If the Mets find themselves in need of a bullpen day during the upcoming season, newcomer Aaron Loup will happily volunteer to be the opener.
New York just signed Taijuan Walker to a two-year deal on Friday to bolster the back end of the rotation, making the need for a bullpen day less likely, but if it happens, Loup would like to be the one to start the reliever carousel.
"Who wouldn't want to be the guy to start the game and then get to sit in the clubhouse and drink a few brews on the back end and watch the rest of it?" Loup said in a Zoom call with reporters on Thursday.
Loup, 33, has never started a major-league game in his nine-year career, but should the Mets elect for a bullpen day while filling out a rotation that is still waiting on a healthy Noah Syndergaard, the lefty will be ready to step in. Having pitched in the Rays' bullpen last season, the opener shouldn't be too foreign of a game plan.
"I've never been a guy that's been backed into a role," Loup said. "I've done a little bit of everything. Typically, I know my role will be to get left handers out, but I've done everything from coming into the game early and throw multiple inning, I've closed games, set up games, been a lefty specialist. The only thing I haven't really done is start a game. If it's something they need me to do, I'll do it."
The Mets rarely used an opener in 2020, but manager Luis Rojas didn't write the idea off in plans for 2021, where pitching may look a lot different than a normal season with pitchers trying to build up arm strength after last throwing a full season in 2019.
"[We] definitely have individuals on our roster that can do something like that and have a follow-up and use a strategy against certain lineups, against certain teams," Rojas said. "Those are conversations that are going to be engaged at some point, so I am going to say we are open-minded."
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