3 Mets power-arm prospects to watch with Trevor May out, including Bryce Montes de Oca

The Mets are off to a great start to the season having not lost any of their first eight series after just splitting a four-game set with the Atlanta Braves. One of the inconsistencies for the roster has been the bullpen outside of Edwin Diaz, Drew Smith and Chasen Shreve, who have been reliable thus far.

The team was relying on Trevor May to be a key cog in the bullpen, but he has struggled and now is shut down from throwing for four weeks due to a stress reaction in the lower portion of his humerus bone in his arm. After Wednesday’s game May said he is hopeful to be back in big league action in 8-to-12 weeks.

This means it is likely that the Mets will be without him through the All-Star Break. He had initially thought he had normal triceps soreness, but clearly it ended up being something more that had an impact on his performance in the first month.

The initial expectation would be that the Mets would try to explore arms that are on their 40-man roster already to replace May’s spot in the bullpen. Currently Adonis Medina is with the big-league club, but we have also seen Yoan Lopez, who has a pending three-game suspension stemming from throwing inside to Kyle Schwarber this past weekend. Jake Reed missed time in spring training due to an oblique strain and is working his way back currently with Triple-A Syracuse. The Mets also recently brought back Tommy Hunter on a minor league deal, and he is hopeful that he could be ready for big league action by sometime in June.

It is likely too early to make a trade for someone, though reports from Dennis Lin of The Athletic are that the Padres are shopping Dinelson Lamet, who has a live arm but has struggled in his return from hip surgery. The Mets can monitor the waiver wire as well given they opened a 40-man roster spot with the decision to designate Robinson Cano for assignment, and may end up having a second open slot if the worst case for Sean Reid-Foley comes to fruition with him potentially needing Tommy John surgery.

The Mets farm system isn’t exactly overflowing with near big-league ready arms, but there are three power arms who are not on the 40-man roster that I think could be worth keeping an eye on as we progress through the summer.

RHP Colin Holderman

Holderman is probably the most likely on this list to get the call if they were to make one soon. The organization opted against protecting him from the Rule 5 Draft this past winter, and they lucked out that the draft did not occur because he likely would have been selected and been with another organization.

He impressed the staff in big league camp with a sinker that will touch 100 mph and an upper 80s slider. In 7.1 innings so far for Triple-A Syracuse he has a 2.45 ERA and has struck out five batters. Despite the velocity he is not a huge strikeout guy, but he does keep the ball on the ground with a 65 percent groundball rate in 2022.

RHP Bryce Montes de Oca

Montes de Oca is a fun one. He was a ninth-round selection in the 2018 MLB Draft and did not make his professional debut until 2021 due to undergoing shoulder, back and knee surgeries. Since debuting last season, he has been pretty healthy.

I saw him pitch in April at Double-A Binghamton’s Opening Day and this is maximum effort and maximum stuff. He has a fastball that has hit 101 mph and his big secondary pitch is a cutter that is in the 94-96 mph range. The stuff is huge and right now Double-A hitters are overmatched when he gets on the rubber. He has a 1.04 ERA in 8.2 innings pitched and has only allowed two hits while striking out 15. The issue is with that max effort he can lose the strike zone, and that is shown by his five walks allowed in the early going.

RHP Michel Otanez

Otanez is the guy who has hit the highest mark on the radar gun in this organization, having touched 102.2 mph. He has historically had a lot of issues throwing strikes, but as a 24-year-old in Double-A Binghamton he has yet to allow a run in 7.1 innings pitched while only walking two batters with seven strikeouts.

He needs more consistency with his secondary pitches, as right now his curveball is pretty average and he’s working on a cutter. It would be a bold move to bring up Otanez over one of the two I listed above, but you can’t teach 102.

If the Mets are going to take a shot on someone off the 40-man-roster, I think they’d look to bring up someone with power stuff and the chance to make an impact. These three guys all possess that ability having all touched triple digits this season. The Mets may not immediately make a bold move, but there may be a point here soon that they consider it.