Mets spring training is winding down and so is our projection series (well – sorta. We still have like 10 players left to project). Jacob Rhame got another look in the majors last year and will be starting this year off in the minors. With the Mets triple A team now in Syracuse, and with two cups of coffee already, Rhame will be near the top of the list for when the Mets need an extra arm in the the pen.
2018: 32.1 IP, 5.85 ERA, 5.48 FIP, 1.423 WHIP, 7.8 K/9, -0.2 WAR, 4.84 DRA
Career: 6.53 ERA, 5.77 FIP, 1.573 WHIP, 7.6 K/9, 5.39 DRA
Last year was definitely an improvement over 2017 in every single category listed above. It just wasn’t enough to become a regular yet, which is why the Mets needed to rework the bullpen this off-season (obviously not just because of Rhame, but his situation is the same as so many other pitchers in the Mets organization).
Lets take a look as to what Mets computers think he will do next season:
(Citations: ESPN projections can be found here. ZiPS can be found here. Steamer can be found here. Baseball Reference projections (BR) can found on the players BR page which linked elsewhere on this article. )
Not looking at ZiPS, since they don’t factor in playing time, there is a disagreement for how much time on the mound projections see Rhame getting. Baseball Reference thinks he’ll be up earlier or more often than last year, with making some major improvements. Everyone else agrees on improvements but sees him as a September call-up. If things go right for the Mets this year, or by the plan, he should be a September call-up.
No matter what, at least he’ll be closer this year if the Mets ever need him.
