The Mets need to rebuild their bullpen. Who can help fix it?

New York Mets: Key Considerations to Rebuilding the Bullpen

Last spring, the Mets faced a setback early in the season when Edwin Díaz injured his knee celebrating a World Baseball Classic victory. This started a string of unraveling that led to the Mets’ bullpen becoming their biggest weakness by season’s end. With their new president of baseball operations, David Stearns, restructuring the bullpen with eleven relievers already moved, it’s evident that a lot of work lies ahead for the Mets in rebuilding their bullpen.

When it comes to evaluating their bullpen statistics from 2022 through 2023, a two-year sample is considered better than three. The various age brackets give a broader perspective of performance, including fielding-independent pitching (FIP), evaluating a pitcher off of strikeouts, walks, and home runs, as well as better statistics like strikeout percentage (K%) and walk percentage (BB%).

Moving forward, the Mets will have Díaz returning and will likely be investing significantly in the returning names in their bullpen, making it the biggest addition. However, despite little interest in renegotiating with Adam Ottavino, other interesting names have surfaced that couldn’t be ignored.

David Stearns and the new Mets front office have their work cut out for them as they evaluate middle relief options. With unknowns and potential throughout the lists provided, it’s up to the evaluators to separate themselves and make wise decisions for the Mets’ bullpen.

With a huge focus on the Mets’ best interests in mind, this list goes into detail about each player’s age, games, innings pitched, earned run average (ERA), fielding-independent pitching (FIP), strikeouts, walks, shut-downs and meltdowns, and their wins above replacement stats (WAR).

By the time the swingmen and fliers categories are considered, it’s clear the Mets’ evaluators have their work cut out for them to maximize the bullpen’s potential for the upcoming season. With players such as Hendriks, who are in question after Tommy John surgery, and others dealing with recent/ongoing injury rehab or poor results, the Mets will need to make careful choices and seek the best available talent to strengthen their bullpen.

And here’s where Stearns and the new Mets front office can separate themselves as evaluators. The middle relief options are a large chunk of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Someone here is going to be recording eighth-inning outs in the World Series; someone else is going to be DFA’d by Memorial Day.

(Photo of Edwin Díaz in 2022: Dustin Satloff / Getty Images)

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David Rodriguez

David Rodriguez brings the excitement of Major League Baseball to readers. With a deep appreciation for America’s pastime, he covers the latest MLB news, scores, and player achievements, keeping fans up to date with their favorite teams and players.