The Mets will rely on their bullpen depth more than ever. Who can step up?

New York Times

01-03-2025

The New York Mets used 28 relief pitchers last year, from Adam Ottavino's 60 appearances to one each for Matt Festa and position players Eddy Alvarez and Luis Torrens.
New York's bullpen transformed itself throughout the season. Edwin Díaz's set-up men shifted from Ottavino and Brooks Raley to Dedniel Núñez and José Buttó to Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek. By the end of the season, the pen was unrecognizable from Opening Day.
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The Mets head into this season aiming to use a six-man rotation for a large chunk of the season — a roster framework that would necessarily shorten their bullpen. So don't be surprised if that pen is just as fluid as it was a year ago, if not more. David Stearns and Co. have prepared for it: The Mets are carrying seven relievers on the 40-man roster with minor-league options, meaning they can move between the majors and minors all year without being exposed to waivers. Five of them have been acquired since the trade deadline last year.
That all makes this exercise, which will take two parts, as worthwhile as ever. You know about Díaz and Stanek and Reed Garrett. Let's examine all the pitchers you're less familiar with right now but who may play critical roles sometime between Opening Day and Game 162.
As it stands, New York has four pitchers solidly in their Opening Day bullpen: Díaz, Stanek, Garrett and Buttó. If A.J. Minter and Núñez are healthy, they'll take up two more spots, and another could go temporarily to a starter like Paul Blackburn. So anywhere from one to four spots could still be up for grabs.
A reminder: It's easier to call up pitchers on the 40-man roster, and pitchers with options can be moved more freely between the majors and minors.
Today's Part 1 focuses on players on the 40-man roster. Tomorrow's Part 2 looks at non-roster invitees to camp.
Acquired: Trade with Toronto ahead of the 2021 season
Status: On the 40-man roster without minor-league options. If he's not on the Opening Day roster, he must be designated for assignment and pass through waivers.
Repertoire: Fastball, changeup, slider
2024: 1.66 ERA with 25 strikeouts in 21 2/3 major-league innings
Reid-Foley had two different stints on the injured list last season for a right shoulder impingement, the second one costing him the final three months of the season. He appeared on the verge of a return in August before his command went awry during his minor-league rehab assignment. Reid-Foley has a relatively solid track record in the majors when healthy, he can pitch multiple innings and he's out of minor-league options. Combine those three facts and you've got a front-runner for an Opening Day spot in the pen.
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Acquired: Signed as a minor-league free agent ahead of the 2024 season
Status: On the 40-man roster without minor-league options. If he's not on the Opening Day roster, he must be designated for assignment and pass through waivers.
Repertoire: Sweeper, sinker
2024: 4.54 ERA with 48 strikeouts in 37 2/3 major-league innings (1.26 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 14 1/3 Triple-A innings)
Young was a success story from this list last year: a pitcher who appeared toward the bottom of it who ended up getting some big outs and earning a spot on the postseason roster.
'For a guy like me, it's all you're ever wanting. You just want a chance to have a little run,' Young said of 2024. 'At times, I did a phenomenal job and at times I did a horrible job. Those are all learning experiences.'
Young's emphasis over the winter and into spring is on adding a cutter to help him against right-handed batters, who had a .738 OPS against him last season (compared to .527 for lefties). His chances of making the Opening Day roster will go way up if Minter needs extra time to recover from his hip surgery.
Acquired: Signed as a free agent to a split contract last November
Status: On the 40-man roster with three minor-league options, meaning he can shuttle between the majors and minors throughout the season.
Repertoire: Fastball, cutter, changeup, slider
2024: 4.91 ERA with 98 strikeouts in 91 2/3 Triple-A innings for Boston
The right-handed Hagenman had made nine starts over his first three seasons of pro ball before making 15 last year at Triple-A Worcester in the Red Sox organization. That was a welcome transition, he said.
'Everyone wants to be a starter. You control the game,' he said. 'I was happy I could prove myself that I could do it and face lineups multiple times and get hitters out multiple ways.'
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Hagenman has already moved up the depth chart this spring because of the injuries in the rotation ahead of him. His comfort pitching both out of the rotation and out of the pen, as well as the presence of minor-league options, makes him an appealing candidate to eat innings when needed.
Acquired: Trade with Miami last July
Status: On the 40-man roster with three minor-league options, meaning he can shuttle between the majors and minors throughout the season.
Repertoire: Fastball, sinker, changeup, cutter
2024: 3.83 ERA with 51 strikeouts in 51 2/3 major-league innings for Miami and New York
The acquisition of Brazobán (and Tyler Zuber) last July showed how Stearns valued minor-league options in his relief corps. Last year's Mets lacked the roster flexibility such options provide; New York designated six pitchers for assignment within the first month of the season, including Michael Tonkin twice.
Of course, that strategy works best when optionable pitchers perform at the major-league level, and Brazobán struggled more with the Mets than he had with the Marlins. New York is still looking for the best way to leverage a terrific changeup into something more than a long man.
Acquired: Claimed off waivers from Milwaukee last November
Status: On the 40-man roster with three minor-league options, meaning he can shuttle between the majors and minors throughout the season.
Repertoire: Fastball, changeup, cutter
2024: 1.59 ERA with nine strikeouts in 11 1/3 major-league innings for Milwaukee (2.27 ERA with 59 strikeouts in 47 2/3 Triple-A innings)
Herget's carrying skill is his changeup, which stands out for its lack of downward movement. Whereas most pitchers want that pitch to fall off the table, Herget prefers that his moves more horizontally.
'I'm not trying to fight to get depth,' he said. 'The separation between my fastball and changeup is enough that the horizontal move makes it different.'
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Herget's paltry strikeout numbers in his major-league cameos aren't reflective of the quality of his stuff, he said.
'I've never been in a ton of high-leverage situations. I'm more of a clean-up guy,' he said. 'The goal there isn't to strike guys out, it's to be efficient. They don't really care that much if you give up a run. Your goal is to save pitching for the upcoming week.'
Acquired: Trade with Tampa Bay last July
Status: On the 40-man roster with three minor-league options, meaning he can shuttle between the majors and minors throughout the season.
Repertoire: Fastball, sweeper, cutter, changeup
2024: 2.70 ERA with four strikeouts in 2 1/3 major-league innings for Tampa Bay (6.69 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 37 2/3 Triple-A innings between Tampa Bay and New York)
When you ask most players in the clubhouse what they want to accomplish in spring training, the typical responses include staying healthy, having fun, or gaining familiarity with a new organization. And then there's Zuber, who looks you straight in the eye and without hesitation says, 'Make the team.'
'That's my goal, that's what I worked for, that's what I trained for,' Zuber said. 'I know they traded for me for a reason. I didn't prove it last year, but I'm here to prove it this year.'
Zuber struggled significantly in Triple A after coming over from the Rays at the deadline. He believed he put too much pressure on himself in the immediate aftermath of the trade and got away from attacking hitters as aggressively as he had earlier in the year. To Zuber, those struggles provided a silver lining: He spent the winter tweaking his sinker, making his gyro slider a cutter and adding a changeup.
Unlike Herget, Zuber emphasizes depth with his changeup. He's adopted a 'kick change' grip, where you spike the middle finger on the ball. That's allowed the change to mirror his four-seam fastball before diving down — ideally about 15 inches below his fastball.
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Zuber likes the new diversity in his mix. During a windy live BP early this spring, his sweeper wasn't breaking its usual amount. So he could shift to throwing his sinker and changeup, which move in the other direction, to take better advantage of the conditions.
'It gives me more tools in the toolbox to work with,' he said.
Acquired: Claimed off waivers from Pittsburgh in January 2024
Status: On the 40-man roster with three minor-league options, meaning he can shuttle between the majors and minors throughout the season.
Repertoire: Fastball, slider, sweeper, curveball, sinker
2024: 3.57 ERA with 53 strikeouts in 63 Triple-A innings
When Kranick shifted to the bullpen last May, the biggest adjustment he had to make was gaining comfort with pitching outside the strike zone.
'I don't know if self-consciously, I'm a strike-thrower so I want to be over the plate as much as I can,' he said. 'Now (with two strikes), let's take chances and expand the zone a bit.'
Kranick thought at times he tried to be too fine in two-strike counts with either his hard gyro slider or his new sweeper, resulting in a pitch left over the plate. (He served up four of his 12 home runs last year with two strikes.)
'That was my offseason focus: two-strike execution,' he said. 'I think I'd get a lot more swing-and-miss with a little better execution.'
Kranick, a surprising inclusion on the roster for the Wild Card Series last fall, is off to a nice start this spring and has put himself in the running for one of the final bullpen spots.
'I'm just trying to position myself to give myself the best chance, whether it's the end of camp or early in the season,' he said. 'Just trying to be that next man up.'
Acquired: Claimed off waivers from San Francisco in January
Status: On the 40-man roster with three minor-league options, meaning he can shuttle between the majors and minors throughout the season.
Repertoire: Slider, sinker, fastball, cutter, changeup
2024: 1.69 ERA with seven strikeouts in 10 2/3 major-league innings for San Francisco (4.70 ERA 27 strikeouts in 23 Triple-A innings)
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Warren didn't become a pitcher until he was a sophomore at Wake Technical Community College in North Carolina, reluctantly giving up his dream of making it to Division I as a shortstop. The transition has paid off, though, first with a sparkling season at UNC-Wilmington and now with big-league cameos in each of the past four seasons and a career 3.14 ERA at the level.
(Top photo of Danny Young: Justin Edmonds / Getty Images)