The Mets don’t have the most extensive or interesting collection of NRIs, but every team has a few interesting guys beyond the 40-man, and New York is no exception. Let’s look at this pitcher-heavy group.
UTIL Russ Adams—You probably never thought you’d hear the name Russ Adams again, but he’s still here, plugging away at age 30 in hopes of regaining his former notability–this guy was once a heralded prospect, and he was Toronto’s starting shorstop in 2005, after all. He still occasionally slides over to short, but spends most of his time nowadays at second base or the outfield. Adams is still worth mentioning because he hit .264/.333/.473 in Triple-A last season, adding some power and blasting sixteen homers in 108 games. If he can bring that sort of pop to a utility role, he could be a solid bench player.
RHP Boof Bonser—Like Adams, Bonser probably wishes we could rewind the last five years, as he hasn’t posted a sub-5.00 ERA since his rookie season of 2006. He hasn’t been the same since, struggling against lefties, going under the knife in 2009, and failing to find even Triple-A success since. Weirdly, he pitched far better in the majors–particularly control-wise–than he did in Triple-A last season, but the trouble against lefties remained, and Bonser didn’t show the strikeout ability that made him interesting in the first place. Now 29 and on his fourth organization in two years, he’s a journeyman with little traction, although a return to form wouldn’t be completely shocking.
RHP Blaine Boyer—Boyer was part of the Diamondbacks’ historically-awful 2010 bullpen, walking as many batters as he struck out. Due to his groundball ability, he wasn’t a complete disaster, but he’s little more than a replacement-level option at this point in his career. He throws very hard with good fastball movement, but lacks any consistent secondary offerings, and the uptick in velocity has coincided with a decrease in command.
LHP Tim Byrdak—This lefthander has posted sub-4.00 ERAs for four years straight, despite having FIPs of 3.73, 5.46, 5.23, and 4.48 in that span. A typical situational guy, he uses his slider more than his fastball, and for good reason, as his fastball has always been extremely ineffective against big league hitters. The slider makes him a solid situational guy, and the 37-year-old could continue to do decent work in that role in 2011.
UTIL Willie Harris—The other interesting position player in Mets camp, Harris will be attempting to rebound from a terrible 2010 that saw him hit .183/.291/.362 for the Nationals. Like Adams, he’s a 2B/OF with power–he hit .251/.344/.417 in 2008 and .235/.364/.393 in 2009 for Washington. Harris needs to show he’s in that sort of form in camp, because his strikeout rate shot up in 2010, the sort of development that’s very troubling for a 32-year-old.
RHP Ryota Igarashi—This Japanese righty was touted as a 100-mph pitcher, but like many imports, it was false advertising, as he threw 92-95 mph once he came stateside. Igarashi didn’t throw particularly well in his 34 games with the Mets, and wound up down in Triple-A. He’s got to learn to keep the ball down and come up with a second pitch, and at 31, he’ll need to adapt quickly to have much of a career.
RHP Jason Isringhausen—Yep, Izzy’s back in Queens. The 38-year-old is giving it one last go. He hasn’t pitched effectively since 2007, regularly since 2008, or in the big leagues since 2009, last throwing 5 2/3 awful innings with the Reds’ AAA affiliate last year. Who knows what he’ll look like now?
RHP John Lujan—Lujan had a solid first year in the Mets system, striking out 9.49 batters per nine innings in Double-A and 10.85 in Triple-A. He doesn’t have great command or secondary pitches, but it’s been enough so far. Still, Lujan is 27 in May, so he’s got to impress the Mets staff. A weak crop of minor league relief arms helps his case to be a Citi Field mainstay sooner rather than later.
LHP Taylor Tankersley—Tankersley’s never thrown hard, and he’s never thrown strikes, which makes one wonder why anyone bothers with him anymore. His last two big league stints have involved ERAs and FIPs over 7.50. He’s got a solid slider, but it just isn’t enough to outweigh his other shortcomings.