Robles is mowing ’em down
WASHINGTON — Who is this reliever? And where is he hiding Hansel Robles?
All indications are it’s really been Robles appearing in the past two games for the Mets. On Thursday the right-hander — for a second straight game — struck out three batters in one inning. But Anthony Rendon’s double kept Robles from a perfect inning, which he had accomplished against the Phillies a day earlier.
So in two innings since returning from the minors, Robles has struck out six and allowed only one base runner. The strikeout victims Thursday included sizzling Bryce Harper.
“[Robles] has made the adjustments in his delivery that we wanted him to make,” pitching coach Dave Eiland said after the Mets’ 8-2 victory over the Nationals. “He has quickened it up a little bit. When he is quicker, his arm speeds up and his stuff gets better and we have seen it the last two days.”
Robles was such a disappointment in spring training — after a sluggish 2017 season — that he was optioned to the minors near the end of camp. He received another chance this week after Anthony Swarzak was placed on the disabled list with a strained oblique.
“One thing with Hans, he feels he belongs here,” Eiland said. “His stuff plays here. It’s top-shelf stuff, so he comes straight at you. He didn’t have his slider today and he still struck out the side.”
Robert Gsellman pitched from the bullpen for a second straight day, facing one batter in the seventh, striking out Michael A. Taylor. Mets manager Mickey Callaway said he was comfortable using Gsellman with an 8-2 lead because the Mets are off Friday, and the manager wants the right-hander to get in the practice of working consecutive days.
“[Gsellman] really only had to come in and get one out, so we thought it was a good time for him to come in and get used to it,” Callaway said.
David Peterson, the Mets’ top draft pick from last year, will l i kely be assigned to Low-A Columbia in the next 10 days, according to the team. Peterson, a left-handed pitcher, had an undisclosed physical issue near the end of spring training and did not receive a minor league assignment. He has remained in Port St. Lucie, Fla., to build up his workload.