Elieser Hernández will start the season on the injured list

The Mets announced today that Elieser Hernández will start the season on the injured list with a right shoulder strain. The 27-year-old was one of two pitchers the Mets got in a trade with the Marlins early in the offseason and figured to start the season in Triple-A Syracuse regardless of health.

Mets general manager Billy Eppler indicated that Hernández was only shut down briefly with the shoulder injury and has already resumed throwing. Assuming the team does, indeed, send him to Syracuse once he’s ready to pitch, he’ll join Tylor Megill, Joey Lucchesi, José Butto, and—in all likelihood—the recently-signed Dylan Bundy as rotation depth options for the Mets.

Hernández has made 42 appearances as a reliever at the major league level, nearly as many as the 48 he’s made as a starter. It’s possible that he would crack the major league roster in a relief role, but he’s racked up a 6.33 ERA coming out of the bullpen, a far worse mark than his 4.67 ERA as a starter.