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How Colin Holderman can carve out Role in Mets' Bullpen

How Colin Holderman can carve out a role in the Mets' bullpen.

As the Mets’ injuries start to pile up, the team will have to channel a “next man up” mentality.

In this scenario, the next man up is relief pitcher Colin Holderman, 26, who was called up from Triple-A Syracuse on Sunday when Tylor Megill was placed on the 15-day injured list.

While David Peterson will likely slot into Megill’s spot in the rotation, reliever Trevor May was transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man roster for Holderman.

May was slated to be an integral contributor to the Mets’ bullpen this year, but now that he is out for an extended amount of time, Holderman could get an opportunity to show his worth.

Holderman found out he was being called up Sunday morning, and took a two hour Uber ride from Scranton, Penn. - where Triple-A Syracuse was playing the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders - to Citi Field.

Shortly after his arrival to Queens, Holderman was thrown into the fire for his MLB debut. While he surrendered two hits, the Illinois native got out of the inning unscathed and even struck out his first big league hitter in the process.

“I was in Scranton and I woke up early for breakfast, we had an early game today, and I got the call right afterwards,” Holderman said postgame on Sunday. “I was fortunate I got it this morning [...], I got a goodnight sleep, and showed up well rested.”

An excited and specific Holderman said his Uber ride from Scranton to New York was in a white 2010 Toyota Camry, and he arrived right after the top of the first.

“We had a great conversation the whole way here,” Holderman said. “It was awesome.”

Holderman showed off some of his skills in MLB Spring Training this year, hitting 99 mph on the radar gun. During his debut on Sunday, the righty was sitting around the 96 mph range.

His sinker, which is his primary pitch, was thrown over 50 percent of the time on Sunday and had 15.2 inches of horizontal break to go with 21.7 inches of vertical drop.

Holderman has big strikeout potential, and is an appealing name to watch as this season progresses. A team can never have too much pitching, and if Holderman could slot in and give the Mets some quality innings while they are a man down in the bullpen, that would be a big boost to the team.

Holderman was originally selected by the Mets in the ninth round of the MLB draft out of Heartland Community College in Normal, IL. 

The right-hander has steadily risen through the system since, splitting 2021 between Single and Double-A, then starting this year with Triple-A Syracuse, where he appeared in nine games, logging a 2.92 ERA and three saves in four chances.

It hasn’t come without some blips along the way, however.

Holderman underwent Tommy John surgery in April of 2018, and missed the entirety of the season. In 2019, he returned and pitched to a 3.53 ERA across 16 games (15 starts) between three Single-A levels.

The 2020 minor league season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and when baseball returned in 2021, Holderman was transitioned to a full-time reliever where he has been deployed since.

Now, he could get a chance to carve out a role in the big-league bullpen with May sidelined for the foreseeable future. 

Read More:

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- Mets Place Tylor Megill on IL With Biceps Inflammation

- Why Mets' J.D. Davis Could be on Verge of Breakout at the Plate

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