The MLB season is on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, but teams are still allowed to make roster moves during the hiatus. And the Mets made a pair of them on Thursday.
Relievers Paul Sewald and Daniel Zamora were optioned to Triple-A Syracuse, the team announced, as the makeup of the 2020 bullpen continued to come into focus.
Before Noah Syndergaard was lost for the season due to Tommy John surgery, the Mets had been expected to use either Michael Wacha or Steven Matz to round out a bullpen that will feature eight relievers most of the time.
That the Mets were expected to carry eight relievers on the 26-man roster most days was relayed by GM Brodie Van Wagenen before spring training was suspended.
Seven of those relievers are almost certainly locked in:
Edwin Diaz
Dellin Betances
Seth Lugo
Jeurys Familia
Robert Gsellman
Justin Wilson
Brad Brach
With Syndergaard down and both Matz and Wacha in the rotation, the Mets will now have the option of going with an additional bench player or carrying that eighth reliever.
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