Adam Ottavino: Mets Brooklyn Born Italian / American Relief Pitcher (2022 - 2024)

Adam Robert Ottavino was born November 22nd, 1985, in Manhattan, New York City. The Ottavino family moved to Park Slope Brooklyn, where he attended school & high school. 

Italian Upbringing: The Italian /American New Yorker said his Italian upbringing always had him around food with parents, grandparents & in laws always thinking he needed more to eat. His father was also a good cook he added. In 2009 he would pitch for Team Italy in the WBC.

Adam attended Northeastern University in Boston pitching for the Huskies baseball team, setting school records for season & career strike outs.

In 2006 he was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals as a first-round pick, the 30th player chosen overall.

On May 29th, 2010, Ottavino debuted for the Cardinals, making a start giving up four runs to the Cubs at Wrigley Field taking a loss. He made two more starts, including a six run, nine hit outing in 3.2 innings to the Diamondbacks in Arizona. 

He was put in the bullpen then sent back down in early July. After  pitching 2011 in the minors, he was placed on waivers & picked up by the Colorado Rockies.

Ottavino went a surprising 5-1 in his first season at Colorado although his ERA was 4.56. He spent seven seasons with the Rockies, pitching as a reliever. In those years he was 17-18 with 17 saves & a 3.41 ERA making 361 appearances. 

He would make 75 appearances twice in those seven seasons, finishing 15 games or more three times. In 2018 he had a career high 112 strike outs in 77.2 innings pitched.

2018 Post Season: Adam appeared in the NLWC game win over the Chicago Cubs, giving up a run in the 2-1 win. In Game #1 of the NLDS he allowed a 10th inning walk off single to the Brewers Mike Moustakis, taking the loss. The Brewers

Trivia: In 2013 he changed his uniform number to 0. He was the first played on the A.L. New York club to don that number as it is also the only single digit not retired by the team.

In 2019 he signed a three-year deal with the A.L. New York team, having a solid first year there making 73 appearances with a 6-5 record & a 1.90 ERA. 

2019 Post Season: He appeared in all three games of the ALDS & five games of the ALCS loss to the Astros. In Game #2 he gave up a game tying HR to George Springer, Houston won it on Carlos Correa's walk off HR. 

In Game #3 he came on in the 7th inning allowing a walk to Springer & single to Jose Altuve before being removed. Zack Britton ended up allowing both runners to score in the 4-1 loss.

After the Covid-19 shortened 2020 season he was traded to the Boston Red Sox for cash considerations. In 2021 he went 7-3 with 11 saves for the Red Sox, posting a 4.21 ERA.

2021 Post Season: In Game #1 of the ALDS, Ottavino pitched a scoreless 8th inning finishing the game 5-0 loss to the Tampa Rays. In the ALCS he made four appearances in the loss to the Astros, getting credit for a hold in Game #4. In Game #6 he gave up a three run HR to Kyle Tucker in the 5-0 loss.

Mets career: In 2022 he signed a one-year contract with New York Mets. The Mets won 101 games that year, with Ottavino serving as a setup man with 19 holds leading to closer Edwin Diaz & his 32 saves. 

On April 19th, he collected his first victory, coming in an extra inning win over the Giants, highlighted by Francisco Lindor's walk off base hit. 

On April 30th he blew a 1-0 lead serving up a HR to the Phillies Kyle Schwaber & RBI double to Odubel Herrera, taking his first loss.

In May he earned a win against the Mariners & at the end of June took a loss in Miami allowing a walk off HR to Nick Fortes to get to 2-2.

A busy July had him earn three victories with four holds & a blown save in another game with the Marlins, although the Mets did come out winners. 

On August 25th, he earned his first Mets save, coming in a 3-1 win at Colorado. On August 27th, he notched his second save, also coming over the Rockies. 

On September 1st he earned his third save of the year, coming in a win over the Dodgers at Citi Field 

On September 3rd another HR had him take a loss to the Nationals. He gave up six HRs on the season.

Mets Clinch Play Off Berth: On September 19th, in a 7-2 win at Milwaukee, he recorded the final out striking out Hunter Renfroe finishing off the game as the Mets clinched a playoff spot.

On the regular season he was 6-3 with three saves posting a 2.06 ERA. His 2.06 ERA was the fourth best mark for a Mets reliever in their first season with the club.

He struck out 79 batters walking 16 in 65.2 innings. Ottavino made a team leading 66 appearances while finishing off 19 games. He collected twenty holds (sixth most in the NL). Adam threw seven wild pitches (9th most in the NL).

2022 Post Season: In the Wild Card loss to the Padres, Ottavino came in relief of Edwin Diaz in the 8th inning, striking out Brandon Drury to end the inning. In the 9th he gave up three walks & hit a batter, allowing a run before being replaced by Seth Lugo who closed out the 7-2 Mets win.

2023: After a disappointing post season, the Mets 2023 season was even more of a disaster. The Mets signed Ottavino to a two-year deal that December. 

When Edwin Diaz went down for the season after an embarrassing season ending injury at the WBC, the Mets closer job was up for grabs. David Roberston would lead with 14 saves & Ottavino was second with 12. 

On Opening Day, he pitched a scoreless 8th inning against the Marlins to earn a hold in the 6-2 win. On April 12th, he earned his first save closing out a 5-2 win over the Padres at Citi Field. Later that week he earned two saves in Los Angeles on the west coast road trip.

On a May 3rd double header in Detroit,
Ottavino blew an 8th inning lead taking the 6-5 loss in the first game. That month he reached his 5th save, finishing up a May 26th win at Colorado & closed out the month with credit in two holds in a series with the Phillies.

On July 15th, he was credited with a loss in the Mets 5-1 loss to the Dodgers at Citi Field, that dropped him to 0-4.

From August 13th to September 18th, He allowed just one earned run & four hits in 13.2 innings

in 13 appearances, posting a 0.66 ERA. Ottavino did not get his first victory until August 27th in a win over the L.A. Angels at Cirti Field. It was his only win of the long season.

In September he would collect five saves but also took three losses, two of them in his last two appearances. 

On the season he went 1-7 with 12 saves & 11 holds posting a 3.21 ERA striking out 62 & walking 29 in 61.1 innings. His 36 games finished was tenth in the league. Ottavino was granted free agency after the season then signed on with the Mets again in January 2024.

In the off season he won the Good Guy Award at the BBWAA dinner for a person who is excellent

with the media.

Quotes: Adam Ottavino: "It means a lot to me. As a kid every morning when I would go to school on the F Train, I would stop at the Bodega & grab the NY Post the Daily News, flip right to the back & start reading the articles. Rember there was no internet at the time, so I was insatiable for any baseball information I could get. I've always really appreciated the jobs you guys do".

2024 Mets Wild Card Season: Ottavino began the season with a hold in the third game of the season. 

On April 5th, he gave up a walk off HR to the Brewers Garrett Mitchell in a 7-6 loss. On April 15th, he was the winning pitcher when the Mets put up three 8th inning runs to beat the Pirates at Citi Field.

On May 7th, he earned his first & only save of the season which came in a 7-5 win over the Cardinals in St. Louis. 

He then earned four straight saves in a row before taking a blown save & loss to the Dodgers back-to-back at Citi Field. At the start of June his ERA was just below six (5.98) as he collected five more holds as the Mets began to get hot into July.

On July 24th, he earned his 14th hold of the season, although he gave up a run in the Mets 3-2 subway series win at the Bronx. The next night, he was the winning pitcher of the Mets 12-3 win in the subway series two game sweep.

Over the final two months of the season, as the Mets were in wild card contention, he made just 17 appearances earning one hold while finishing off four games. In September he made seven appearances, not allowing a run in six of those games.  On September 20th, he gave up three runs in the 12-2 loss to the Phillies at Citi Field. It was the only loss as the Mets took three of four in the big series.

Mets clinch Playoff Berth: On September 30th in the first game of a rescheduled double header in Atlanta, he pitched a scoreless 7th inning, leaving with the Mets down 3-0. They scored six runs in the top of the 8th, then Edwin Diaz blew the lead in the bottom of the 8th. But Francisco Lindor's two run HR led them to victory clinching a playoff spot.

2024 Post Season: Ottavino made his sixth post season but did not pitch in any of the Mets post season games in the NWC-NLDS or NLCS.

Career Stats: In his 14-year career he has pitched for five teams, including both New York teams.
He is 41-43 with 46 saves & a 3.49 ERA. He has struck out 859 walked 326 in 743 innings in 724 appearances.

Family: Adam & his wife Brette have two daughters & reside in Dyker Heights Brooklyn.

Trivia- Pitching Lab: In 2017 he rented a vacant store front in Harlem that his father-in-law owned on St. Nicholas Ave. He converted the former Chuck E. Cheese it into a pitching lab. 

At first he used it after dropping his kids off at school & then it became a place to instruct as well as learn from the data of technology for amateur players. Many big leaguers also stopped by to lend a hand.