PORT ST. LUCIE — Justin Hagenman hasn’t spent a day in the big leagues, but that didn’t stop the Mets from offering him a major league contract this offseason.
It was a throwback signing for the club. Hagenman doesn’t own a big fastball, but at 28 years old has what team officials consider a knowledge of pitching.
“It’s not Max Scherzer, but the signature is kind of similar, how he gets through the ball and throws the baseball,” pitching coach Jeremy Hefner said Tuesday. “It’s not Max’s velocity, but it’s a good changeup, a good slider. It’s pitchability. There is some deception and that is pretty exciting.”
Hagenman, who spent last season at Triple-A with the Red Sox, is among the starting rotation depth options in camp. That depth (which includes more familiar names such as Tylor Megill and Paul Blackburn) is already receiving scrutiny with two starting pitchers sidelined to begin the season.
