Adrian Houser: Under-the-radar Mets have a 'really good chance to win a lot of ball games'

When the Mets traded for starting pitcher Adrian Houser this offseason, he may not have exactly been a household name. In fact, you might even say he was an under-the-radar addition of the offseason. After all, in seven seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, Houser won 97 games and pitched to a 4.00 ERA.

But if Houser is indeed an under-the-radar add for New York, then the righty believes he fits in well with his teammates.

“I think we’ve got a good group here,” Houser said after Sunday’s start. “I think if you talk to a lot of guys there feel like they didn’t play up to their standards or what they thought they could be last year. I think with the additions that have come in and just with what was already here, I think we’re gonna be a really good team. I think we might be under the radar a little bit, people might not expect it, but I think this team has a really good chance to win a lot of ball games.”

Houser had a spotless performance on Sunday against Detroit, going 3.1 perfect innings with five strikeouts. The original plan for Houser was to just go three innings, but his low pitch count allowed him to stay in for one more hitter.

“I thought the life on his pitches, especially the sinker, was there today, the way he was using it, especially some backdoors to righties, which was good,” said skipper Carlos Mendoza. “Secondary was good, and he was so pitch efficient that we decided to send him back out there for a fourth up, just for one hitter, and even though it was just one pitch, it was good to get him that fourth up, so overall a good outing.”

With ace Kodai Senga injured to begin the season, the Mets are going to need every other starter to step up until he returns. Houser is thought of more as a back-of-the-rotation-type pitcher, but he pitched like a frontline starter on Sunday.

“It felt good,” Houser said. “It felt like I was finally pitching, finally getting in a groove and getting synced up. I changed some things with mechanics, felt a little better today, so I think we’re getting really close to being right where we need to be.”