The Mets made a bit of a shake-up in their bullpen on Saturday.
Tyler Bashlor was officially sent back to Triple-A after serving as Friday's 26th man, as was Tim Peterson, while Chris Flexen was brought up to the big league roster. Additionally, the Mets acquired RHP Brooks Pounders from Cleveland in exchange for cash considerations. To make room on the roster, Hector Santiago was officially designated for assignment.
Flexen, a a right-hander, has appeared in two games for the Mets this season, going 0-2 with a 11.12 ERA. Over the last three years, he's appeared in 20 games for the Mets, compiling an 8.70 ERA over 60 innings.
Pounders, a 6-foot-5 right-handed pitcher, has appeared in 38 games over the course of three seasons in the majors, one each with the Royals, Angels, and Rockies. He's recorded an 8.92 ERA while tossing 38.1 innings.
Per GM Brodie Van Wagenen, both Flexen and Pounders will be activated and available to pitch out of the Mets' pen on Saturday.
"I think we have and will continue to look for ways to improve our bullpen," Van Wagenen said before Saturday's game. "I don't think it's any surprise to this group or to our fans that we have lost some games here of late that we had an opportunity to win, so we're going to continue to look for any and all options to try to create a little more success for those last nine outs of the game."
And while he said that the team is going to always keep looking for ways to improve, he also gave a vote of confidence to the group as it exists now.
"We have a good group of guys that work their tails off," said Van Wagenen. "They work hard, they've got talent, and at this point we're going to continue to be proactive to try to find solutions to help them be more consistent and obviously give some additional guys chances to come up here and contribute as well. This group is not going to quit, and we're going to keep working together to try to get the most out of them."
Jeurys Familia allowed four earned runs on Friday, including a pair of Cardinals home runs, that ultimately doomed the Mets. When asked about Familia, Van Wagenen pointed towards the righty's need for consistency.
"We're pleased he is healthy," Van Wagenen said. "The ball is coming out of his hand. He's got velocity, he's got movement on fastball. We just need to find a little more consistency. He was electric the other night at Yankee Stadium. He's shown signs when he's come back off the IL that's hes the same guy that he's always been and we have confidence that he can get back to where he's been."
As for Edwin Diaz, who lost the suspended game that picked up on Friday, Van Wagenen said that his past experience bodes well for the closer bouncing back from a couple of poor outings.
"I think there's volatility in the bullpen across game," Van Wagenen said. "Edwin has a track record in performance. He's been very good for us. He's had a couple of rough outings. Yesterday was tough but he's going to bounce back and we'll make sure we're putting in resources to get him to be the best version of himself as well."