1 NY Mets roster battle not getting enough attention

Who’ll get the last spot on the New York Mets bench? Exactly who will help round out the bullpen? Those are the two biggest Mets roster questions heading into spring training. A battle between young Mets infielders and Nick Madrigal in one war and a scuffle between optional relievers with Reed Garrett the likely favorite, they’re two player fist-fights that’ll get settled before Opening Day whether by choice and/or availability.

A roster battle not getting quite as much attention is for the sixth starter. Maybe it’s because the two viable options, Paul Blackburn and Griffin Canning, are incredibly underwhelming. Blackburn is an oft-injured pitcher who made only a handful of starts for the Mets last year and we saw everything from quality outings to lashings. Then there’s Canning who has never put together a full season of excellence during his time with the Los Angeles Angels.

When Blackburn was tendered a contract and Canning joined the Mets as a free agent, my immediate thought was the latter would try to reinvent himself as a reliever. Perhaps not. It seems like the momentum has shifted for Canning to have a legitimate shot of making the rotation over Blackburn which has its own downside.

Paul Blackburn and Griffin Canning will both make the Mets roster, but their roles remain undefined

Because neither has remaining minor league options, the likeliest conclusion is that both will be on the Mets Opening Day roster barring injury, the acceptance of a demotion (unlikely), or a trade of Blackburn. As a result, the Mets are going to plug one of these arms into the bullpen as a long man in a relief corps that’ll already be short one arm because of their use of a six-man rotation. It’ll be a role with a chance to elevate, but will begin as an innings eat spot to get whipped around in blowouts or maybe just try to escape extra innings with a win.

Blackburn hasn’t pitched regularly in relief with just 4 total appearances in his career. He doesn’t come across as someone who’d necessarily translate well into becoming a high-leverage reliever. Essentially, we’d have another Adrian Houser on our hands.

Meanwhile, Canning is a little more intriguing because of his age and tendency to strike out more batters. His MLB career has been an unsatisfying one, joining the Mets with a career 4.78 ERA and fresh off a season where he led the American League in earned runs. A natural change to becoming a relief pitcher might be able to turn him into a much more useful big league player and yet that doesn’t seem to be where the Mets are taking him.

We only saw 5 starts of Blackburn last year and with Canning’s career spent in Anaheim, many of us don’t have much of an idea of what he can or cannot do well. There’s nothing glamorous about most sixth-man in the rotation battles. There’s a reason why it’s not top of mind for most Mets fans. Whichever player they choose, it seems bound to disappoint. 

A placeholder for Brandon Sproat? We can only hope so.