NY Mets: 3 players the organization failed or mishandled

Sometimes the New York Mets have a player come along and you see a world of talent. Can’t miss! And you see some spark…you see something special. And then, it all falls apart. They are the forgotten stepchild. No longer the headliner. They are somewhere on the end of the bench perhaps thinking about the glory that was once bestowed upon but now in the shadows.

Sometimes it wasn’t meant to be and the player, for some reason, their flame fizzles out and they just fail. But then there are some players, you just have to wonder, did they REALLY fail…or did the Mets fail them?

This comes to my mind as I watch Robert Gsellman, the once promising starting pitcher, who has become a forgotten man, and has, for the most part, been relegated to what used to be called “mop up duty” where a pitcher only comes in when the team is down big and there is no chance of coming back. While that term seems to be resisted today, he is the pitcher on the roster that is not used in “high leverage situations” and seemingly only when the Mets are behind. What made him deserve this role?

When thinking about it, I came up with three players spanning the Mets 60 seasons, who are judged by some as failures, but whose demise could also be blamed squarely on the Mets handling or, rather mishandling, of their once-promising careers.

New York Mets pitcher Robert Gsellman

Gsellman was the Mets 13th round pick in the 2011 Major League drafter. He quickly impressed, moving up the minor league ladder.

After being tabbed the Sterling Organization Pitcher of the Year in 2015, Gsellman came up to the Mets in 2016 when injury hit the Fab Five of Harvey, Syndergaard, deGrom, Wheeler, and Matz. He fit right in sporting the hairstyle of Syndergaard and deGrom but, more importantly, he fit right in with their pitching prowess. He went 4-2 with a 2.42 ERA and 42 K’s in 44 innings down the stretch drive.

With the return of the members of the rotation, Gsellman was used mostly as a spot starter in 2017, getting 22 starts and turning out a record of 8-7. However, a few bad outings when he got pummeled, inflated his ERA to 5.19 and he was also victimized by shoddy fielding during many outings.

Gsellman’s unflappable demeanor helped the Mets hierarchy to make the decision to have one of their most promising starting pitchers move to the bullpen full-time. He appeared to embrace the role and made 68 appearances in 2018. He finished with a record of 6-3 and pitched better than his 4.28 ERA would indicate.

In 2019, Gsellman was again counted on to pitch on short notice. And after 52 appearances, he suffered a torn right late muscle midway through the season which shelved him for the rest of the campaign. Then during the shortened 2020 season, he began the campaign with a right arm soreness and then suffered a fractured rib in a September appearance. With only six appearances, he finished up with a horrifying 9.64 ERA over 14 innings pitched.

Gsellman has talent. He has had success throughout his tenure in the Mets organization. So what has happened to him? Why does management not think more highly of him? He has done everything the team has asked of him. Start…relieve…spot start…long relief…short relief.

Being a relief pitcher in an era where you pitch only a single inning can be daunting. If you have a bad outing, it can actually punctuate your entire season because of what it can do to your ERA.

He is still with the club. He still has a uniform that says “Mets” on it. But why does Gsellman appear to be the 25th man on the roster? It clearly seems to be that the Mets have not treated Gsellman the same way that they treated…say…Matt Harvey. Perhaps if they treated Gsellman the same way they treated Harvey, giving him his spot in the rotation without question and just leave him alone, he would be more consistently successful?

With Gsellman, there is still an opportunity to judge if he should be considered a failure or the Mets have failed him as an organization. But what about the other two?

New York Mets outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis

Kirk New…I am just going to keep referring to him as “Kirk” because it is probably one of the most, if not THE most, difficult names to spell that the Mets have ever had.

Kirk was a player who was publicized as this super athletic talent coming out of some college called Azusa Pacific University in California. He led the team to back-to-back NAIA College World Series appearance and set some school records along the way. He was not heavily recruited but the Mets grabbed him as a third round pick of the 2008 Major League draft.

His overall talent, with a combination of speed and power, made him a perfect centerfield prospect, with the Mets sensing another “five-tool” player on the horizon.

Following a successful campaign at Buffalo in 2011, Kirk was added to the Major League 40-man roster and had a successful debut when called up in April of 2012 following injuries to Mets outfielders. He caught fire and was hitting .297 and playing great defense into the month of June. But, similar to a situation that would later happen to another left-handed hitter, Michael Conforto, he was sent up to bat to face some of the League’s toughest lefties. Not ready for those match-ups, Kirk went into a funk, a prolonged funk, and hit only .123 the rest of the year over the next month, looking like a completely different player. He was optioned to the minors on July 30. Only days later, he tore a plantar fascia in his foot and had to be shut down for the rest of the season.

Over the next three seasons, Kirk was up and down from Triple-A Buffalo like a yo-yo. And, during his time with the Mets, and for some inexplicable reason, he would be sent up to face tough lefthanded pitchers, even when HE was pinch-hitting for somebody else. I can understand when doing that in the minor leagues to get some experience and at-bats, but in the Major Leagues against the toughest lefthanders you could ever face? Made no sense.

Finally, after struggling and having no role in the early part of 2015, Kirk was designated for assignment and traded to the Los Angeles Angels. In a bizarre twist, a mere 17 days later, Kirk was claimed by the Mets off waivers from the Angels. After an initial stint with Triple-A Las Vegas, Kirk was promoted back to the Mets on July 6 and, six days later, he hit three home runs in one game at Citi Field against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

He added a pinch-hit, go-ahead home run off the Nationals’ Jonathan Papelbon in a crucial September game, giving the Mets an 8-7 lead after they had trailed 7-1.

Although he played a significant role during the World Series season of 2015, albeit strange the way it unfolded, Kirk was put on waivers and claimed by the Milwaukee Brewers after the season.

Kirk won the Brewers centerfield job in 2016 and hit 13 HR with 44 RBI in only 335 at bats, but his average was only .209. Strangely enough, he was given a one-year, $900,000 contract for the 2017 season but cut three weeks into the season. He hooked on with the Seattle Mariners organization prior to the 2018 campaign but was released midway through the season. Kirk even toiled for part of the 2019 season with the Long Island Ducks but made the decision to retire just weeks into the season.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis had all the tools – power, speed, arm, and, most of all, old-fashioned, hard-nosed hustle. So what happened? Was he a failure? Or did the Mets fail him by mishandling his development? Was he an anomaly who could somehow launch three home runs in a single game but couldn’t survive Major League pitching on most other days? Or did he get messed up when he was asked to, as a young lefthanded hitter, go up and face the toughest southpaws in the Major Leagues? Did the Mets do another number on the fans with the overhype of a young player?

I find it hard to believe that a guy with that much athletic ability could be that much of a flop.