3 Mets pitching prospects who could earn a permanent bullpen job in 2024

3) Paul Gervase

The Mets have had a lot of luck finding relievers in recent drafts after the tenth round. Another, Paul Gervase, came to them in 2022 in the 12th round. The 2023 season was his first full year as a professional. It was a noteworthy one with a lot of reason to think he can fast-track his way to the majors.

Gervase began the year in Brooklyn pitching to a 1.72 ERA in 47 innings. A strikeout rate of 14.6 per 9 unfortunately came with an alarming walk rate of 7.3 per 9. Gervase did manage to tame this in his 10 innings with Binghamton where the walks dropped down to 3.6 per 9. The sample size is small and given his track record of walking batters at the collegiate level, it’s certainly a concern.

This doesn’t mean Gervase won’t turn into a reliable bullpen arm at some point. Many hard-throwing youngsters only need to find the strike zone a little more frequently in order to become big league arms. He doesn’t need to be at the level of Bret Saberhagen in 1994. Gervase just needs to find a way to pitch to contact a little more frequently and not have it hurt him.

The development of Gervase and McLoughlin may eventually determine who gets the promotion first. Will we see one, both, or neither in the majors this coming year? For the sake of getting someone started for the 2025 campaign, one feels like a must alongside Lavender. There are so many innings from a 31-year-old waiver claim we can see in August.

David Stearns successfully built awesome bullpens with the Milwaukee Brewers. Surely, he already has an opinion on which of these three could be useful for the team in 2024.