Recently demoted NY Mets player isn’t close to looking ready for a return

Huascar Brazoban wasn’t pitching so well for the New York Mets in late July. Upon the arrival of some new arms, he became the odd man out. The club sent him to the minor leagues with a bold plan of stretching him out to be more of a long man. The plan: make him capable of throwing 40 pitches in relief.

Brazoban has made 3 appearances in Syracuse. 29 and then 28 pitches in his first two outings with some scoreless frames, his most recent outing on Saturday lasted for 31 pitches and couldn’t have gone much worse.

Huascar Brazoban doesn’t look any closer to helping the Mets out in the majors again

In a bullpen game started by Austin Warren, Brazoban entered in the fifth inning with Syracuse trailing 4-0. Back-to-back doubles, a single, a hit by pitch, and a home run was how things began.

Brazoban would stay in for the full inning, leaving with 7 runs charged against him on only 31 pitches. If runs allowed per pitch was a stat, he’d be at the bottom or top (depending on how you sort it) from this performance.

A single bad day won’t have the Mets rethinking their plan. This wasn’t an issue of Brazoban staying on the mound for too long. He just got victimized by a pair of homers. He has yet to walk a batter since the demotion, striking out 6 in his 4.1 innings.

There was a time when Brazoban was the most trustworthy member of the Mets bullpen. An ERA of 1.40 after April and a 1.26 ERA in the month of May had him locked in as what felt like a steal from the Miami Marlins from the year prior. Unfortunately, reality set in. Brazoban was a torture to watch in June with multiple poor outings and a 13.50 ERA for the months. He dropped it to a more respectable level in July at 3.86, but it came with a 1.82 WHIP.

The Mets currently have one spot in their bullpen which feels interchangeable. Brazoban, in a role where he can give them length, would fit in nicely. First, he’ll need to remember how to get Triple-A hitters out.