New Mets reliever David Robertson is fine with setup role
David Robertson, who has setup and closing experience, said, “I’ll throw the first inning through the ninth. It doesn’t matter to me.” Credit: AP/Jeff Chiu
In a game with so many big egos, David Robertson wants to be clear: Why, yes, he is quite comfortable not being the closer and instead serving as a setup man for Edwin Diaz. That is what he happily signed up for in joining the Mets.
“I’ve never been a guy who really cares when I pitch. I want to win,” Robertson said during his introductory video news conference Wednesday, expressing the same sentiment he did in July, when the Mets considered acquiring him from the Cubs. “Sometimes, there’s somebody who is better suited to be at the back end than me. And that’s fine with me, it doesn’t bother me one bit. I just gotta get the ball to that guy, because that’s what he’s there for. I don’t really worry about it. I’ll throw the first inning through the ninth. It doesn’t matter to me.”
Such is the perspective of a pitcher in the twilight of his career. Robertson, 38 next season, broke into the majors with the Yankees in 2008 and won a World Series with them in 2009. Despite lots of trips to the postseason, he didn’t get back to a World Series until this past fall with the Phillies.
In between, he became Mariano Rivera’s successor as the Yankees’ closer, made more than $80 million, played with four other clubs, missed nearly all of 2019-20 because of injury and revived his career by helping the United States to a silver medal at the 2021 Olympics.
Now he is with the Mets — back in New York, back in the late innings, back on a team expected to compete for a championship.
“You look at the payroll and what they’re putting out there and they’re trying to get what they think are the right guys,” Robertson said. “I’m glad to be a part of that group.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
