Stephen Ridings could give the Mets an intriguing bullpen arm in 2023

Stephen Ridings isn’t the only pitcher the Mets snagged from the Yankees over the course of the offseason, but he is the one who’s still in the organization. Having returned Rule 5 pick Zach Greene to their crosstown rivals earlier this month, the team is still working on getting Ridings healthy.

Staying on the field has been a challenge for the 27-year-old righty. Last year, he threw just two minor league innings thanks to shoulder issues. And in 2021, he only threw a total of 34.0 innings, five of which were at the major league level. Those innings went particularly well, as Ridings had a 1.80 ERA and a 1.57 FIP in them. You really shouldn’t read too much into such a small body of work, but combined with a 0.47 ERA in Double-A that year and a 2.70 ERA in Triple-A, there’s certainly something to dream on in his arm.

Even if things don’t go well this year, Ridings gets to rock his glorious beard, something that was absolutely not the case when he was a member of the Yankees and looked like this:

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