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If you were paying close attention to the Mets over the weekend, you probably noticed that there were a couple of new faces on the team. Since rosters expanded on September 1, the Mets have called up three players, and they are calling up six more today.
New Faces
Jeurys Familia has been one of the Mets' highly touted pitching prospects over the last couple of years. He's pitched exclusively at Triple-A Buffalo this year at the age of 22. While his overall 4.73 ERA, 8.4 K/9, and 4.8 BB/9 aren't that impressive, the right-handed starter pitched considerably better over the past couple of months than he did earlier in the season.
Fred Lewis played outfield for the Giants, Blue Jays, and Reds between 2006 and 2011, but he's also been in Buffalo for all of this season. He's a career .267/345/.406 hitter in the big leagues, and he hit .292/.378/.481 in Triple-A this year. It's a little surprising that this is the first shot he's getting with the Mets given their outfield woes.
Old Friends
Jenrry Mejia has been here before, of course, as he was rushed to the big leagues as a relief pitcher in 2010. The results then were mediocre at best, but he missed almost all of the 2011 season following Tommy John surgery. He's spent the grand majority of this year with Buffalo, and he's posted a 3.54 ERA and 3.87 FIP despite relatively lackluster strikeout and walk rates. He's also been switched from starter to reliever and back again in that time.
Elvin Ramirez has not fared well in 12.1 innings with the Mets this year, but he's been significantly better in the minors. He issues tons of walks, a problem that's a lot easier to overcome at lower levels than it is in MLB.
32-year-old lefty relief pitcher Justin Hampson was with the Mets very briefly earlier this season, but he's pitched well in Buffalo between 2011 and 2012.
You already know Jordany Valdespin quite well, but he rejoins the Mets after another brief stint in the minors. He's got plenty of power, but he may never achieve any better than a .300 OBP with his free-swinging approach.
Collin McHugh didn't look nearly as good in his second start with the Mets as he did in his first, but he'll get a few more starts to potentially set himself up for more time in the big leagues next year.
Mike Nickeas is Mike Nickeas.
Last but not least, Zach Lutz sure can hit the baseball, but he's never stayed healthy for anything close to a full professional season. His .295/.404/.496 line in the minors this year is impressive, but Ike Davis and David Wright probably aren't going to sit much down the stretch so his playing time might be limited.