The Rockaway Wave
Originally published May 12, 2023
It’s not unheard of for a pitcher to make the transition from being a starting pitcher to being a reliever. It happens all the time, just look at the current Mets roster.
Adam Ottavino hit the 140 innings plateau three times in his minor league career as a starter in the Cardinals system. Tommy Hunter used to be a starter in his early years in Texas and Baltimore. Jeff Brigham was also a starter in the minor leagues, and Dominic Leone was one in college.
What doesn’t happen often is someone making the reverse transition, going from the bullpen to the rotation. In Brooklyn, Tyler Stuart is doing just that.
“I haven’t been a starter since high school, so it’s kind of different for me,” Stuart said. “Just trying to take it one inning at a time.”
Stuart was a three-sport athlete at Herscher High School, located in Herscher Illinois, a village not too far outside of Chicago. On his college baseball profile, it states that he set his high school’s all-time receiving record in football and finished top-2 on the team in points, rebounds and assists in basketball as a senior. He was even great at the plate, hitting .466 in his senior season.
However, it was obvious to him and his coaches that his future was on the mound.
“He played a position for us just because he was one of our better athletes,” Eric Regez, Stuart’s high school coach, said. “But we definitely knew … that he was going to go on to pitch at a high level.”
Stuart is still high on the Herscher HS record boards, especially his 2018 season when he went 10-1 with a 1.06 ERA and 117 strikeouts. For his high school career, he has the fourth-most pitching wins with 22 and the fifth-most strikeouts with 219 in the history of the program.
He was a First-Team All-State player, and the Herscher High School website credits him with “one of the most illustrious careers in Herscher Baseball History.”
“He was always well-liked by his peers, and that’s kind of a tricky, slippery slope when you’re so talented above some of your peers and some of your buddies.” Regez said. “He was always super down to earth, a super humble type of guy, and that’s what makes him fun to be around.”
After winning Herscher High School some big playoff games in his senior season, Stuart played Division I baseball at the University of Southern Mississippi. It was far from an easy few years as a Golden Eagle for Stuart, not pitching in either of his first two collegiate seasons.
He redshirted in 2019, then tore his UCL in summer ball, forcing him to miss the 2020 season as well.
“It’s hard for everyone, it’s never easy for anyone,” Stuart said. “For me, I just really grinded on the mental side of things and just kind of understanding the body and resetting. … I matured a lot during that time.”
Cyclones pitching coach Victor Ramos knows first hand what Stuart went through, having gone through it himself when he was a player. He said that during the rehabilitation players learn how to take better care of themselves, and that should be a positive outcome that players take from having the injury.
“They already went through the one knock down, you don’t want to fail in that boxing fight,” Ramos said. “You got knocked down, and you were just blessed to stand up and keep fighting.”
When he finally got on the mound in 2021 he was used sparingly because his control wasn’t consistent enough, his head coach Scott Berry said. The 2022 season was when Stuart broke out.
“He developed that ability to command and pound that zone, and that’s exactly what he did,” Berry said.
Berry credited fine-tuning his delivery as one of the reasons he was able to turn the corner, as well as being another year removed from his Tommy John surgery.
In 2022, Stuart posted a 3.38 ERA over 40 innings pitched, striking out 38 and walking 13.
“I just feel like he became a new guy with a new purpose,” Berry said. “With all those mental obstacles to try to overcome, and of course he worked really, really hard with our pitching coach about mechanics and direction and not flying opening and giving him everything that he needed to be successful.”
He made 22 appearances with four starts, but he never threw more than 4.1 innings in a single game. He only threw three or more innings five times, and most of the time was limited to just a handful of outs.
That is, until the Mets took him in the 6th round of the 2022 MLB draft. He made three quick appearances (two starts) in 2022, pitching 3.2 innings in Rookie ball and Low-A, then started the 2023 season with High-A Brooklyn.
Through his first five games this season, all of which were starts, Stuart has pitched 20.2 innings, over half his total from 2022. He’s gone at least four innings four times, and at least five innings twice, topping out at 5.2 on April 21 against the Wilmington Blue Rocks.
“He has shown that he has the durability to eat innings and throw and throw pitches,” Ramos said. “The organization has decided to increase his amount of pitches and develop in that trend.”
Building up that pitch count is something that Stuart said he focused on during spring training. As a reliever, Stuart said, you’re usually only asked to throw 20-to-25 pitches at most. That number climbs much higher as a starter, and he said that has been the biggest difference for him so far.
Stuart has probably been the best starting pitcher across all the Mets minor leagues in 2023, with his 1.74 ERA ranking second to none. He has 30 strikeouts across 20.2 innings pitched, and while his control can be a little touch and go sometimes, he’s only walked 10 batters.
It’s not uncommon for taller starting pitchers to struggle with control, and Stuart, standing at 6- foot-9, can fall victim to that at times.
“Once he finds maturity and coordination to move that six-nine body, keep it consistent and repeatable, that’s when we’re going to see the best of him,” Ramos said. “But as of right now, we’re just working to develop that, and he’s enjoying it.”
Stuart is a sinker-slider pitcher with a bit of an aggressive sidearm delivery. The sinker usually sits around 92-to-94 mph, but has touched 95 mph. He’s also been working on developing two more pitches, a cutter and a changeup.
“When he signed as a professional baseball player he had an east-west sinker and slider which were pretty decent,” Ramos said. “… the organization decided to add some stuff to his arsenal, and why not those two pitches which he can actually just feel comfortable with and compete with.”
One of the biggest changes Stuart has had to make in this transition from relieving to starting has been in his preparation. When working out of the bullpen, he said it is hard to have a daily routine because he never really knew when he’d be pitching.
“I like starting,” Stuart said. “I feel pretty comfortable. I think the transition has gone well, I’ve had good success with it. Just the whole preparation … it’s a lot easier for you to just get on the mound and have those five days before a start and really get the mental side of things ready and get the physical side ready.”
As a starting pitcher, he’s been able to develop that routine. He will get two lifts in between starts along with daily arm care and throwing, even on the day after he pitches.
Stuart has simply been someone manager Chris Newell and the Cyclones can count on in 2023.
“Just another guy who isn’t content with just being at this level,” Newell said. “He’s got goals and aspirations and he prepares like it every single day. And he’s fun to watch pitch. I’ve always used the word reliability or reliable, and if you look at every team that wins the World Series, they’ve got a team full of reliable guys. And he’s a guy that fits that bill. He’s reliable each and every day, I don’t even have to worry about him.”
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