For the last several years we have walked through every Non-Roster Invitee in Mets camp. It’s one of my favorite article series because I learn so much about the Mets depth chart throughout the weeks leading to Spring Training and the month leading to Spring Training games. Right now the Mets have given out 21 invites to camp, and that list could grow.
Today we’ll start with Luis Avilán, who has a shot of making the roster. Avilán is a left handed pitcher and before the Mets signed Justin Wilson to a 2-year deal, the only lefty in the Mets pen was Danny Zamora.
Luis was signed by the Braves in 2005 as a free agent and made his debut in 2012 against the Mets where he faced one batter and struck him out. Luis has also been involved with two different three way trades. First in 2015 where he went to the Dodgers along with Arroyo and Jim Johnson and then another three way trade last January where he was traded to the White Sox. He became a free agent in November and signed a deal with the Mets on the 10th of January.
Phew! Now let’s get to the stats.
Career Stats: 3.09 ERA, 3.25 FIP, 1.22 WHIP, 4.22 DRA, 2.0 WARP
2018 Stats (CWS/PHI): 45.1 IP, 3.77 ERA, 3.12 FIP, 1.37 WHIP, 4.88 DRA, 0.0 WARP
So his career line looks line. He took a step back last year, specifically with WHIP. This is the area I’m most concerned about. Before 2017 his WHIP was never above 1.19 and since then it’s been 1.37 and above (this has occurred with a spike in DRA). If he doesn’t have this spike, he’s probably signing a deal similar to Justin Wilson.
Luis Avilán will be 29 this year. He needs to be better than Zamora to get a spot on the roster and even with that he will have to fight to get on the active roster to make it out of camp. If he doesn’t impress in camp, he probably stays with the Mets organization, maybe tries it with another team. If he does impress in camp, but not enough to force his way into the Mets bullpen, then he will almost definitely go sign with another team.
Avilán was a smart signing by the Mets to continue to build bullpen depth. Let’s see what happens
