Recent NY Mets trade has yielded surprisingly encouraging results after 2 tries

Not every bank robbery deserves a documentary about what it took to pull off the heist. The same goes for trades in sports. Some should be forgotten for how unimportant they end up being to the win column. The ever-present ability of New York Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns to peel away a player from another team’s roster, even when the numbers send out warning signs, always has us on guard wondering when his next theft will take place.

The Mets recently pulled off a player for cash considerations swap with the Arizona Diamondbacks in an attempt to give some added left-handed depth to the bullpen. Jose Castillo, whom the Mets knocked around at Citi Field in early May, was DFA’d by the Diamondbacks and readily available in exchange for cash. The veteran lefty had an 11.37 ERA in 6.1 innings for Arizona in a career that hasn’t gone anywhere since tossing 38.1 innings for the San Diego Padres in 2018.

An innocuous human with the claim of playing Major League Baseball in their lifetime, Castillo has now made a pair of appearances for the Mets. A walk and a hit but a clean inning against the Boston Red Sox introduced us to Castillo. The ability to work out of the jam should be applauded. On Friday, he stepped up in a much bigger way against the Los Angeles Dodgers in their marathon donnybrook.

Jose Castillo came up clutch for the Mets in his second appearance

Things could have gotten way out of hand in the top of the fifth inning. Back-to-back singles put the Dodgers ahead 5-2. With two outs and runners on first and second, Jose Butto exited and Castillo entered to face Michael Conforto. He struck him out to end the inning, keeping the game under control.

Castillo returned for the sixth with a strikeout followed by groundouts to Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts. Tasked for one more batter in the seventh, he went up against left-handed pain Freddie Freeman. Castillo got the best of him with a strikeout on a full count.

The story of Friday’s game was hardly how effective Castillo was in the middle innings. An early rain delay that threw a wrench in both team’s plans created essentially a bullpen game. If you showed up to watch Clayton Kershaw make his last regular season start at Citi Field (or you want to see Griffin Canning) you probably left disappointed—the next day, too because of how late into the night the game went.

Incredibly, the Mets have managed to fight off their lack of truly reliable lefties in the bullpen. Genesis Cabrera has been carrying the load in the absence of A.J. Minter and Danny Young, now tossing 7.2 innings with a 3.52 ERA. It hasn’t always been the prettiest. However, his control hasn’t been an issue like past seasons.

Only weather reports are less trustworthy than middle relievers. Castillo’s time with the Mets may be limited if only because they hope to have Brooks Raley back and fully healthy within a few weeks.