Reese Kaplan -- The Pen Has Been Better Than Just Edwin Diaz

The Dodgers have come and gone, realizing that the New York Mets are not the easy pickings they had believed them to be.  It was a three game series and after the Mets folded in game one to Andrew Heaney and former short-term Met Jake Reed, it appeared as if they might have been right.  

Then, of course, they ran smack into Jacob deGrom (and Brandon Nimmo and Edwin Diaz) in the middle game of the series which went into the W column for Queens' finest, a live Timmy Trumpet salute and all.  Then yesterday the Mets sent Chris Bassitt to the task of vanquishing the Dodgers and despite a less than stellar outing from Edwin Diaz, Adam Ottavino got the Save and the Mets finished this series winning 2 out of 3.  

Originally I had intended to do a one-on-one matchup of the Mets bullpen with what the Dodgers had to offer to support their fine starting pitchers, but with Los Angeles no longer in the picture, let's just focus on the Mets bullpen to determine what is and what is not working.

To start with the first part, is anyone more feared coming out of the pen than Edwin Diaz?  I don't have to reiterate the crazy numbers he's put up in terms of strikeouts and his 29 Saves is a good start going into September when 40 Saves is still possible.  Sign the man to a long term deal.  He's gotten over his New York heebie jeebies and even in a recent less-than-stellar few appearances, his ERA for the entire season is up to a still eye-popping 1.52.  

The next guy to salute for work above and beyond reasonable expectation is Adam Ottavino.  The setup reliever has performed in both leagues (including for the Yankees) and given quality most seasons.  His career 3.46 ERA is certainly quite good, but in the 2022 season he's down to 2.01 for the Mets.  In 73 games for the Yankees he once put up a 1.90 ERA but at the time he was struggling a bit with walks.  This year he's striking out over 10 and walking just over 2 per 9 IP, so he's at a whole other level.  When he was signed most folks felt he would be a good fit to help Trevor May and Seth Lugo but he's turned himself into a major cog in Buck Showalter's machine.

In previous years, the aforementioned Lugo was "the guy" when you needed multiple innings or simply someone who could offer a bridge to the closer.  As a reliever in his career he's shown he's much better out of the pen that in starting games.  In 2018 and 2019 exclusively as a reliever he had a 2.68 ERA.  In 2020 he added 7 starts and frankly was forgettable.  In 2021 he pitched in 46 games strictly out of the pen and finished with a 3.50 ERA -- a bit higher than his other bullpen-only years but still decent.  This year has been better than that with a 3.14 ERA over 51 games.  Although he's likely to leave for his Dennis Eckersley in reverse idea of becoming a starter in his mid 30s, he's been quite capable.

No discussion of good news for the Mets is incomplete without a review of what Trevor Williams has done for the club.  He's been up and down on the roster, but look at the numbers.  His record is only 2-5 which would make you think he's not been good, but it comes with a 2.84 ERA over 23 games, 14 out of the pen and 9 as a starter.  He's likely going to want to find a team that will hand him the ball as part of its rotation every 5th day, so his future with the Mets is murky at best.

Drew Smith had been almost automatic this year until he too succumbed to health problems.  For the 2022 season he was pitching to a 3.51 ERA which is a little deceiving because prior to issues arising with his ability to perform without pain, he was mowing people down regularly.  It is not strange considering he featured a 2.83 ERA for 2021.  He's still inexpensive and once fully recovered should be a part of the pen in the future.  

Now Trevor May came in during 2021 from the Twins and over the course of 68 games pitched to a 3.59 ERA which was better than he had done in Minnesota.  This year he ran into physical problems which are reflected in his very subpar numbers.  As of right now he's only been in 18 games and is pitching to an ERA of 6.11.  Expect the Mets will not make him a QO either.  

Mychal Givens was brought here based up on his 2.66 ERA with the Cubs. He seemingly left his better pitching in the Windy City as his 12 games for New York have led to an ERA of 8.03.  Everyone can look at his record and know he's not that kind of pitcher.  In fact, in his last game for the Mets he was three-up and three-down against one of the best teams in baseball.  He's a pending free agent but it's likely the Mets will talk about getting him at a bit of a discount to come back based upon his poor initial showing in New York.

The rest of the pen has been rather forgettable between Joely Rodriguez, Tommy Hunter, Stephen Nogosek (IL) and Adonis Medina.  For all of the much spewed hatred for the relievers and towards GM Billy Eppler, it is really one guy he inherited with health problems in May and one who he picked up at the deadline in Givens who have gotten many opportunities and not delivered.  The Miguel Castro trade for Rodriguez looked especially bad in the beginning, but Castro has been on the IL for awhile now and not helping his team.  

On the whole I think the bullpen gets a grade of B.  That value is helped immensely by Diaz, Ottavino, Lugo, Williams, and, when healthy, Smith.  It's depressed by May, Givens and the others.  However, the good is so good that it outweighs a lesser overall mark.