Indians Trade Reliever Brooks Pounders to Mets
By Sean Facey
The New York Mets have made a minor move to shore up their bullpen.
They have acquired reliever Brooks Pounders from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for cash considerations.
NEWS: #Mets acquired RHP Brooks Pounders from Cleveland for cash considerations. Also recalled RHP Chris Flexen from Syracuse.
— Deesha Thosar (@DeeshaThosar) June 15, 2019
Mets optioned RHP Tim Peterson to Syracuse and designated LHP Hector Santiago for assignment. Also returned RHP Tyler Bashlor as the 26th man.
Reliever Chris Flexen was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse. In a pair of corresponding moves, right-hander Tim Peterson was optioned back to Triple-A and veteran southpaw Hector Santiago was designated for assignment.
The 28-year-old Pounders has yet to appear in an MLB game this year. In three big league seasons, he's made a total of 38 appearances, registering a gruesome 8.92 ERA.
He does, however, have 42 strikeouts, and his 4.27 FIP from 2018 was well below his 7.63 ERA, suggesting that he had to deal with some bad luck.
Brodie Van Wagenen on the Mets' bullpen and overall struggles: pic.twitter.com/7piHXVK2br
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) June 15, 2019
The bullpen has been a major headache for the Mets in 2019. They rank 23rd in fWAR, sitting at a mark of 0.2 with an ugly combined 5.31 ERA.
Part of their struggles stem from their workload, so perhaps Pounders can provide manager Mickey Callaway with some relief simply by eating innings in low leverage situations.