The Mets have told Tommy Hunter that he will make the team’s Opening Day roster, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports (Twitter link). The move will become official when the Mets select Hunter’s minor league contract prior to their Opening Day matchup with the Marlins on March 30, but a decision had to be made earlier since Hunter has an opt-out clause in his contract today.
Once Hunter appears in a game, it will mark his 16 Major League campaign and his third season with the Mets. His stint in Queens hasn’t resulted in much actual playing time, as injuries have limited Hunter to only 22 games and 30 1/3 innings in a Mets uniform. Brought back on another minors deal this winter, Hunter won himself a roster job on the strength of a spotless 0.00 ERA in eight Grapefruit League innings, with only four hits and a walk scattered across those eight frames. Hunter has also struck out nine of 30 batters faced this spring.
This kind of performance might well have earned Hunter a roster spot anyway, but the Mets’ string of bullpen injuries also created some more opportunity. Edwin Diaz’s season-threatening knee surgery was naturally the biggest of the injuries, but Sam Coonrod and Bryce Montes de Oca have also been sidelined. Brooks Raley suffered a hamstring strain that forced him out of the World Baseball Classic, but the Mets are hopeful that Raley can still be ready for Opening Day.
Though injuries have kept him off the field in the last few years, Hunter has quietly posted very strong numbers for the last decade. Since the start of the 2013 season, Hunter has a 3.14 ERA, 45.6% grounder rate, 20.8% strikeout rate, and 5.4% walk rate over 424 1/3 innings with six different teams. Never a big strikeout pitcher, Hunter has kept batters off-balance and not hurt himself by limiting free passes. While his 22 1/3 innings last season are an imperfect sample size, Hunter did display an increased use of his cutter, throwing the pitch 46.7% of the time.
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