Jared Younger baseball profession has taken him from one of the crucial lovely locations in North America (his hometown of Kelowna, British Columbia), to one of the crucial snowy and dreary locations in North America (North Dakota), to South Korea and again to the USA once more when he signed a minor league contract with the Mets over the winter.
There have been loads of different stops in between: group faculty in Oklahoma, Division I baseball at Outdated Dominion in Virginia, quite a few minor league cities, 22 video games with the Chicago Cubs and even the Dominican Republic to play winter ball. It’s been fairly the expertise for the Mets nook infielder/outfielder, one thing the membership valued after they signed him, and one thing that now has Younger feeling like he can hit the suitable pitches when he steps as much as the plate within the massive leagues.
“We like what he brings to the table offensively, off the bench,” mentioned supervisor Carlos Mendoza. “But there’s also some type of versatility there.”
With out Jesse Winker, the Mets have been utilizing Younger as a left-handed platoon DH. Whereas he isn’t precisely lighting up opposing pitchers, the membership has seen a hitter able to giving them a giant league at-bat with some energy potential. In 22 plate appearances, Younger has hit simply .200, however has two residence runs, a double and an .823 OPS. Inconsistent taking part in time will be robust for hitters, however the Mets like his confidence and flexibility.
Younger spent a lot of final season with the Doosan Bears in Seoul, South Korea, of the KBO League. It’s a flashier model of play with a distinct ball, totally different strike zone and crowds which might be loud all through every pitch. It’s a league the place the ball tends to fly, and Younger posted some gaudy offensive numbers in his 38-game stint. The 29-year-old hit .326 with a 1.080 OPS with 10 residence runs and 39 RBI.
“It was always something kind of on my baseball bucket list — play overseas,” Younger mentioned. “I’ve heard a lot of great things about it from players that I played with. And at the time, I had the offer, and you never know if that offer is going to come back. So it made sense and I made the move.”
Younger needed to adapt to totally different pitch sequences and totally different pitch shapes. The schedule is totally different and he needed to discover his means round a international nation. It was all outdoors of his consolation zone, which is strictly what he wished. Younger wished to be challenged.
He additionally wished to study.
“You can take a lot from anywhere you play, and you can learn from the players that you play with and the coaches and whatnot,” he mentioned. “I think it was just another really good experience to learn from a lot of good players who have played a different style of baseball their whole lives, and used it as a kind of tool to help me.”
Below president of baseball operations David Stearns, the Mets have proven an affinity for versatile defenders who can play across the diamond. They’ve Younger figuring out within the outfield, taking reps at third base and had him taking part in first base for Triple-A Syracuse. Whereas it’s unlikely he’ll get many begins within the outfield, the Mets are comfy utilizing him off the bench to play the pitching matchups or give Brandon Nimmo a defensive break.
“He allows me to make some in-game moves when I need to,” Mendoza mentioned. “And on a day where I feel like I need to put more lefties in there, he’s in there. He adds to that mix. You feel good about your chances when you’re riding that lineup.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Left-hander Sean Manaea (proper indirect pressure) made a rehab begin Tuesday night time with Excessive-A Brooklyn, throwing 2 2/3 innings with out permitting a run. He allowed two hits, walked one and struck out 4, utilizing 46 pitches. The subsequent rehab begin will probably be Sunday, however the Mets aren’t certain the place he’ll pitch but.
Proper-hander Frankie Montas (lat pressure) will make his subsequent rehab begin Friday with Triple-A Syracuse, his third with the Triple-A squad. To this point, the outcomes haven’t been nice. Montas has a 9.00 ERA after 4 rehab begins (12 earned runs over 12.0 innings), citing some mechanical points.
The Mets aren’t essentially involved about outcomes throughout a rehab project. Mendoza mentioned Montas is technically nonetheless in “spring training,” so they might use all 30 days allowed for a pitcher’s minor league rehab project.
