The Mets finally won the hypothetical R.A. Dickey deal this off-season when they signed Anthony Gose to a minor league contract with a non-roster invitation to spring training.
Back in 2012 the Mets trade R.A. Dickey to the Blue Jays for a package built around Noah Syndergaard and Travis d’Arnaud. There was a time when Anthony Gose, then an outfield prospect, was rumored to be in the package. Gose has gone through a lot since those days.
It’s important to remember how highly touted Gose was as an outfield prospect over a decade ago. The Phillies first traded him to the Astros (with J.A. Happ and Jonathan Villar) for Roy Oswalt in the 2010 trade deadline. The Astros then immediately traded him to the Blue Jays for Brett Wallace.
Gose would make his Major League debut in 2012, playing 56 games for the Blue Jays hitting .223/.303/.319 with a 71 OPS+. He would then play portions of five seasons from 2012 to 2016 with the Jays and the Tigers. His best offensive year was 2015 where he played in 140 games hitting .254/.321/.367 (90 OPS+). After his 2016 season he made the switch from outfield to pitcher.
In 2021 Gose made his major debut as a pitcher, at age 30, with the Guardians for 6 2/3 innings over six games. The following year he got into 22 games over 21 innings with the Guardians with a 4.71 ERA, 5.06 FIP, 1.381 WHIP and an 81 ERA+. Later in 2022 he would have Tommy John surgery, which knocked him out for all of 2023. Gose saw three innings in the majors last year allowing five runs over 4 1/3 innings. He had a solid season in AAA ball, posting a 3.22 ERA, 1.366 WHIP over 44 2/3 innings.
According to Baseball Savant, Gose only tossed two different pitches in his three major league innings in 2024. He had a mid-90’s four seamer and an upper 80’s slider. In 2022 he tossed exactly one changeup (88 mph).
The Mets are hoping to get a version of the 2022 Anthony Gose. His skills may not have translated on the mound, but there were some interesting under-the-hood things happening. His fastball then was at 97 mph, good for the 92nd percentile. He didn’t pitch enough to fully get into the 2022 Baseball Savant percentile rankings, but his Whiff% (33.5) and strikeout rate (30.4) would have been around 90th percentile. On the other hand, his xERA (5.04) would have been near the bottom the league and he was getting rocked with a 92.9 average exit velocity.
Last year the Mets showed that they would switch things up in the bullpen when things weren’t working and cycled frequently through pitchers. Anthony Gose represents a low-risk, high-reward signing. Unless he absolutely dominates in Spring, or something goes horribly wrong with the Mets, he’s starting the year in the minors. If he accepts a minor league assignment, we will see him at some point this year with the Major League club. Can Anthony Gose seize opportunity when it’s his time? Can the Mets pitching lab unlock the potential from his raw skills and turn it into on-field results?
Here’s what to look for this spring with Gose:
- Velocity – is he touching the upper 90’s again?
- Missing bats – is he producing whiff’s?
- Effectiveness – when players make contact, can fielders actually field it? Are the balls so hard hit that bases are getting too busy?
- Frequency of outings – Is Gose still getting outings with the main team by mid-March? Do his results demand a roster spot battle?
