Since his call up from Triple-A Las Vegas on April 25th, Mets reliever Hansel Robles has proven to be deserving of a spot in a major league bullpen. For the most part he has come in in low-leverage situations and has excelled.
He is striking out 10.57 batters-per-nine, and issuing 2.35 walks-per-nine. Robles throws gas, averaging 95.3 miles per hour with the fastball, paired with a mid-80s slider.
But Robles, who thus far has proven to be a better pitcher than either Carlos Torres or Buddy Carlyle, has not been used by Mets manager Terry Collins since Monday. If nothing else, he has proven to be deserving of some more challenging assignments.
Of the eight games in which Robles has appeared, six of them are qualified as low-leverage outings, meaning the pressure on Robles to perform was low in the context of the game. Especially with a young reliever, after thy prove to be effective in low-leverage spots, the time to challenge them with higher leverage assignments comes.
Now with Carlos Torres getting Fernando Nieve-like work out of the bullpen, Robles’ time to step up into a bigger role – if only temporary – has come. Collins, who is not a great bullpen manager, would be wise to start to shift innings he would normally give Torres to Robles.
Last night was a perfect example. He was warming up alongside Familia, but Collins didn’t use him. With a big lead it was a spot to rest Familia and use Robles.
Robles looks like a stud, a diamond in the rough who was transformed, Eckersley-like, from a mediocre starter into a bullpen force. How many of us had even heard of this guy when the season started?
Agree with everything you write, though I would add that now is perhaps the only opportunity to test him in high leverage innings, given that the likely return of some of Black/Parnell/Blevins/Mejia, plus Montero back in a bullpen role once off the DL, will only complicate things for Robles.
I’m cautiously optimistic about how the bullpen youngsters have been handled. I usually like throwing guys into the fire, but with Robels and Goeddel it seems the gentle approach has been working just fine. I do hope they both can maintain success with increased responsibility.
Robles looks like this years version of 2014 Familia.