The Mets had a busy trade deadline, no doubt about it, but one of the names that has gone under the radar is right-handed reliever Tyler Zuber who the Mets acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for relief pitching prospect Paul Gervese. Zuber, 29 is a reliever who has bounced between the minors […]
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The Mets had a busy trade deadline, no doubt about it, but one of the names that has gone under the radar is right-handed reliever Tyler Zuber who the Mets acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for relief pitching prospect Paul Gervese.
Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Zuber, 29 is a reliever who has bounced between the minors and majors over his professional baseball career that started in 2017 when he was a sixth-round pick for the Kansas City Royals. Zuber spent most of his major league time with Kansas City but struggled mightily, which led him to bounce around, then he landed in Tampa in May of this year when he signed an MiLB deal with the team. He threw 3.1 innings with them in the majors then got sent back down.
His stuff is elite, but the command has been an issue for the 29-year-old, as he has a 16.5 BB% over his career. One of the main reasons the Mets decided to acquire Zuber was because he has three years of control still under his belt. They are hoping to put him in the pitching lab it will help him start to control his top-tier stuff, which we are going to get deeper into soon. David Stearns mentioned these qualities in his press conference immediately following the deadline.
Stats this year have been alright in Triple-A, where he’s posted a 23.7 K-BB% along with a 4.31 FIP. He’s generated whiffs at a solid rate (28.1%). Walks haven’t been as much of an issue for Zuber this year down in Triple-A as he’s only walked 7.5% of batters, if he can continue to limit walks it could make him a very interesting bullpen option for the Mets. So far with Syracuse, he’s had a bad appearance (two runs, four base runners, no strikeouts in an innings) and a decent one (scoreless inning with two walks and a strikeout).
You’ve seen me talk highly about his stuff during this article, but for good reason. In a very small sample size in the majors, his stuff graded out very highly as it earned a fantastic 120 Stuff+ rating. His fastball averages 94.9 MPH with good movement metrics which led to it having a 112 Stuff+. His best overall pitch is his sweeper. It has so much horizontal movement (14.3″), which makes a perfect two-strike/whiff pitch, and it’s why it has a 142 Stuff+ grade, meaning it’s extremely nasty. (For reference, Jacob deGrom had a 147 Stuff+ on his slider in his last season with the Mets.) He also contains a cutter that rounds out his pitch mix/arsenal that can generate whiffs and be a reliable pitch when he needs to go to it.
Zuber could see major-league time with the Mets this year, so he’s one name to keep an eye on as this season progresses and beyond.
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