Mets encouraged by Adrian Houser's first relief appearance: 'It’s a positive step'
On Friday, for the first time in eight days, Adrian Houser was on the mound for the Mets not as a starter but as a long reliever.
It’s the first time the 31-year-old has come out of the bullpen for New York since he was taken out of the rotation last week, and it was a good outing.
Houser pitched two scoreless innings in the team's 4-2 loss to the Braves, but did give up a hit and walked two batters.
“I thought he was good,” manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game. “Worked out of trouble with the walk there. Live on his sinker, the breaking ball, the good changeup he threw. I thought he did a good job.”
Mendoza added that he felt Houser threw more strikes, used his pitches well and “stayed aggressive.”
Friday was the first step of the Mets’ reclamation project. In six starts to begin the season, Houser pitched to an 0-3 record with an 8.16 ERA. A lot of his troubles this year have come via the walk. The right-hander came into Friday’s outing walking 20 batters in 28.2 innings pitched.
Although he walked two, Mendoza believes pitching two scoreless frames against a potent Braves lineup is a definite positive.
“He’s been through it before,” Mendoza explained. “He’s struggled before as a starter, went back to the pen, found a rhythm and got back into the rotation. He’s been through it and he’ll get through it again. It’s a positive step here.”
With the transition, and the 34 pitches he threw, Houser will need a couple of days before he can get on the mound again. But if the Mets can find a role for their former starter in the pen to stretch it out a bit, it can benefit them in the short term.
