The unexpected gift of former General Manager Brody Van Wegen to the Mets’ tenure may be Miguel Castro.
The right-handed reliever has emerged as a late-starting staple, teaming up with new arrivals Trevor May and Aaron Lupp as one of manager Luis Rojas’ most trusted setup options in the bullpen. Van Vagenen acquired Kylero from the Orioles at the trade deadline last season, but his results were nothing short of impressive.
Castro has achieved a 2.57 ERA in seven matches this season. His FIP (independent pitching fielding) suggests that the number should actually be 0.53.
Rosas chose Castro for May, opening the eighth inning on Sunday, in which he scored a four-run lead against the Nationals, despite both being fully rested and Monday being a day off. Castro allowed two hits, but struck out three in the scoring inning.
“We liked how Sinker matched up against incoming hitters or even his bench,” Rojas said. He said, “He is going to take the ball in high-leverage situations, and Lup is going to get the ball, May is going to get the ball and a lot of our early players are going to get it.
“Talking about Castro, he’s a guy that’s going to help us win a lot of games, and he’s going to come to different parts of the ballgame to win a game or keep us at a close range.”
David Peterson, who is the scheduled starter against the Red Sox on Tuesday night, made his first league debut on July 28 in Boston. In that game he allowed two earned runs in 5 ² / ₃ innings and won.
The left-hander has struggled three out of two this season, with his four-seam fastball as part of the problem; Opponents have killed .429 against that pitch with a 1.429 slugging percentage. He has averaged 92.6 mph with his four-seamer, throwing 13.6 percent of the time.
The Red Sox made their first entry into the MLB on Monday with a -794 OPS. JD Martinez led the team in batting average (.370), homers (seven) and RBI (21). Former Mets catcher Kevin Plavecky is a backup with the Red Sox.
Edwin Diaz has not allowed earned runs in his last six appearances. Run-way runs were not scored against him in the 10th inning last Thursday in Chicago, as it happened after a runner started at second base, based on the extra rule of run-way.
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