GSELLMAN MAKES HIS PITCH
AFTER ANOTHER STRONG OUTING, HE’S NOW THE FAVORITE TO BE AMAZIN’S NO. 5 STARTER
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Robert Gsellman won the Mets’ confidence late last summer and has done nothing to relinquish it this spring.
With a week remaining in the exhibition season, the competition for the fifth spot in the team’s rotation is open, but signs point to Gsellman on the brink of getting the job, at least to begin the season.
Zack Wheeler still is searching for consistency after spending two years rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, and Seth Lugo had early success in the World Baseball Classic but intrigues team officials as a potential answer in the bullpen, leaving Gsellman as your front-runner headed toward the finish line.
The right-hander aced another spring test Thursday, when he allowed only an unearned run over 5¹/3 innings against the Nationals in the Mets’ 1-0 loss at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. In five appearances this spring, Gsellman has pitched to a 1.56 ERA.
“Hard work pays off and you take it on the field,” Gsellman said after a 79-pitch outing. “I throw 100 [pitches] and I’m ready to go.”
That final Grapefruit League appearance for Gsellman is expected to come Wednesday. With team brass hesitant to consider Gsellman for a bullpen role, it’s likely Mets rotation or bust for him. In this case, bust would be starting the season at Triple-A Las Vegas.
“He is really showing that he belongs here, with the stuff, the great movement on the fastball, great poise on the mound, great demeanor, the way he goes about things,” manager Terry Collins said. “So he’s going to be pretty good.”
Wheeler had a rough outing a day earlier, tapering the enthusiasm he created last week when he was firing 97-mph missiles in this ballpark. In three appearances this spring, Wheeler has an 8.59 ERA, reason for Mets officials to pause and wonder if he might benefit from extended spring training. Team officials have not ruled out the bullpen for Wheeler, but are hesitant to go that route with him given that he never previously has worked as a reliever.
Lugo, who is expected to pitch in a split-squad game Monday after taking the loss for Puerto
Rico in the WBC finals against the U.S., began in the major leagues as a reliever after shifting to the bullpen at Triple-A Las Vegas. The Mets view him as a potential middle-inning bridge in the bullpen if he is not selected to the rotation.
Too many potential starting pitching options is a luxury for a manager, but it is clear Collins would rather have his rotation set.
“It’s not fun,” he said. “It’s a manager’s job, and somebody is going to be disappointed, so you are going to do what is best for the club. That is what we’ll do.”
Gsellman was 4-2 with a 2.42 ERA in eight appearances for the Mets last season, emerging with Lugo over the final six weeks to help the Mets secure an NL wildcard berth.
But his status has been in flux since camp opened, as the Mets have eight potential starters for five spots.
“I won’t have any idea until they tell me,” Gsellman said when asked if he expects to join the rotation. “I don’t really think about that. I just try to go out and get the job done.”