The Mets looked within for bullpen help. Colin Holderman and Stephen Nogosek stepped up

Colin Holderman's "welcome to the big leagues" moment included breakfast in Scranton, an Uber ride to Flushing in a white Toyota Camry, and a trip to the mound in the ninth inning at Citi Field.

Only a few hours after learning he had been called up to the Mets from Class AAA Syracuse, Holderman was able to harness his adrenaline and turn in a scoreless first inning of his major league career against the Mariners on May 15.

With the Mets bullpen disrupted by injuries, including a season-ending elbow injury to Sean Reid-Foley and 60-day injured list stint for Trevor May, the contributions of Holderman and Stephen Nogosek — a pair of righties who began the season in Syracuse — have effectively filled the void.

The most junior members of the Mets' bullpen — Nogosek is 27 and Holderman is 26 — have been strong while eating up innings since joining the bullpen in mid-May, especially with Trevor Williams thrust into the rotation with injuries to Tylor Megill and Max Scherzer.

Holderman, a Bourbonnais, Illinois native and 2016 ninth-round pick by the Mets, began his career without giving up an earned run across his first 8⅔ innings.

"I got here at the end of the first inning and had to get going and ended up throwing the ninth — that was crazy and was a whirlwind," Holderman said. "As the days have gone on, it’s gotten more and more normal. Showing up to the field is just like a normal day at the office. It’s been great."

Holderman has picked up a pair of wins along the way, including in an extra-inning victory over the Cadinals on May 19 that featured a walk-off home run by Pete Alonso and a blown save by Edwin Diaz.

Meanwhile, Nogosek, who is up for the third time in his career after pitching in eight games between 2019 and 2021, has not allowed an earned run in 8⅔ innings while striking out seven. He has provided more length, tossing at least two innings in three of his four outings, including three scoreless in his season debut against the Nationals on May 11.

"I think pitching in the big leagues or anywhere really is just as much mental as it is physical," Nogosek said. "I think it took me a little while to mentally get comfortable, mentally be confident enough that I can pitch up here."

What they bring

Last season, Nogosek said he finally felt like his stuff could finally play in the major leagues. But after one three-inning appearance with the Mets that included five strikeouts and two earned runs on three hits, he hit the IL with a shoulder injury.

Nogosek, who was drafted by the Red Sox in the sixth round in 2016, pitched to a 1-5 record with a 5.14 ERA with 52 strikeouts across 35 innings in Syracuse. He said he felt like his fastball was in good shape, but he spent the offseason working on his secondary pitches, including his changeup, cutter and slider.

Now, instead of depending largely on his fastball and slider, the Roseville, California native has started featuring his changeup and cutter more.

That spread has been helpful in his latest tenure with the Mets as he's holding opponents to a .138 average with four hits and four walks allowed in 44 plate appearances. He also chiseled his ERA down to 1.54 across eight outings in Syracuse.

"In 2020, I had basically revamped all my pitches, my whole repertoire and started actually pitching instead of just throwing," Nogosek said. "It was unfortunate last year that an injury kind of cost me a lot of time. Coming into this season, I knew I had another year under my belt of learning how to use my stuff and be more confident and walk around with a certain swagger."

Holderman relies on his sinker, which he throws around 95 mph, and features a cutter/slider that he throws with three different variations. The first is anywhere between 88 and 90 mph with less break, then a harder slider at 86 mph with a little more downward break and a third at around 83 with a lot more action.

"I just try to throw them all for strikes and try to make sure they don’t sit on something, not only throw a heater in the zone and when it’s in the zone that starts to get smacked," Holderman said. "Just try to keep the strikes when I have to and balls when I want to."

Teams have yet to pick up a hit on Holderman's cutter which has produced five of his 11 strikeouts. A one-out triple from the Nationals' Alcides Escobar on Monday led to the only run off Holderman this season. He has a 0.98 ERA in 9⅓ innings with seven hits and one walk allowed.

How they fit

As the youngest members of the Mets bullpen, Holderman and Nogosek said they have felt comfortable in the clubhouse since spring training.

The duo said they have benefitted from the presence of numerous veterans, including Adam Ottavino, Seth Lugo and Chasen Shreve.

There's a constant dialogue going in the bullpen during games.

"You don’t have to pitch to get better," Nogosek said. "You just watch other guys pitch and see what their mindset is and you constantly improve every day. It’s a domino effect, it just keeps going and going. As long as we have that, it’s going to be fun, it’s going to be special."

And being around several guys that they've played with in the past, including catcher Patrick Mazeika, has helped ease the transition to more innings with the Mets.

"Just having some familiar faces is great," Holderman said. "In spring training, they welcomed me in like family from the get-go, so I felt comfortable showing up every day and that makes it a lot easier to perform."

As both Holderman and Nogosek continue to hone their craft, they're both appreciative of the chance to contribute to the team with the best record in the National League.

"Every day, I just want to show up and give my team the best chance to win." Holderman said. " Whether that’s in a blowout game or a close game, it doesn’t matter to me. If I get a role as a late-inning guy, that would be great, but I’m happy where my feet are at and I’m going to try and dominate whatever role I have."

Andrew Tredinnick is the Mets beat writer for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to all Mets analysis, news, trades and more, please subscribe today and download our app. 

Email: atredinnick@gannett.com Twitter: @andrew_tred

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Colin Holderman, Stephen Nogosek growing, helping NY Mets bullpen