Each year at 213 we look through the Non-Roster Invitees to spring training and get to know them a bit. Are they in camp to get a look at big league hitting/pitching to aid their development? Are the Mets just trying to get a better look at a future rookie? Are they a veteran trying to get back to the major league level? What can we expect from them this season?
Pedro Payano made his major league debut last season with the Texas Rangers. Pedro was signed by the Rangers back in 2011 and resigned with the Rangers before the 2019 season. The righty pitched in 6 major league games and made 4 starts logging 22.0 innings with a 5.73 ERA, 5.62 FIP, 1.864 WHIP and a 92 ERA+.
With the Rangers AA team in Frisco last year, he posted a 4.43 ERA over 8 starts and 42.2 innings and with their AAA team in Nashville he posted a 5.44 ERA over 11 games and 41.1 innings. Overall in the minors he has a 3.68 ERA over 686.1 innings. There’s a good write up about Pedro here. Key points: he has a fastball that sits in the low 90’s with a low 80’s changeup and a fall off the table curve. He spent 3 years in the DOSL after being signed for 650k, then rocketed through the system in one year before he hit another wall that he couldn’t get over.
The Mets signed him for starting depth. For the 4th day in a row we feel compelled to mention that the Mets are thin with pitching at the top. Where they are really thin is starting pitching. Even though the Mets signed Porcello and Wacha after that, it’s question marks. Pedro Payano doesn’t directly fit in with the team, but the Mets need somebody who could eat up starting innings in triple A and in an emergency can do it in Queens. At the end of the day, he’s also only 25, so maybe he can find what he had in Syracuse.
