There are always going to be bad relievers. But there are different levels of bad. There’s Adam Ottavino and his 4.89 ERA bad. Beyond that, there’s Jake Diekman and his 5.53 ERA bad. But in the first half, the Mets had seven relievers beyond Diekman-level bad. In alphabetical order, here were the baddest of the bad:
| Name | IP | ER | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ty Adcock | 4.1 | 7 | 14.54 |
| Matt Festa | 1.0 | 4 | 36.00 |
| Grant Hartwig | 6.2 | 5 | 6.75 |
| Tyler Jay | 4.2 | 4 | 7.71 |
| Eric Orze | – | 3 | inf |
| Yohan Ramirez | 8.1 | 7 | 7.56 |
| Cole Sulser | 4.2 | 5 | 9.64 |
| Total | 29.2 | 35 | 10.62 |
Hopefully, none of these seven relievers throws a pitch for the Mets in the second half. And what did the other 16 relievers for the Mets do in the first half of the season? Those 16 combined for 310.2 IP and 124 ER for a 3.59 ERA. By avoiding the seven relievers who came to the mound with gas cans, the Mets could have an average or better pen the rest of the year without making any additions.
Yet everyone is convinced that the Mets need to add two relievers. And there’s no team in history that couldn’t use a better reliever or two. But what the Mets need more than anything is not to have multiple relievers unavailable at the same time. We know that Brooks Raley and Drew Smith are going to miss the remainder of the season. But in addition to those two, the Mets are missing Reed Garrett and Sean Reid-Foley.
The core group of relievers right now includes: Jose Butto, Edwin Diaz, Adrian Houser, Phil Maton and Dedniel Nunez. Hopefully, Ottavino gets it together and is a better reliever after the break than he was in the first half of the year. Neither Garrett nor Reid-Foley have firm return dates yet. It’s possible neither will be back before the trade deadline. Shoot, it’s possible neither will be back the rest of the season.
It’s my opinion that the Mets need a better lefty reliever than Diekman. But if the Mets get that lefty, that makes the core group total six. And with Kodai Senga’s return, the plan is to go to a six-man rotation and a seven-man pen. Which means there’s one spot among Ottavino, Garrett and Reid-Foley to fill.
Ottavino has the edge, being heathy and on the roster. But if he doesn’t start showing better results once August rolls around, it’s not too difficult to see him being DFAd for whichever of the other two guys is healthy. Or, if Ottavino turns it around but Maton is stinking up the joint, he could draw the short stick.
Bottom line is that the Mets’ pen is better than people think and there are options on who to deploy, even without a trade. It may be tough to visualize that depth with two relievers in the equation currently on the IL. That, combined with going with just seven relievers, makes multiple reliever acquisitions a luxury, not a necessity.
I love the break in the accepted narrative that I get from this site! To read most other posts they need several arms. Maybe not. Butto and Nunez have provided some stability and having Diaz back will help as well. I am not sold on Maton however and I think Otto is a lost cause. Would be happy with one major addition.
It would help if the Mets starters can go deeper into the game as well. I am at work so I can’t look it up, but I wonder what the average number of innings per start the staff has put up so far.
What they really need is another corner OF to pick up the slack from the black hole created by the McNeil-Stewart-Taylor triumvirate.
Thanks for the kind words!
No one has a monopoly on truth and just because people – or in this case, a lot of people – say something, it doesn’t mean it’s true. I’m sure the reply from those people would be something along the lines of — well, you can’t count on Butto and Nunez and Houser going forward. And while there’s definitely logic to that POV, at some point, if you’re going to plan on the worst-case scenario for multiple players, why bother being a buyer at all?
It’s such a shame that Nate Lavender is out. I was pulling for the kid to surprise people this year. He potentially would have been that lefty out of the pen that they’re missing right now.
On a different note, I don’t hear too much about Fujinami. He’s surely as good as any on the “worse that Dieckman” list and deserves a shot. Apparently he’s showing nice control on his rehab assignment.
There also seems to be some murmurings that Sproat, with his electric stuff, could be a reliever down the stretch. Apparently Stearns did just that with Burnes when the latter was the Brewers top starting pitching prospect.
I am hoping that they hold onto prospects and try to solve the pen shortcomings internally or with money, ala Maton. While I doubt they’d trade a prospect the caliber of a Kelenic or PCA, that Holderman for Vogelbach trade has “left a mark,” as Tommy Boy might have said. (PS – it’s way too early to write either off, but I am not losing sleep about either Kelenic or PCA these days.)
I guess the answer is not pitching those bad pitchers anymore, which would be a good start. And starters going deeper into games would be a great plus for this team. But in the meantime, it seems that without adding proven reliever, they would be moving forward with their fingers crossed. That means another unproven or aging reliever or has-been will need to pitch significant innings. Well, I am fairly positive we have not seen the end of Adam Ottavino, I pray we’ve seen the end of Diekman who self-destructs with every walk that he issues and then throws the ball too much over the plate to the following batters. Poor Eric Orze with an infinity ERA. I believe they will secure a few more relief pitchers even if they are rentals, for the price of some lower level prospects.
Assuming that they are going to have a six-man rotation, when Senga gets back then it be a 7 man bullpen, in my pecking order, Diaz, Nunez, Butto, Maton, Diekman, Ottavino and Houser.
Houser pitches infrequently and his July is not memorable. He is relegated as a mop up man.
Mendoza hasn’t been using Ottavino like he was used in the past.
Diekman is a lefty and Mendoza has Collinsitis and might save him. If Diekman appears in 58 games then he is invested for 2025.
If Stearns wants to upgrade bullpen with a good relief pitcher also wait until SRF and Garrett to get healthy then Houser, Ottavino and Diekman maybe roster casualties. There is room for an acquisition.
Agreed! They may not need any. What about Megill? What about moving Scott to the pen with his innings limit? Yeah, a lefty Diekman upgrade would be nice but the cost for the incremental upgrade may not be worth it. Health + Diaz’s performance will be the biggest keys and there is no practical trade that can address how Sugar will perform in H2. I do think they should consider making the best system arms available should the need arise, meaning a Sproat fill in than any returns from the guys that threw the 29.2 innings.
This article doesn’t make any sense. Houser and Diekman both stink, so right off the bat, those are two relievers who should be replaced, not one. Plus, Maton just got here and Ottavino looks like he is washed up, plain and simple. Even Nunez is unproven since he has only been in the majors a short time. There is plenty of room for multiple bullpen replacements, in fact everyone other than Diaz should be considered replaceable, and there might be need for someone to sub in for him if he loses his confidence.
The average MLB reliever this year has a 3.97 ERA and a 1.277 WHIP. Houser has a 3.09 ERA and a 1.281 WHIP. Perhaps the article would make more sense to you if you could properly distinguish between relievers who stink and ones who are better than average.