Former NY Mets player has proven David Stearns right a little too late, here's how

Since David Stearns became the President of Baseball Operations for the New York Mets, all the talk has surrounded the pitching lab. The Mets' ability to find struggling pitchers, work with them, and turn their careers around. Even with Stearns only being in charge for a season and a half, it's already yielded a lot of success. Guys like Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, Reed Garrett, and David Peterson all owe the success they've had over the past year and a half to the pitching lab.

However, what is rarely talked about is the misses that Stearns has had. Nobody is perfect, and now and then, there is going to be a pitcher who is unable to find success with the lab. One of those players is Adrian Houser, who pitched to a 5.84 ERA over 69 1/3 innings with the Mets in 2024. However, so far in 2025, he's completely turned it around. Here is what has changed for Houser to become a serviceable pitcher.

The change Adrian Houser made in order to find success in Milwaukee

After spending 2024 as a swingman for the Mets, Houser signed with the White Sox and has been one of their most stable mid-rotation arms. In 11 starts this season, he has an ERA of 2.10 over 68 2/3 innings, with 47 strikeouts, 22 walks, a 1.223 WHIP, and an ERA+ of 198. These stats are not just a result of Houser getting lucky, as his FIP is 3.29. A complete run higher than his ERA, but still shows that he's been pitching well this season.

A significant difference between this season and last season has been the usage of his curveball. In 2024, Houser stayed away from his curve. He only threw it 8.7% of the time, and opponents have a batting average of .476 and a wOBA of .529. It was by far the worst pitch in his arsenal. However, in 2025, he's throwing his curveball 15.7% of the time and has yielded much better results. It has produced an average of .194 and a wOBA of .311.

This is a return to what Houser did before the 2023 season. Before then, he always threw his curveball over 10% of the time per season. During that season, he pitched to a 3.97 ERA over 428 innings with 343 strikeouts, 178 walks, a 1.348 WHIP, and an ERA+ of 107.

His curveball usage is not the only reason for Houser's sudden turnaround; he's also been able to get hitters to swing out of the strike zone at a higher rate. In 2024, opposing batters swung at 22.3% of pitches outside the zone. This was the lowest mark of his career. However, this season it's up to 28.6%, a 6.3% increase from the previous season and more in line with his career average. This has led to Houser getting ahead of the count and getting more strikeouts.

Although it stinks for Mets fans that Houser was not able to produce this type of success in 2024, it's a nice story for 2025. Plus, who knows? With the White Sox looking to be sellers and the deadline fast approaching, a reunion could be in the cards.