Young Providing A Boost To The Bullpen

Danny Young started the season at Triple-A Syracuse. He is ending it as the top lefty in the Mets’ bullpen.

In 32 1/3 innings since his first appearance on May 2, Young (3-0) has 43 strikeouts, a 2.78 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. It is a breakthrough season for the 30-year-old, who coming into 2024 had pitched only 14 2/3 major league innings over two years with the Seattle Mariners and Atlanta Braves.

He has been especially effective since the All-Star break, allowing only three earned runs in 17 2/3 innings. This has earned him the trust of manager Carlos Mendoza, who is comfortable sending Young into high-leverage situations.

In the seventh inning with a runner on first and New York leading 4-3 against Boston on Wednesday, Mendoza summoned Young, which prompted Red Sox manager Alex Cora to send up Romy Gonzalez to pinch hit. The southpaw got the right-handed hitter to bounce a 3-2 pitch to second for an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.

With a pair of tough lefties due up to start the eighth, Mendoza stuck with Young and he delivered. He got Jarren Duran to ground out to short and struck out Rafael Devers on a slider. The four big outs earned him his third win of the year.

Young hasn’t allowed a hit or a run in his last six appearances dating to Aug. 22.

The Toronto Blue Jays selected Young in the eighth round of the 2015 draft out of the University of Florida. He made his way to Cleveland (Rule 5 Draft) and then Seattle (free agency), where he debuted in 2022 before moving on to Atlanta. He missed most of last year with a hip injury that required surgery.

The Mets signed him as a minor league free agent in January.

“We kind of knew about his capabilities based on his stuff; we just didn’t know how his hip was going to respond,” pitching coach Jeremy Hefner told the New York Post last month. “We knew if he was himself and healthy, we felt like the sinker/sweeper combo – he has a cutter, he just doesn’t throw it very often – with the slot we thought that would be a good depth piece, with the potential to really help us.”

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