ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Adrian Houser has been in this spot before, having served as a reliever particularly in his early years with the Brewers.
But the Mets’ new bullpen arm — for an undetermined amount of time — has never struggled like this.
“This is probably the toughest stretch that I’ve been through in my career so far,” Houser said before the Mets’ 3-1 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field on Saturday, a day after he learned of his demotion. “So just got to keep putting in the work every day and keep battling back.”
The veteran righty has been sent to the bullpen for the next turn through the rotation and will be available as soon as Monday after his latest dud Thursday.
Houser owns an 8.16 ERA through six games and was squeezed out of a rotation that welcomed top prospect Christian Scott, who debuted Saturday.
The Mets have an off day Thursday, after which they will decide whether Houser should be reinserted into the rotation as a sixth starter or remain in the pen.
Manager Carlos Mendoza said there will be “a lot” of factors that factor into the decision — from the status of the bullpen to the schedule and assuredly how each rotation member is performing — but Houser probably will have to fix what is wrong before he returns as a successful starter.
He has said his arm path had gotten long, which threw off his command.
He believes he is improving.
“I just had a bullpen [session] today,” Houser said. “It was really good. It felt a lot better. Like I said after my last outing, it was a step forward. Today was definitely another step forward, and we’re getting where we need to be.”
Houser, a solid back-of-the-rotation starter for the Brewers since establishing himself in 2019, has walked 6.28 batters per nine innings, a spike from last year’s 2.75 mark.
He remains confident he can right himself.
“Obviously, disappointed in myself,” the 31-year-old said. “No one to blame but myself for not getting the job done. But there’s still a job to be done.”
The job, at least for the moment, will be as an arm that can pitch an inning or provide length.
Houser said he was not informed about a specific bullpen niche but said he would be ready when called upon.
“Keep staying with the routine, looking at videos, seeing where we’re off,” Houser said. “Seeing what we need to do and fix.”
