademark delivery looked unorthodox but proved effective over his twelve-year big league career. Bradford’s signature was a submarine delivery where his arm got so low to the ground, it almost looked like he was throwing underhand.

Through this windup, Bradford still managed to generate plenty of velocity, and clearly his submarine style of pitching confused hitters enough to keep his ERA below 4.00 nearly every year of his career. Perhaps it’s because he was a key cog of the 2006 Mets machine that fans today fondly remember, but Bradford might be one of the more fondly remembered “one year Mets” in recent memory.

Memorable Mets Windups: Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez

Second up on this list is another notable member of the 2006 Mets and a key part of that year’s rotation, Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez. He only spent parts of two years in Queens, coming to the Mets from the Arizona Diamondbacks via trade during the 2006 season after spending most of his MLB career with the Yankees and his pre-MLB career pitching in Cuba.

El Duque didn’t have a sidearm or submarine delivery like several other entries on this list, but he was famous for his extremely high leg kick. While delivering the ball to the plate, El Duque appeared to nearly knee himself in the face with every pitch. Despite this jerky motion, he got the ball to the plate quickly and fielded his position well.

His delivery out of the stretch was almost a complete 180 from his regular windup. With runners on base, El Duque morphed his windup into a near-sidearm delivery, with no leg kick in sight.

Hernandez was a solid starter for the Mets throughout the 2006 season, but unfortunately, his Mets legacy did not extend into that memorable postseason. El Duque tore a calf muscle in early October while jogging in the outfield, of all things, and missed the entire playoffs. His injury, on top of the injury to Pedro Martinez, meant that the Mets’ starting pitching depth was razor-thin entering the 2006 ALDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Had El Duque remained healthy and pitched in that 2006 postseason, who knows how many games he might have won in the NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals. Nonetheless, El Duque still made his mark on franchise history for his unusual delivery and indeterminate age.

Memorable Mets Windups: Joe Smith

Joe Smith was most recently thrust into the national baseball spotlight as a member of the AL pennant-winning Houston Astros in 2019, but loyal Mets fans will remember that the sidearmer got his start in Queens. Smith was the Mets’ third-round draft pick in 2006, and made his major league debut with the big club the following year.

In 2007 and 2008, Smith was a mainstay of the Mets’ bullpen. He appeared in 54 and 82 games, respectively, in those two seasons, almost rivaling “Perpetual Pedro” Feliciano in appearances. Despite the heavy workload, Smith was very effective in both years, compiling a combined 3.51 ERA as a New York Met.

Unfortunately, the Mets decided after the 2008 season that Smith was not worth keeping, with years of control left and a major league minimum salary to his name. They traded him away in a three-team deal with the Cleveland Indians and the Seattle Mariners that netted them the whopping return of Sean Green, J.J. Putz, and Jeremy Reed. The Mets also departed with Endy “the catch” Chavez and Aaron Heilman in that trade, who were both immortalized in 2006 for very different reasons.

Smith has enjoyed a long major league career since his days in Flushing and has featured his signature sidearm delivery in every one of them. He entered the 2020 season as baseball’s active leader in games pitched, though he then opted out of the season due to COVID-19. If he comes back strong in 2021, he has a chance to become the 17th pitcher in major league history with 1000+ career appearances.

Though Smith was only in Flushing for a couple of seasons, Mets fans today remember him well as one of the team’s most consistently reliable relievers in the last fifteen years.