Tommy Hunter to Join New York Mets; What it Means

NEW YORK — The Mets appear to be close to calling up a veteran reinforcement to join their bullpen.

Relief pitcher Tommy Hunter is on his way to New York to join the Mets, but the team has not yet made a roster move to activate him. They would have to designate someone for assignment in order to add Hunter to the 40-man roster.

Mike Mayer of Metsmerized and Andy Martino of SNY were first on this news.

Hunter signed a minor league deal with the Mets in late-April, and after ramping up at extended spring training, moved on to Triple A Syracuse.

After shaking off some initial rust, the righty posted a 4.61 ERA across 13 2/3 innings for Syracuse.

Now, the long reliever could be entering the mix in a Mets bullpen that has been shaky at times.

Hunter, 35, made four appearances with the Mets a season ago, tossing eight shutout innings, before suffering a season-ending back injury that required surgery. 

Hunter is on the brink of reuniting with his former manager Buck Showalter, who he spent six seasons with in Baltimore from 2011 to 2016. 

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