Relief pitcher Brad Brach he went through his normal training routine on Thursday morning with a close friend and is now a teammate Steven Matz, which the Mets dealt with the Toronto Blue Jays the night before in exchange for three prospects.
Unsurprisingly, Brach and Matz talked about the elephant in the room, as Matz was changed for the first time in his career by the only team he had ever met in the Mets.
“It’s about the first time he knows someone really wants him there,” Brach told Metsmerized in an exclusive phone interview. “Not so much that the Mets didn’t want him, but it’s always nice to know you’re wanted elsewhere and it will be a good refreshment for Steve.”
Matz was drafted by the Mets in the second round of the 2009 MLB draft. The Long Island native reached the big leagues with the Amazons in 2015 at the age of 24 and helped them reach the World Series, completing a dominant rotation that consist of Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey and fellow beginner Noah Syndergaard.
The left-hander was designed to be a top starter, but injuries and inconsistency prevented what should have been a stellar career with the Mets. In six seasons in Queens, Matz recorded a record of 31-41 in 107 starts, while launching an ERA of 4.35 and FIP of 4.49. He also fought the long ball, allowing 96 runs in total. Last season, Matz endured the worst year of his tenure in the major leagues, going 0-5 with an ERA of 9.68 and giving up 14 homers in 30.2 innings.
Like Matz, Brach had a similar experience to the San Diego Padres, who recruited him in 2008 and had extremely high expectations once he got to the show.
“I felt like they were waiting for something else to come and it never arrived at that moment,” Brach said. “It simply came to our notice then. When the same eyes have seen the same pitcher for so long, it’s hard to make changes, so I think he needs new eyes on him. It has all the things you would want in a left-handed starter. ”
Brach ended up being traded to the Orioles in 2013 and would eventually put it all together later in his career, becoming All-Star for Baltimore in 2016.
The native of Freehold, New Jersey, believes that a change of scenery could be exactly what the doctor ordered Matz to do because he can now return to what makes him successful.
“I told Steve that at the beginning of my career, I was such an affirmative man,” Brach said. “You can’t be too nice to people. You have to figure out what works for you before you do what everyone else wants. ”
Although the Mets chose to bid Matz earlier this offseason for $ 5.2 million, trading with him lowers his book salary this year. This could pave the way for Steve Cohen and colleagues. sign Cy Young winner of the prize Trevor Bauer, with which they were strongly linked until late.
If the Mets added Bauer to the starting rotation, Brach thinks it would have a tremendous effect on the bullpen as well.
“Obviously adding such a person strengthens your rotation, which puts less pressure on the bullpen,” he said.
After a battle with COVID-19 last summer, Brach had a difficult season for the Mets, full of “starts and stops”, where he recorded the worst career of 5.84 ERA while issuing 14 walks in 12.1 innings. . But the 34-year-old says he is ready to put himself in the mirrors last year because his arm was, of course, untrained due to unorthodox circumstances caused by the pandemic.
Brach says he’s someone who benefits from arm stress because it helps him strengthen as the season goes on. He also said that this is the best sense of his arm in recent years and he expects to return to the normal speed of 94-95 mph, which he could not reach a season ago.
The veteran on the right threw to the new Mets catcher James McCann this off-season, with which he has built chemistry in recent years. And given their vast experience together, Brach’s familiarization with McCann could contribute to a return campaign in 2021.
