JUPITER, Fla. — If all goes according to plan, Tobias Myers will be in the Mets bullpen, pitching multiple innings — as he did Tuesday against the Marlins.
His numbers weren’t great in a 5-5 tie at Roger Dean Stadium, but he’s been pleased with his adjustment to a new team and something of a new role.
As the Mets have noted since Myers’ arrival in a trade from Milwaukee, the right-hander is considered much more than a throw-in piece coming along with Freddy Peralta.
After Myers was stretched out a bit early in the spring, manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday they are having him throw around 40 pitches to adjust to a long relief spot in the pen.
He was sharp in his first inning of work Tuesday before his command failed him when he went back out for the seventh.
But Myers has felt good about his stuff this spring, as he explained recently in Port St. Lucie.
“I just like to compete,” Myers said. “I’m ready to flip the switch to the regular season.”
And he’s prepared to embrace the opportunity that he expects to have in Queens, which isn’t surprising considering the route he took to get here.
Many Mets fans recall Myers as an important piece of Milwaukee’s pitching staff when the teams faced off in the wild-card round in 2024.
It was Myers who started the decisive Game 3 and tossed five shutout innings before turning it over to the bullpen.
That’s when Devin Williams gave up Pete Alonso’s memorable home run that extended the Mets’ playoff run.
But even before that, Myers had already defied the odds to get to the majors.
As he noted, he was designated for assignment by three teams in 2022 alone, as Cleveland, San Francisco and the White Sox all let him go before he signed with the Brewers following that season.
“I don’t think I knew how to deal with it then,” Myers said of the disappointment of not being able to stick with a team. “I think that’s why the trend kept going. But it definitely helped me, for sure, in the long run. I found out how to handle the business side of baseball at a young age and I think that was beneficial.”
And he’s brought that with him to the Mets, where the 27-year-old has impressed for much of the spring and could still end up starting at some point.
“If he goes to the bullpen, [it means] everyone is healthy in the rotation,” Mendoza said.
As the manager pointed out, the Mets already have six starters, and Myers said he’s OK with whatever the team wants him to do.
He went through that eventful 2022 and wasn’t especially effective with Double-A Biloxi in his first season in the Brewers organization.
Then he broke out in 2024 in Milwaukee before an oblique strain early last year got him sidetracked.
He’s appeared in just 49 games in the majors, yet the Mets have high expectations, and Myers said he’s ready to deliver, with the lessons from 2022 still fresh.
“To be DFA’d three times when you’re still starting your career really opens your eyes and makes you realize you need to go out there and get it,” Myers said. “I learned you’ve got to be good when called upon. You’ve got to commit and be available.”
And when you’re given the chance, pitch well.
“No team is going to let you struggle for a couple of years and just keep going,” he said. “It’s a tough business and you have to produce.”
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