PORT STREET LUCIE — We’ll see a little more action from Eric Olze this season, but he may have fewer weapons.
The Mets relief prospect said he played last season at 195 pounds, but after offseason strength training, the right-hander has bulked up to 209 pounds.
He hopes the extra weight will help him make his major league debut and get through a long season that could feature a number of splitters.
A resilient two-time cancer survivor, Orze hopes throwing his best pitches more often will lead to better results.
Orze, a 2020 fifth-round pick, has been through more than most players. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer while attending the University of New Orleans and overcame it.
When doctors examined him shortly after, they found a mole that was quickly determined to be cancer. As such, he also battled skin cancer before joining the Mets.
He exploded through the system in 2021, reaching Triple-A Syracuse, but his rise has stalled since then.
Orze’s fastball velocity is in the low to mid-90s, which isn’t his calling card, and he features a slider and cutter that are new this season. But his splitter (a bottom dropout pitch that induces consistent whiffs) will be his ticket to the majors.
Orze said he struggled most of last season, throwing his best weapon 30 to 35 percent of the time. The flexible relief pitcher can go an inning or two or three, but until August 29, when he posted a 6.48 ERA at Syracuse, he walked many batters and allowed hard contact. There were many things.
He then pitched 11 innings with only two hits and no runs, with 22 strikeouts. He said his splitter rate skyrocketed to 60 to 65 percent toward the end of the season, and he worked particularly well with his slider.
“This is something unique,” Orze said of his splitter. “Let’s use our strongest weapons. Let’s not overcomplicate this.”
Looking back on his struggles in the upper minors over the past two seasons, Orze realized he had done a lot of damage to his minor players. In 2022, he struggled with the long ball, allowing 11 home runs in 50/3 innings, but the splitter proved to be rarely an issue.
“If you look back at the video, all the home runs look like mid-range to mid-range fastballs,” Orze said. “My fastball isn’t my best pitch, one. [Two], The batter is likely waiting for a fastball. So I thought, ‘Oh, here we go.’ ”
Now, he hopes relying more on his splitter will help the Mets get to Citi Field, where they need relief help this season.
Top third base prospects Brett Batty and Mark Vientos will be split in reps “probably 50-50” during the Grapefruit League, manager Carlos Mendoza said.
During Friday’s practice, the two played third base defense along with the rest of the team’s starting infielders. Joey Wendle received reps next to shortstop Francisco Lindor.
According to the Mets, Shintaro Fujinami has returned to Japan to deal with personal issues. The club believes the right-hander still has time to gain strength and be ready by opening day.
