Reese Kaplan -- Who Departs When Dedniel Nunez Returns?

For the final five weeks of the season the Mets have some difficult roster decisions to make.  Occasionally they are relatively easy such as the DFA of Ben Gamel when Starling Marte finished his injury rehabilitation.  No one could say that Gamel’s departure was shocking nor unexpected.

However, surprising relief contributor Dedniel Nunez is due to rejoin the club in San Diego Friday and this time around the change in the roster is a little less clear.  You could go with the up again and down again Danny Young, but that means you are making a righty heavy bullpen even more so.  Still, he has less of a club affiliation nor track record to warrant long term consideration to be a part of the playoff push roster.

Short term Mets Ryne Stanek and Phil Maton do have that longer term back of the baseball card that suggest they are unlikely to be purged in the attempt to create a roster vacancy.  While neither has been truly outstanding, right now average is all that’s required to make a home in the Mets bullpen. 

Obviously Jose Butto has been outstanding as a born anew relief pitcher and other than possibly shifting him back into the rotation if the need arises, it would be absolutely ludicrous to change what has been working so very well. 

Edwin Diaz is the closer and after a somewhat shaky transition back into the role after suspension, he’s already demonstrated how absolutely unhittable he can be when everything is working right.  An All Star level closer in the recent past, he’s not getting touched. 

Struggling reliever Huascar Brazoban didn’t do himself any favors by coughing up a couple of runs in the 9th inning in the lopsided victory the Mets had over the Orioles.  Still, prior to coming to New York from the Marlins he was incredibly effective with a now seemingly unfathomable .293 ERA with an eye popping .179 batting average against.  Given his late arrival to the majors and his less than spectacular record before his 2024 20 game stint with Miami, he does not necessarily project to be immovable.  On his positive side, however, is the prospect he could reacquire his 3:1 strikeout to walk ratio as he did under the Florida sun and his very inexpensive contract with long term control.

Now comes the perhaps smartest choice for the Mets to make and it is one that would show both great faith in Nunez and the end of the road for a veteran Mets player.  Setup man Adam Ottavino has been brutal of late and is on a contract expiring at year’s end.  Right now he’s pitching to a 4.57 ERA.  He’s striking people out and not giving up too many free passes, but 2022 saw him achieve a 2.06 ERA and in 2023 it was 3.21.  You see the big 38 year old’s output is moving in the wrong direction.  Still, as a veteran who started his career back in 2010 it would be a surprising cut to make.

The other player on a very short leash would be recently returned righty Reed Garrett.  Yes, we all saw his other worldly capability earlier in the year, but then the injury bug hit his pitching hard and he was not the same type of reliever anymore.  Now he’s back and for the unbalanced year he has a .238 BAA with a 3.91 ERA.  These are by far the best numbers of his injury-plagued career and it is not inconceivable for the front office to concluded they’ve already gotten the best out of him that they could hope.  He walks a few too many and is sporting a not too impressive 1.48 WHIP which makes keeping runners from crossing the plate.

Of course, there is no sign of a return from Sean Reid-Foley which could make the Nunez return the last bullpen option.