One well-traveled pitcher believes his stock is only rising in his return to the Mets organization
Right-hander Robert Stock, who inked a minor league pact this week that included an invite to spring training, is back with the Mets nearly five years after he last suited up for the team.
Stock, 36, sports a bloated 4.90 ERA through 57 career games – numbers that have led him to bounce around the baseball world since he was first drafted as a catcher back in 2009.
Since turning pro, Stock has been part of eight different MLB organizations, as well as playing in Korea, Mexico and two independent leagues.
“I’m 36 years old and have had extremely limited MLB success,” Stock said in an X thread. “And yet MLB teams continue to give me chances. Why? Because I continually find new ways to improve.”
After six seasons in the minors, Stock enjoyed a solid MLB debut in 2018, posting a 2.50 ERA in 32 games with the Padres. He failed to replicate that success in subsequent seasons with the Red Sox and Cubs.
Stock’s wife, Sara, even joked during the 2020 campaign she’d consider filing for divorce “if he keeps walking the lead-off batter.”
The Mets scooped him up in 2021, and after a solid first appearance at Citi Field, Stock suffered a season-ending hamstring injury in his next outing.
Despite being designated for assignments six times, injuries and the independent league stints, Stock has never considered stopping his pursuit of MLB success.
“Mostly because what else is there that’s better than playing baseball?” Stock told KSDK in 2019. “I played a year of independent baseball, and that’s about as low on the totem pole as you can get but it was one of the best times I’ve had playing baseball. There was no thought about stopping.”
He didn’t make it back to the majors until this past season — a brief stint that produced two rough appearances with the Red Sox and a 10.13 ERA — but Stock insists 2025 was a step forward.
“Newest trick for 2026 – the knucklecurve,” Stock continued, while breaking down a new delivery he was refined to strong results. “In 2025 I spent the year dedicated to throwing sidearm. It was very successful against [right-handed hitters], and terrible against [left-handed hitters].”
Stock included video of the pitch from last season with Boston’s Triple-A team and from his recent run with Águilas Cibaeñas in the Dominican winter league.
It remains a work in progress, but Stock said the early results are encouraging.
“But in my very last outing I threw a knucklecurve for the first time,” Stock said. “It instantly became my best pitch. Since then, I’ve thrown the pitch exactly 9 times. The results are 6 Ks, 1 checkswing groundout, and 2 balls.
“More importantly, it’s a much more platoon neutral pitch that has the potential to solve my woes against LHH.”
Stock’s velocity remains solid — his fastball touched 95 mph last year, per Baseball Savant — but his control (5.3 BB/9) and inability to limit hits (13.9 H/9) have hampered him in the majors.
Recent Mets history offers a blueprint, though. The club has turned journeymen into valuable bullpen arms, including Reed Garrett and Brooks Raley — and Stock believes he can follow that path.
“MLB teams agree, and I get to continue my journey to becoming a longtime, established MLB pitcher,” Stock said.
“So stay tuned to see how it works in 2026, and hope along with me that this is the year I can put the pieces together and help the Mets push deep into the playoffs! Let’s go Mets!”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
