Mets Have Been Looking for 'Outside' Help With Relief Pitching, per Report

The Mets bullpen has been tested with closer Edwin Diaz suspended the last nine games.
May 14, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza (64) makes a pitching change during the seventh inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
May 14, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza (64) makes a pitching change during the seventh inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
In this story:

According to a report from Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, the New York Mets have looked outside the organization for help fortifying its bullpen. The anecdote was part of a story from DiComo on the return of closer Edwin Diaz, who was serving a 10-game suspension after he was ejected for excessive use of "sticky stuff" during an outing on June 23.

Using ERA as a marker, Mets relief pitchers have been middle of the road, but the Queens bullpen pitchers have logged the second-most strikeouts in MLB according to FanGraphs (as well as the second-best strikeout rate of all 30 bullpens). New York's bullpen has been called on for 31.1 innings during the suspension. About a third of those innings were rated as medium or high-leverage scenarios.

While that rate is not abnormal for the entire staff, DiComo's reporting points out that several bullpen pitchers have been rotated on and off the roster in Diaz's absence.

In general, the bullpen does not have a ton of mileage on it this year, with New York having pitched a 14th-highest 310.2 innings of relief. But it's also rarely a bad idea to stock up on more arms, and the Mets are in a very different spot now than they were even weeks ago. New York is now just 2.5 games out of a playoff position, which may lead to New York being aggressive at the trade deadline.

Diaz will be eligible to return on Sunday.


Published
Josh Wilson
JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.