Reese Kaplan -- Gasoline on the Fire from the Pen

As happy as the Mets collective turnaround has been since the start of June, there’s not a single person even remotely interested in the future of the franchise that is not aware of the horrific condition of the New York Mets bullpen.  It seems nearly every day no matter who is handed the ball becomes a batting practice hurler for the opposition.  Some people on the Syracuse shuttle are only being given a single game to show what they can’t do.  Others have had a much more substantive career and a multitude of games during which they have failed spectacularly again, again and yet again.

However, before we jump too aggressively up and down on the spines of the failed relievers, let’s take a moment to celebrate the pending return of the sticky offender, Edwin Diaz.  Whether or not his good fortune recently before the citation for alleged foreign substance on his pitching hand was or was not true, everyone is fully aware of how he struggled during the maleficent month of May.  It called to mind his rookie season for the boys in blue and orange.  Then he did a tremendous turnaround and followed it up with legendary types of numbers that led to his monster contract.

Now having endured the silly WBC injury that cost him his entire 2023 season and an extremely uneven 2024 before the umpire intervention, the very suggestion of sticky material on his hand would lead one to question whether or not it was an overly aggressive ump or was he onto something that has thus far flown under the radar?  That’s another rant for another day.

Moving forward, the bullpen gets the return of Mr. Diaz this coming weekend, so it may be time to consider a major roster change.  Understand that while suspended, the Mets have been operating shorthanded.  Consequently they don’t need to remove anyone to make room for their 8th reliever.  Given how badly the relievers have done overall, keeping 8 of them around might be desirable. 

Right now it’s almost like you throw a dart at the wall with the list of relievers on it and where it lands is an equally valid and viable option.  As of the close of business July 3rd, the Mets still have as relief pitchers Adam Ottavino, Jake Diekman, Reed Garrett, Deniel Nunez, Jose Butto, Adrian Houser and Ty Adcock.  The obvious move would be Adcock who is a 27 year old veteran of a single game with the Mets after a dozen with the Mariners in 2023.  He hasn’t done anything ostensibly wrong in his extremely limited Mets tenure, but he makes no money and has no stat sheet to wave positively.  For me, not having imploded buys him more time.  Nunez has been more good than bad so he is safe, too.

Now you get into the group of hurlers who have had several years in baseball on-again/off-again due to health or performance.  Ottavino is probably safe given his Mets and former Yankee ties to manager Carlos Mendoza.  Reed Garrett went from unhittable to unpredictable.  The early season good likely buys him some more time.  Adrian Houser likely has a soft spot with David Stearns who brought him on board from the Brewers where they both formerly worked.  Jose Butto was never a reliever but he has pitched effectively both in the minors and majors so he is likely a no-go. 

The odd man out here is 2024 free agent addition Jake Diekman.  Right now at age 37 he’s likely not going to blossom all of the sudden into a markedly better pitcher.  He has spent 13 seasons in the majors and while never pushing towards closing duties, he’s been a setup reliever and likely an artifact known as a LOOGY when it was possible to face a single hitter.  His ERA after the closing loss to the Nationals is 4.73.  He’s been in 36 games and is likely going to eclipse 70 by year’s end but he’s not showing that he’s contributing any real positives.  To be fair, he’s holding opposing hitters to a low batting average but he’s given up 21 walks to go along with his 31 strikeouts.  If he was not left handed (and if the club had another southpaw option) we’d be talking about a DFA for Diekman.  He earns $4 million this year and automatically renews for 2025 at the same rate if he appears in 58 games.  Tick-tock, tick-tock...

An old idea that may be worth considering again if you aren’t bringing in help via trades with other clubs is transitioning David Peterson to the pen to take the place of the Diekman left handed horror show.  Remember that Peterson started the season on the IL and was not penciled in to be a regular starter.  When Kodai Senga is ready to return someone’s got to go, so why not start thinking that way now?  Jose Butto could cover for Peterson in the rotation.

What do you all think?