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        <title><![CDATA[Brad Brach could be hidden gem in Mets’ questionable bullpen]]></title>
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            <media:title type="html">Brad Brach could be hidden gem in Mets’ questionable bullpen</media:title>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Second <strong>in a series</strong> analyzing the New York Mets. </em></p><p>Brad Brach honored his love of the Mets by giving the team a boost from the bullpen over the final two months of last season.</p><p>The Freehold, N.J., native so much embraced the Mets growing up that he attended Game 3 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field as a fan, after his season with the Orioles had concluded.</p><p>After arriving with the Mets last August — he had been dumped by the Cubs — the veteran right-hander pitched to a respectable 3.68 ERA and 1.227 WHIP over 16 appearances, continuing the seesaw ride his career has become in recent seasons.</p><p>With the Cubs last season, he pitched to a 6.13 ERA and 1.765 WHIP over 42 appearances, prompting his release. A year earlier he had pitched to a 1.52 ERA over the final two months for the Braves after struggling with the Orioles.</p><p>The Mets, in desperate need of bullpen help, <strong>re-signed Brach last offseason</strong> for $850,000. The deal contains a player option that, if exercised, would pay Brach $1.25 million in 2021.</p><p>Brach, 34, credits his rebound last season for the confidence the Mets coaching staff showed in allowing him to throw his favorite pitch.</p><figure id="attachment_15572025"  class="wp-caption aligncenter"><strong><noscript><img data- data-src="/uploads/2020/04/metsbrach.jpg" class="lazyload" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" /><noscript><img  data-src="/uploads/2020/04/metsbrach.jpg" /></noscript></noscript><img class="lazyload" src='data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%20210%20140%22%3E%3C/svg%3E' data- data-src="/uploads/2020/04/metsbrach.jpg" /></strong><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"><span>Brad Brach</span><span class="credit">Anthony J. Causi</span></figcaption></figure><p>“The biggest thing was using the cutter a lot more, I was able to be a lot more aggressive in the zone and I think it kind of just made everything else a little bit better,” Brach said in spring training. “Coming over here and really the coaching staff gave me the confidence just throwing that thing a lot and they really liked it. I kind of saw it as a, ‘What else do I have to lose’ kind of thing.”</p><p><strong><strong>Submit your Mets questions here to be answered in an upcoming Post mailbag</strong></strong></p><p>The Mets have <strong>huge question marks</strong> surrounding Edwin Diaz, Jeurys Familia and Dellin Betances in the bullpen. Diaz and Familia grossly underperformed last season, while new-arrival Betances appeared in only one game for the Yankees because of injuries. Brach is a question mark on a smaller scale, but could be a hidden gem for a team in need of dependable options beyond Seth Lugo and Justin Wilson, who carried the bullpen last season. Also part of that mix is Robert Gsellman.</p><p>“[Brach] is one of those guys that had a tough road and certainly when he got a little success just kept going and going and he’s still pitching, which is great,” said former Orioles pitching coach Dave Wallace, who oversaw Brach’s emergence as an All-Star in 2016.</p><p>“He was just one of those guys when we got him from the Padres was just so hyper, so we got him to calm down a little bit and trust his stuff. He’s <strong>got a great changeup</strong> against left-handers.”</p><p>Brach’s workload last season decreased to 58 games, in part because of ineffectiveness with the Cubs, but Wallace says there should be plenty remaining in the right-hander’s arm.</p><p>“I think he got worn out that one year a little bit in Atlanta, but one of the things Buck [Showalter] does better than anybody is he protects relief pitchers,” Wallace said, referring to the former Orioles manager. “But I think [Brach] has got some juice left in him. He was a late-bloomer kind of guy and really wasn’t a starting pitcher with hundreds of innings in the minor leagues so I think his shelf life still should be pretty good.”</p>]]></content:encoded>
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