Inside The Mets

Insider's eye-opening New York Mets stat could raise red flags

Is this New York Mets stat a reason for fans to be concerned?

Grant Young

Jul 7, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher Edwin Diaz (39) reacts after securing the win against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the ninth inning at PNC Park. The Mets won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Jul 7, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher Edwin Diaz (39) reacts after securing the win against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the ninth inning at PNC Park. The Mets won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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The New York Mets might have had the best offseason in the franchise's history, considering all of the moves they made to improve their roster for the 2025 season.

However, if there's one aspect to this team that didn't see a ton of major changes, it's the Mets' bullpen. They did sign former Braves left-handed hurler A.J. Minter (who just returned to the mound after offseason hip surgery) to a two-year, $22 million deal.

But signing Minter is the only notable move New York's front office made regarding their bullpen, who produced a combined 4.03 ERA during the 2024 regular season.

While this statistic doesn't raise any concerns about how this Mets bullpen will fare in 2025, ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan pointed another 2024 stat out in a March 14 article that, if things go slightly more awry, could become a major issue in Queens.

Read more: Mets' Clay Holmes reveals ex-Yankees teammate's help in crafting crucial pitch

Passan conveyed that the Mets had a 28-16 record in one-run games last season, which is an extremely impressive testament to their bullpen. However, given that New York made the playoffs by the skin of their teeth, just one of these games being flipped to a loss would have meant the Mets missed the playoffs entirely, which would have drastically shifted their 2025 outlook.

Therefore, Passan seems to suggest that Mets fans could be concerned with what their bullpen looks like right now, and whether it can be expected to shoulder that same burden as well as it did one season ago. Of course, there's also always the potential for more relievers to get added via trade during the season.

Hopefully the Mets' improved lineup will make the team less inclined toward playing in tight games in 2025. But if that's not the case, their bullpen will have another stressful season ahead of them.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Mets and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.

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