Waiver ordeal rough journey for 51s’ pitcher
With his days as a New York Met seemingly over, pitcher P.J. Conlon fired off a tweet thanking the organization for everything it had done for him, including the chance to make his major league debut, and expressing excitement over his next chapter with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Mets had designated Conlon for assignment May 30 and he was picked up by the Dodgers on June 2, the day Conlon sent his tweet.
Four days later, Conlon revised that tweet, crossing out a couple of words in red as the Mets reclaimed him.
“A huge thank you to the Dodgers organization for everything over the past few days, especially the opportunity to fulfill my lifelong dream of playing in Oklahoma City,” the new tweet read. “I’m excited for this new chapter with the #Mets and can’t wait to get started!”
Conlon’s humorous tweet went viral. It was retweeted by more than 4,000 people and liked more than 18,000 times, capping a hectic and adventurous past two weeks for the left-handed starter, who now finds himself back where he started the season.
It started May 27, when the Mets recalled him from Triple A. Conlon took a red-eye flight to Milwaukee for the Mets’ final game of the series against the Brewers before starting the next day in Atlanta.
The next day, he was optioned to Las Vegas and flew across the country to join the 51s. A day later, he traveled with the team to Reno, where he found out he had been designated for assignment.
Conlon spent the next two days waiting to see if he would clear waivers. During that time, he was not allowed to be at the ballpark with the team.
“I just hung out at the hotel,” Conlon said. “I went to one of the games just to watch. I just kind of killed time and played video games. It was just a waiting game. I didn’t really know what to do with myself.”
The Dodgers claimed Conlon, and he headed to Oklahoma City to join their Triple-a affiliate.
“We (Oklahoma City Dodgers) were traveling the next day to Sacramento, so they put me up in a hotel for the night, but then I was just on my phone looking up different places to live and asking some of the guys where they were at, so that was actually stressful,” Conlon said. “I didn’t really know where I was going to live.”
After traveling with the Dodgers to Sacramento via Phoenix on June 4, he spent the next day in uniform. A day later, he woke up to a text telling him to call the Dodgers’ farm director.
“The farm director for the Dodgers said, ‘Hey, we put you on waivers … and the Mets claimed you,’” Conlon said.
After a long layoff, Conlon made his first start June 9, allowing 10 runs, eight of them earned. He did see positive signs with his velocity and curveball.
“This guy’s been through a lot in two weeks,” 51s manager Tony Defrancesco said. “The life of a Triple-a player going through waivers is very difficult emotionally and trying to get back on track and get your work in.”
Now, Conlon said he’s looking forward to “just staying still for a little bit.”
“Coming back here you have all your friends,” he said. “That was tough leaving these guys and going to a new team and trying to make new friends. I was relieved to be able to come here and just be able to walk through the door again and just know everyone here. It was just like I never left.”
Contact Betsy Helfand at bhelfand@ reviewjournal.com. Follow @Betsyhelfand on Twitter.