How Mets already are setting up their bullpen for 2024
Mets relief pitcher Adam Ottavino (0) prepares to throw in the ninth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Citi Field, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023, in Flushing. Credit: Corey Sipkin
MINNEAPOLIS — From the wreckage of their season, the Mets are pulling out the beginning of a potential back end of their 2024 bullpen.
Edwin Diaz, recovering from his March knee surgery, is several bullpen sessions into his attempt to return this month.
Righthander Adam Ottavino, who has a 3.05 ERA in a team-high 60 appearances, has a $6.75 million player option for next season and said over the weekend that “I definitely intend to stay here.”
Lefthander Brooks Raley, who has a 3.00 ERA in 59 appearances, has a $6.5 million team option for next year. Manager Buck Showalter spoke as if the Mets keeping him is a given, referring to Raley as among “guys you know are going to be here.”
The Mets still would need to add two late-inning, high-leverage arms to create general manager Billy Eppler’s desired group of five, if that is still their target, so consider this trio a start. It means they at least are better off than they were heading into last offseason, when they had to build a bullpen almost entirely from scratch.
“We know what they’re capable of,” Showalter said of Ottavino and Raley, “and where they’re going to fit next year.”
To that end, the Mets have been making a conscious effort to protect those relievers.
They have debated internally whether it is worth having Diaz return this season or if they should wait until spring training to put him on a mound in any sort of game situation. He recently said his goal is to pitch this year.
With Ottavino and Raley, meanwhile, the forward-looking approach means pitching them less down the stretch.
The primary reasons: Well, there is little point. Both have had full workloads this season, so scaling back is reasonable. And doing so creates opportunities for some of the more inexperienced options who are trying to prove they deserve a spot in the 2024 bullpen, too.
The Mets deployed that approach at the start of August after owner Steve Cohen and the front office waved the white flag by trading Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and others. They weren’t going to make the playoffs, so they might as well get — or keep — Ottavino and Raley ready for 2024.
“I talked to them after the [trade] deadline,” Showalter said. “They’re still going to pitch and they know what situations they’re going to pitch in. They know before a game when they’re more than likely going to pitch. The tiebreaker has been . . . we’re trying to use as many looks as we can at other people that we have to make decisions on.”
Ottavino appeared in 44% of the team’s games through July. Since the Aug. 1 deadline, that has fallen to 38%.
The dropoff for Raley, whom the Mets rode hard as the only lefty out of the bullpen early in the season, is even more significant. He pitched in 51% of the team’s games (when he wasn’t on the injured list) before the deadline and is down to 35% since.
“They’re probably not forcing you in there as much as they normally would,” Ottavino said. “We’re definitely trained to go all the way and pitch a lot. We’ve pitched a lot, but not anything dangerous, which is probably smart considering where we’re at and getting other guys chances.”
Raley said: “There needed to be a turndown at some point.”
There will be some contractual housekeeping to take care of after the season with their respective options, but both seem to be straightforward cases.
“I’d like to be here,” Raley said. “It’s been great. I always say it, we have not accomplished our goal of what we wanted to do this year and had to pivot or whatever. But in controlling the things I can control, I thought I did a good job.”
Ottavino said: “Just run through the finish line and deal with it then. They’ve taken care of me and I definitely want to be here.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
