Opinion: Steven Register Update
In March, when the Mets finalized their 25-man roster, one of the last cuts was Rule-5 pick Steven Register, a right-
handed pitcher plucked from the Colorado Rockies farm system.
Register appeared to be a good find, outpitching most of the other relief candidates in the spring and sporting a low-90s sinker and slider. The 25-year-old, however, was sent back to the Rockies, as the Mets couldn’t find room for him – opting instead for Matt Wise and Joe Smith – who posted an 8.59 ERA in the spring – and Jorge Sosa.
As it turned out, Wise went on the DL a week into the season, Sosa was released in May, and Smith pitched well once the “real games” began. The strange thing about keeping Smith, at the time, was that in addition to the high ERA, he had options left, and could have been sent to the minors temporarily to keep Register around a little longer. But the decision to keep Smith turned out to be the correct one. As for Sosa and Wise, well, you be the judge.
Of course, ‘hindsight is 20-20,’ so it’s easy to criticize the moves now. And perhaps Register would not have pitched well and eventually returned to the Rockies anyway.
What bothered me at the time was that the Mets weren’t able to negotiate a trade with the Rockies to keep Register in the Mets organization. After all, he seemed to impress the team’s coaching staff – who spent significant time working with him to improve his mechanics and repertoire.
Register was recently called up by the Rockies, appeared in one game, struck out the only batter he faced and returned to Triple-A Colorado Springs.
In 48 games as a closer for Colorado Springs this year, Register has a 5-2 record with 16 saves and a 3.28 ERA. He’s struck out 45 batters in 49 innings, allowing 45 hits and only 15 walks. In the homer-happy Pacific Coast League (PCL), Register has given up three home runs.
No use crying over spilt milk, but it would have been nice to have Steven Register in the organization right now.
