Minor League Mondays: Colin Holderman could be a factor in the Mets’ bullpen

The New York Mets have had some bullpen issues early in the year as their top relievers haven’t always been reliable. The depth of the unit has also been leaky as Trevor Williams, Sean Reid-Foley and Joely Rodriguez have battled through struggles in the early going. The good news for the Mets is that they do have a couple of intriguing relief pitching prospects in the minor leagues that could help improve the unit throughout the season. One such man is Colin Holderman, who is the focus of this week’s edition of Minor League Mondays.

Holderman, the Mets’ 9th-round pick in 2016 out of Heartland Community College, turned heads when he was invited to spring training this season. Despite a lack of hype, Holderman delivered results in exhibition games, displaying a sinker that sat in the mid-90s and allowed him to rack up 14 strikeouts in just 6.2 innings pitched. That performance wasn’t quite enough to help Holderman earn a spot in the big-league bullpen, but the Mets did assign him to AAA Syracuse to start the season.

Holderman has done well for Syracuse thus far, going 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in five appearances. The strikeouts haven’t come as quickly as they did in the Grapefruit League as Holderman has struck out just three batters in six innings pitched but there is still plenty of time for him to make a strong impression against AAA competition.

Holderman isn’t on the 40-man roster yet but the Mets have some flexibility to make a move to add him if they deem it necessary. The upcoming roster rules that limit major league pitching staffs to just 13 pitchers on May 1 makes it more complicated for the Mets to roster Holderman but if he performs well in AAA there is no reason not to expect him to get to the big leagues at some point.

The fact of the matter is that the natural volatility of relievers makes it likely that Holderman will get a shot this year due to either injury or performance-related reasons. The Mets would like to see Holderman’s sinker lead to more strikeouts again before he gets a shot but it would be stunning if Holderman never cracks the big league bullpen in 2022. Either way, we’ll keep you posted here on Minor League Mondays.