Mets: Three pitchers that could start in emergency situations this season

JUPITER, FLORIDA - MARCH 01: Sean Reid-Foley #61 of the New York Mets delivers a pitch in the second inning against the Miami Marlins in a spring training game at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on March 01, 2021 in Jupiter, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
JUPITER, FLORIDA - MARCH 01: Sean Reid-Foley #61 of the New York Mets delivers a pitch in the second inning against the Miami Marlins in a spring training game at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on March 01, 2021 in Jupiter, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 26: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Jordan Yamamoto #50 of the Miami Marlins in action against the New York Mets at Citi Field on September 26, 2019 in New York City. The Marlins defeated the Mets 4-2. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

1) Right-handed pitcher Jordan Yamamoto

The Mets acquired Jordan Yamamoto from the Miami Marlins back on February 1st, in one of their many moves to acquire pitching depth in the upper echelon of their Minor League system. Yamamoto is only 24 years old and provides the Mets with a high-upside arm despite the rough showing in 2020.

Despite the extremely unattractive 18.26 ERA in 11.1 innings last season, Yamamoto was at one point a highly regarded arm in the Marlins system. Interestingly enough, he was one of the pieces of the return package in the trade that sent Christian Yellich to the Milwaukee Brewers back in 2018.

Yamamoto started his big league career with a bang in 2019. In his first two starts, Yamamoto had thrown back-to-back scoreless starts to set the Marlins franchise record for the most consecutive scoreless innings to start a career with 14.

Yamamoto wound up finishing his first big league season with a 4.46 ERA over 15 starts with an 82/36 strikeout to walk ratio over 78.2 innings. Batters also only hit .191 against Yamamoto, which makes the regression seen in 2020 all the more surprising.

There is plenty of intrigue that still surrounds Yamamoto’s live arm and he surely could benefit from a change of scenery after a disastrous 2020 season. It’s widely expected that Yamamoto will begin the year with Triple-A Syracuse this season which could allow him to regain some confidence he may have lost last year prior to his next big-league appearance.

Depending on how the Lucchesi/Peterson battle in camp shakes out, I would expect Yamamoto to be one of the first names called upon should a need arise in Queens this season.