PHOENIX — Tobias Myers is quite the utility player for the Mets.
But unlike other players fitting that description, Myers doesn’t play multiple positions. Instead, he’s a pitcher who has shown the capability to handle various roles.
Already this season he had been used as an opener, long reliever and setup man. And then on Friday he got thrust into the closer’s role, working a perfect 10th inning in the team’s 3-1 victory over the Diamondbacks.
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Myers’ save was the first of his major league career.
“It was a cool moment to get my first one and have guys like Craig Kimbrel, Devin Williams and Luke Weaver, guys who have done it in the past, cool to kind of see their reaction and talk to those guys after the game,” Myers said before the Mets faced Arizona on Saturday.
He entered the day with a 3.42 ERA in 12 appearances, a trusted reliever in a bullpen that overall has been respectable, but hardly great. The Mets began play with a 3.93 ERA from relievers, which ranked 13th in MLB.
“[Myers] has been huge for us, in a lot of different ways,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “As a multi-inning guy, an opener. High leverage, [Friday] night asking him to get the last three outs and coming in and doing his part, bouncing back from a tough one in Colorado, that shows a lot. It shows who he is as a competitor and as a player.”
For that Wednesday appearance, he was summoned to protect an eight-run lead, but got knocked out, forcing Mendoza to work deeper into his bullpen in the victory.
Myers allowed four earned runs on five hits, including two homers, over two-thirds of an inning in his least effective outing since arriving at the club.
“I think it was a lack of a good game plan,” Myers said. “I knew going in the splitter wasn’t going to play the same [because of the altitude] and I probably should have went away from it a little bit. It was a mixture of that and a lot of noncompetitive middle/middle pitches, either non-competitive or right down the middle.”
The Mets acquired the 27-year-old righty in the January trade that also brought Freddy Peralta to Queens and sent Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams to Milwaukee.
Myers has pitched as long as three innings in relief. His lone start came April 19, when he pitched two innings as an opener against the Cubs. It’s possible Mendoza will go the opener route Sunday, ahead of David Peterson, putting Myers in play for the start. Mendoza has also used Huascar Brazobán in the opener’s role ahead of Peterson.
If Myers has an obvious strength it’s his ability to throw strikes. He entered Saturday with four walks in 23 ²/₃ innings. His walk rate of 4.3 percent ranked in MLB’s 96th percentile.
“When I am going my best I am going in there, no matter what the pitch is called, I am just attacking the zone, trying to throw it in the zone,” Myers said. “Get ahead, strike one, strike two. That mentality is definitely where I wants to stay at. Coming in from the bullpen, nobody wants to give free bases, especially late in the game. So, just trying to make the hitters earn it type of mentality.
Myers had a barrel rate of 4.2 percent that placed him in the 84th percentile.
“I probably have to give credit to the catchers and the pitches they are calling,” Myers said. “I think I have done a decent job of putting the fastball in good spots, but as far as the breaking balls and the splits, they are kind of over the plate, so I think the catchers read the hitters, read the swings and are pressing the right buttons.”
