3 Mets auditioning for bigger roles on next year's team

3) With many Mets bullpen uncertainties next season, Colin Holderman seeks to be a certainty for Buck Showalter next season. 

Colin Holderman has been someone that has impressed from the moment he made his debut on May 15. In 14 appearances, he sports a 2.25 ERA and a 2.30 FIP over 16.0 innings pitched with 9.6 strikeouts per nine frames. By some measures, he has been the Mets’ best reliever not named Edwin Diaz, which says something given he was not in the majors until a couple of months ago. 

Holderman's off-speed pitches have been superb this year. Between his cutter, slider, and changeup, opponents have gone just 2-for-26 with 14 strikeouts and no extra base hits with whiff rates over 40 percent.  

Holderman should be part of the inner circle of Buck Showalter’s throughout the season, but it is not because Showalter is utilizing Adam Ottavino and Seth Lugo in high leverage situations late in games to bridge the game to Edwin Diaz. 

But Holderman’s performance should be noteworthy for planning next year’s team because depending on how the Mets build their bullpen next season, Holderman will look to continue to pitch well.  

The Mets will see five of their top relief pitchers test free agency after the season, and much uncertainty remains for the Mets bullpen. But Holderman’s value for this team going forward will continue to increase with each scoreless outing (which 12 of his 14 appearances so far were).