Anthony Gose hoping to catch on with Mets after switch from outfield to mound

PORT ST.LUCIE — Joey Gallo hit 208 homers over his 10-year career as a major league hitter.

On Sunday, he announced he was giving up his bat following a significant drop in production the past three years to become a pitcher.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets from spring training Anthony Gose doesn’t have Gallo’s résumé — and didn’t flame out in The Bronx like he did — but the lefty swinger and thrower did play 140 games with 535 plate appearances as the Tigers everyday center fielder in 2015.And he’s now trying to extend his career as a lefty reliever with the Mets.“All I wanted to do was hit and play center field,” Gose said at Clover Park.

“I did it as long as I could.It took me a while to stop having a hitter’s mentality.”He took a step back at the plate in 2016 and continued his downward trajectory heading into 2017.“I just didn’t hit enough,” Gose said.

“Teams liked me as a pitcher coming up out of high school.I threw 97 mph.

But I wanted to hit.I had a good year in 2015 and got off to a slow start in 2016 and never got out of it.”So Gose — then 27 — went to the Tigers front office in spring training of 2017 and suggested he go back to pitching.He headed back to High-A and ended up in the Rangers organization a year later, where he got up to Double-A Frisco before signing with Cleveland.Gose worked his way back to the majors by 2021, pitching six games for Cleveland that season and 22 more for them a year later before his career was derailed again by Tommy John surgery later that season.He returned a year ago, spending most of the season at Triple-A Columbus, but got into three games with the Guardians.Now, he wants to be a left-handed option for the Mets, the only team that offered him a minor league contract this past offseason.“Jobs are hard to come by,” Gose said.He acknowledged he didn’t pitch as well a...