BALTIMORE -- The first time Alex Carrillo hit 100 mph, he did not believe what his coaches were telling him.
“I was like, ‘No I didn’t,’” Carrillo said, laughing.
At the time, Carrillo was pitching for the Washington Wild Things of the independent Frontier League, not long after he strongly considered quitting baseball altogether. At the start of this decade, Carrillo was sitting in the mid-80s with his fastball. He didn’t see much of a future for himself. But consistent work with the Art of Pitching lab in Southern California, along with a dedication to eating right and working out properly, led to steady increases in Carrillo’s stuff.
By the time Carrillo made it to the Venezuelan Winter League last offseason, he was routinely hitting triple digits on the radar gun. Only then did he believe the numbers he was seeing.
“I was like, ‘Heck yeah, let’s do it,’” Carrillo said.
Around that same time, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza received a call from one of his contacts in Venezuela, who relayed the stories about Carrillo. Mendoza notified members of New York’s front office, who reached out to sign him.
Half a year later, Carrillo is in the Majors for the first time. The Mets on Tuesday called up the 28-year-old right-hander, activating him prior to Tuesday’s game against the Orioles.
“Pretty cool story there,” Mendoza said.
It’s another scouting-and-development win for the Mets, who last month debuted a similar rookie, Jonathan Pintaro, whom they signed out of the Frontier League. The organization’s success in that area is no coincidence. One rival talent evaluator said New York is one of the few teams with a full-time scout who specializes in the independent leagues -- an area that has become more important since MLB shortened the Draft to 20 rounds in 2021 and shrunk the size of the Minor Leagues.
Because fewer players are in affiliated ball, an increased number of interesting prospects pop up elsewhere. But even within that world, Carrillo is an outlier.
An undrafted free agent who briefly played in Rookie ball in the Rangers’ organization in 2019, Carrillo spent ‘21-23 in the Frontier and Mexican Leagues. Although Carrillo’s velocity began to tick up into the 90s during those years, his control was an issue, leading his Mexican League team to release him out of Spring Training 2024.
With a 3-year-old at home, Carrillo was ready to retire, but his wife convinced him to pitch one more season. The proprietor of The Art of Pitching, Art Salazar, also got in his ear, as did Wild Things manager Tom Vaeth. Carrillo relented and continued to improve, hitting 100 mph for the first time that summer. He eventually found an agent, who directed him to Venezuela.
Not long after, the Giants expressed interest. Then the Mets came calling.
“I went through it,” Carrillo said. “But we’re here.”
With the Mets, Carrillo will serve as an optionable reliever whom they can potentially shuttle back and forth to the Minors for the next three seasons -- a valuable commodity in today’s game. He debuted Tuesday with multiple 99 mph fastballs in a 7-6, 10-inning win over the Orioles at Camden Yards, including one to freeze Jordan Westburg for his first career strikeout.
In addition to his four-seam fastball, Carrillo features a gyro slider and a split changeup, which he used to strike out 30 batters over 19 1/3 innings at Double-A Binghamton. Last month, the Mets promoted Carrillo to Triple-A Syracuse, where he did not allow a hit over four appearances.
“And now we’re here,” Carrillo said, standing in a Major League clubhouse for the first time at Camden Yards. “Happy to be here."