In the last decade, the New York Mets have surprisingly been trade deadline buyers far more than sellers. Massive fire sales in 2017 and 2023 yielded different results. The 2017 team was all about saving money. In 2023, the Mets navigated with better intentions.
Deals they made rewarded them with some of their best prospects currently in the system. Not every deal was a hit, though. A trade with the Milwaukee Brewers which sent fan favorite Mark Canha to Wisconsin for two months brought the Mets Justin Jarvis.
Jarvis hadn’t been pitching well in the minors for Milwaukee, but with some good Double-A numbers, there was some thought he could turn things around with a change of scenery. It never happened with the Mets. And now he’s joining the Los Angeles Dodgers to try to rectify his career.
The Dodgers will get their crack at making something out of Justin Jarvis
About those Double-A numbers. Jarvis tossed 136 total innings in parts of two seasons in Biloxi. At 13-7 with a 3.11 ERA, it was enough to catch the eye of Billy Eppler at the 2023 trade deadline and make him an acceptable return for Canha. Jarvis had already been promoted to Triple-A at the time. Through 3 starts for Nashville, the 0-2 record and 10.80 ERA was bad but nothing unbelievable. Many promising young pitchers struggle at this level.
Jarvis failed to figure things out in Syracuse. He went 0-5 with an 8.04 ERA in 9 starts for them. He managed to stick around for all of 2024 with some more work out of the bullpen as opposed to starting exclusively.
The same theme applied yet again this past year. Jarvis was very good in Double-A. In 40.1 innings, he was 5-2 with a 2.90 ERA. In 46.2 frames in Triple-A, Jarvis was 1-3 with a 5.98 ERA.
As you guessed it, the relief appearances went much better. He posted a 3.40 ERA out of the bullpen with better marks across the board in all categories. As a starter, the ERA was at 5.95.
Jarvis elected free agency a few weeks ago along with several other Mets minor leaguers whose destiny didn’t seem to include a yellow brick road toward Citi Field. Included was Jeremiah Jackson, a fallen Los Angeles Angels prospect the Mets received for Dominic Leone. He, like Jarvis, failed to make his mark on the Mets and will look for an opportunity elsewhere.
