ATLANTA — The first splash in what the Mets hope will be the organization’s next wave of starting pitching could be approaching shore.
Mike Vasil’s recent starts for Triple-A Syracuse have been difficult for organizational officials to overlook, bringing a level of optimism that the right-hander, if he doesn’t receive a cameo with the Mets this season, will have an opportunity to contribute next year and perhaps compete for a job in spring training.
Over his last three starts, the 23-year-old Vasil has pitched to a 1.83 ERA with 11 hits allowed and 15 strikeouts and six walks over 19 ²/₃ innings for Syracuse.
It’s his best stretch since he was promoted from Double-A Binghamton in June.
Over his last five starts he’s pitched to a 3.33 ERA with 20 hits allowed in 27 innings with 26 strikeouts and 12 walks.
“It’s kind of what we have heard all year — tremendous worker and competitor and really gets after guys and knows what he has to do,” Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner said before his team faced the Braves on Monday. “I think he just went through a little bit of an adjustment period going from Double-A to Triple-A, like most guys do. He’s trending in the right direction.”
Ranked as the Mets’ top pitching prospect by MLB.com, Vasil received a taste of the major leagues this year in spring training when he was used in a Grapefruit League game.
At that point Vasil had never pitched above the High-A level.
Vasil’s best work came on Aug. 8, when he pitched a one-hitter over eight scoreless innings against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
In a rematch in his next start, Vasil allowed three earned runs over 5 ²/₃ innings, but he followed that with another superb performance: On Sunday he allowed one earned run on six hits over six innings in a win over Columbus.
“Very similar to how he went into the year, when he’s going good he just really understands how good his stuff is,” Mets director of player development Kevin Howard said. “He’s aggressive in the zone and that is what has been going on. He’s trusted all of his pitches and he just lets it go in the zone early.”
After Carlos Carrasco’s sluggish performance against the Cardinals on Sunday, manager Buck Showalter was asked about the possibility of using that rotation spot — Carrasco is a free agent after the season — on a pitcher such as Vasil who might factor into the team’s future, given the Mets’ almost nonexistent playoff odds.
Showalter indicated any such decision would be organizational and hadn’t been discussed.
Following the trades that subtracted Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, the Mets have been using two pitchers who began the season in the rotation, David Peterson and Tylor Megill.
A third, Joey Lucchesi, had a spot start against the Cardinals on Friday and pitched 5 ²/₃ scoreless innings.
The Mets have Dominic Hamil, Christian Scott and Tyler Stuart — all at Double-A Binghamton — as pitchers behind Vasil in the minors who could make an impact.
“I think it’s been [owner] Steve [Cohen’s] directive to create a player development system that can turn out players, and we’re getting there,” Hefner said. “It’s exciting to see some of the work that has been done over the last few years on the player development side bear fruit and certainly Vasil, Dom Hamil and Christian Scott and Stuart have taken what we have given them and run with it.”