With the departure of Josh Smoker, Matt Purke’s depth position just shot up. Blevins is the only southpaw int he Mets pen so Purke won’t have to do as much this spring to possibly break into the 40 man roster before the end of camp.
Matt Purke was drafted by the Nationals in 2011 in the 3rd round and released in 2014 and then signed again with the Nationals 4 days later. The following season he signed with the White Sox where he broke into the majors in 2016. In limited innings (18.0 over 12 games) posting a 5.50 ERA with a 3.48 FIP and 1.778 WHIP. Last year he posted a 3.48 ERA over 65.2 innings with the White Sox Triple A team.
Purke really made his name long before any of this. He was originally drafted in 2009 in the first round and went to TCU instead where he posted a 3.02 ERA over 116 innings with a 142/34 K/BB. His stock slipped by the time he was drafted by the Nationals due to injuries. He has already had Tommy John.
According to this scouting report from Minor League Ball: his fastball still sits int he low 90s, has a slider and split finger he uses. The last thing the Mets need is another pitcher with injuries woes, but the Mets are going to need another left handed pitcher. I see Purke right now as a possible lightning in a bottle situation. Maybe this is the year that he finally puts his injuries behind him and the stuff he has always had comes through.
