The New York Mets invested heavily in relief pitching when they sold off veteran players last summer, acquiring seven of them in trades. Four members of that class have already reached the major leagues, with Drew Smith currently in the big leagues while Jacob Rhame and Gerson Bautista are pitching for the Las Vegas 51’s after spending time with the big club earlier this season. The 51’s are also home to another one of the relief prospects that the Mets acquired last year, righty Eric Hanhold, who came over from the Milwaukee Brewers as the player to be named later in the Neil Walker deal. Hanhold is the focus of this week’s edition of Minor League Mondays.
The Mets assigned Hanhold to AA Binghamton to start the season, and he pitched well there, going 3-1 with a 2.84 ERA in 17 appearances, striking out 32 batters in 25.1 innings pitched while walking just nine. Those solid results earned Hanhold a promotion to Las Vegas, where he is now just one step away from the big leagues. Aside from one blow up where he gave up six runs in 1.1 innings pitched on June 8th, Hanhold has held his own for the 51’s, pitching to a 3.52 ERA over his other eight appearances. Like most of the Mets, the injury bug has hit Hanhold recently, as he landed on the 7 day disabled list.
Once Hanhold returns from his injury, he is a guy to keep an eye on as a potential call up, particularly once rosters expand in September. The Mets figure to be so bad that they will be openly auditioning young players to see who can contribute to the 2019 roster, and the bullpen should have plenty of openings thanks to the likely departures of Jeurys Familia, Jerry Blevins, and A.J. Ramos in the coming months or offseason. Hanhold will need to be put on the 40 man roster this year if the Mets want to protect him from the Rule V draft, so if he returns and pitches well for Las Vegas he will likely get added in September so the Mets can assess him against big league competition.
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