Mets claim Locke St. John off of waivers, transfer deGrom to 60-day IL

The Mets did some tinkering to the back end of their 40-man roster this afternoon, claiming lefty Locke St. John off of waivers from the Chicago Cubs. Perhaps the biggest news of the transaction came by how they opened up a spot on the 40-man for St. John, with Jacob deGrom being transferred to the 60-day IL, making the June 7th the earliest deGrom could return.

St. John, a former 32nd round pick by the Tigers out of the University of South Alabama, has bounced around a bit and filled in a few roles in his professional career. Originally a starter. the Tigers moved his arm slot down to be closer to a side armer and put him in the bullpen. That change caught the eye of the Rangers, who claimed him in the 2018 Triple-A Rule 5 draft. He had his first cup of coffee in the majors with the Rangers, but eventually was sent back to Triple-A.

He pitched in the Tigers system again in 2021, and made his way to the Cubs in 2022. The Cubs called him up for one appearance on April 16th — he surrendered three runs in an inning — before sending him back down and eventually designating him for assignment; ironically, for former Met Robert Gsellman.

St. John, despite being 29. only has 8.2 innings in the majors, with a 7.27 ERA. He does have a lot of minor league experience, logging 194 games and 54 starts over three organizations. He will fill a depth lefty role for the Mets, a role that is perilously thin in the organization; the only other lefties on the 40-man are Chasen Shreve, Joely Rodriguez, Thomas Szapucki and Jose Lucchesi, with the latter still recovering from Tommy John Surgery last year.