Reese Kaplan -- The Guys Who Throw Gasoline on the Fire

While there are a great many issues with the Mets as a team right now, there have been encouraging signs in various places.  Mark Vientos is starting to look as if the DH role might be a suitable one for his future.  Brett Baty in the past couple of games before last weekend began to show both his offensive and defensive chops.  

Ronny Mauricio makes everyone in the Mets fanverse wonder what took the club so long to recognize this young man's potential for the future?  Even some unlikely sources pitching for the team like Jose Butto have surprised many with consecutive solid outings.  Yes, while it's possible that not all will pan out as everyone envisions, the fact is that these heretofore unknown Mets are offering up the kind of play that the club had expected from others when 2023 began so long ago.

Noticeably absent from this list of rank positives is the performance of the New York Mets bullpen.  Now momentarily forget what Brooks Raley and Adam Ottavino have done.  Assume Edwin Diaz will return to the shutdown closer he has become.  No, we're not here to discuss these positives.  Instead, it's time to focus on the many others who have tried and failed to establish themselves as support for the starting rotation.

First of all, look down the list of relief pitchers and it's not exactly a star gallery of folks with great success during 2023 nor even in the recent past.  Arguably the best of this lot is familiar Mets veteran setup man, Drew Smith.  A long term connection to former Met Lucas Duda, Drew Smith has struggled with his health since joining this organization but until this year he's been way more good than bad.  While right now he's pitching to a mediocre 4.39 ERA with a gopher ball tendency, he's been far better.  

After debuting back in 2018 with a 27 game rookie stint with a 3.54 ERA, he seemed to get his ability to miss bats and stay in the strike zone together and improved significantly when able to pitch.  He was gone for all of 2019 and all but 8 games in 2020 before being healthy in 2021 when he went 3-1 over 31 games with a tiny 2.40 ERA and a WHIP of just 1.065.  Yes, that was indeed what the Mets hope he would become.  

2022 was not quite as stellar for Smith but 44 games and a 3.33 ERA again suggested he was a valuable member of the Mets support staff.   His late season improvement suggests he should not be a forgotten man, particularly when you look at the alternatives.

Right now most Mets fans and media types have already written off Smith as a necessary roster casualty for the 2024 season.  While you could make the case that he's not going to land in Cooperstown except as a tourist, the fact is he's far better than the rest of the options currently in house.  

For a quick reminder of that list, do the names Phil Bickford, Reed Garrett, Grant Hartwig, Jeff Brigham or Trevor Gott make you feel all warm and fuzzy about the guys who take the mound when the starter falters or exhausts himself?  I think not.  

How bad have this current crop of "Who?" pitchers been?  Well, the best of the rest could be Trevor Gott who through 30 games is logging a 4.62 ERA.  Grant Hartwig in 25 games trails him at 5.06.  Then comes Jeff Brigham whose 37 games for two teams ratcheted up a 5.26 ERA.  Phil Bickford has only had 16 games but when you sport a 6.88 ERA perhaps that's enough.  The lightest workload belongs to Reed Garrett who has appeared in just 6 contests but his ERA of 9.31 will surely make you shudder.  There is no David Robertson quality here.

So as much as folks have focused on the need to address the starting rotation, the desire to see the baby Mets mature and grow, the pursuit of some thunderous bats to add to the 2023 lackluster offensive output and the pride people have now that David Stearns is coming on board, it sure looks as if the biggest hole in the roster for the upcoming season is found in the bullpen.  

Now veteran relievers can be brought in who have had success in the past like Mychal Givens but then they don't replicate their better days.  You can cherry pick someone who far exceeds expectations like the one year of Aaron Loup.  Or you could try to pry away AAA talents from other clubs in deals you make to strengthen what has become the team's Achilles heel.

Help!