After the biggest, ugliest of thunderstorms ruins your weekend plans and muddies your lawn, you can muster just the slightest of smirks at the site of a rainbow in the sky. And so this is how we’re coming to view Aaron Loup, a middle reliever and a rainbow in a $#&%@storm.
This once promising Mets season has been a downpour of frustrating injuries, maddening underperformance, missed opportunities, and dozens of disappointing losses. But if you look beyond the stranded baserunners, crowded injured list, and deflated faces in the dugout and stands, you’ll see a lefty relief pitcher having an absolutely terrific season.
In the off-season, all the chatter focused on the big trade for Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco and the signings of pitcher Taijuan Walker, catcher James McCann, and bench mob leaders Jonathan Villar and Kevin Pillar. Even in the bullpen, the big addition was Trevor May who was coming off a big year in Minnesota. Aaron Loup was something of an afterthought. The 33-year-old lefty from Louisiana was signed for a modest one year/$3 million contract and boy, has it paid dividends.
Loup was drafted by the Blue Jays in 2009 out of Tulane and made his big league debut in the summer of 2012. For the first three years of his career, Loup was effective and a key part of the Blue Jays bullpen. Following a down year in 2015, Loup struggled through injuries in 2016 before bouncing back in 2017. In a 2018 midseason trade, the Blue Jays sent Loup to the Phillies where he finished a less than stellar season. Prior to the 2019 season, the free agent signed with the Padres, only to suffer an elbow injury and miss most of the season.
While 2020 may not be a year remembered fondly by most of us, Loup will look back on it as the season he turned his career around. The Tampa Bay Rays signed him in the off-season and helped him build back his health and confidence en route to a very successful season that spilled into the playoffs. The Mets front office was paying attention and pounced on the middle reliever in January.
For the Mets, Loup has been a revelation, pitching to a stellar 1.06 ERA over 50 appearances. In 40.1 innings pitched thus far, Loup has only allowed 30 hits, and not one of them a home run. Batters are hitting .207 against Loup and they’ve mustered just 8 walks.
It would be nice to see if Loup could again carry his outstanding performance into the playoffs, but alas, it doesn’t seem meant to be. On the bright side, the Mets have found a reliable bullpen piece worth bringing back on a new contract. A very small rainbow, but a rainbow nonetheless.
Yup… Stay put Mr. Loup… unpack your bags… you’ve earned a spot here for the next year… a luxury for a relief pitcher. We need another two lefties in the pen.
Relievers are so fickle. As great as he seems now, you just can’t say with much certainty that he’ll be effective next year, so if he does ask for too much money or a long commitment i’m not gonna fret over it if he doesn’t come back.