Adrian Houser didn’t quite start his Mets career as hoped.
The veteran right-hander began the year in the starting rotation, but with him struggling mightily and the team’s depth returning from injury, they decided to bump him into a long-relief role in the bullpen.
Since then, Houser has looked like a much more confident pitcher.
After tossing three more scoreless innings to close out Wednesday’s commanding victory over the crosstown rival Yankees, he has now allowed just three runs (two earned) across six appearances this month.
In the process, Houser secured the first career big-league save, and by doing so, stepped up tremendously and secured a few extra innings of rest for the Mets’ shorthanded bullpen heading into a day off on Thursday.
The former second-round pick has now pitched to a stellar 1.46 ERA and 1.19 WHIP while striking out 15 batters as a reliever and he’s provided the Mets with multiple innings in six of his 10 outings since making the move.
“He’s been huge,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Not only has he been giving us length but he’s been throwing the baseball really well as well, which we saw again tonight with the two-seam changeup and the breaking ball.
“He’s staying on the attack and getting big outs for us. It was huge for him to give us the last three innings. Every time he’s taken the ball he’s given us multiple innings and he’s showing that he can get righties and lefties out and keep us in games, so that’s a good weapon to have.”
The success certainly shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, as the 31-year-old also thrived in a bullpen role during his eight years with the Milwaukee Brewers, pitching to a 1.73 ERA and 1.16 WHIP across 41 appearances.
After such a rough start to his Mets tenure, it’s nice to finally see Houser stepping up and doing what he can to help this team win ballgames.
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