HOUSTON -- If there’s a small sample size worth putting some faith in, have it be this: The Mets’ bullpen is on the verge of the finest start in franchise history.
Through three games, Mets relievers have thrown 9 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings, or the equivalent of more than one full game. It’s a tiny sample, to be sure, but still a better beginning than all but one prior Mets bullpen can claim, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The franchise record to start a season is 12 2/3, which Billy Wagner, Pedro Feliciano and Co achieved in 2007.
“Everyone’s definitely been doing their job,” said right-hander Max Kranick, the newest member of the group. “We were saying it yesterday -- everyone throws like 98. It’s crazy. There’s big stuff in that bullpen, and we all have each other’s backs. We’re all rooting for each other. It’s a good vibe down there for sure.”
This has indeed been a community effort. Through three games, every member of the Opening Day bullpen has pitched exactly once. Combined, they entered Sunday’s play ranking third in the Majors in average fastball velocity, fifth in whiff rate and first in expected slugging percentage against. They are throwing hard, spinning the ball well, inducing poor contact and picking up their starting pitchers. Over those same three games, Mets relievers inherited the third-most runners in the league and stranded them all.
Velocity aside, these relievers come from different backgrounds and attack in different ways. The headliner is closer Edwin Díaz, who might never submit another campaign like 2022 but nonetheless remains one of the game’s most fearsome arms. Díaz’s velocity flagged throughout Spring Training, sitting 94-95 mph at one late juncture. All along, team officials cautioned that his best heater would return at the outset of the regular season, which is exactly what happened when he consistently threw 97-98 mph during his perfect debut.
“I knew my velo would be there,” Díaz said.
Backing up Díaz is Ryne Stanek, a setup man and one of the league’s steadiest performers. (He’s one of only four relievers to throw at least 50 innings in every full season since 2018). His left-handed counterpart A.J. Minter, a longtime Brave who underwent hip surgery in August, recovered slightly ahead of schedule to make the Opening Day roster and threw a scoreless inning in his debut.
Those three garner about 93 percent of the Opening Day bullpen payroll. But they haven’t made the most notable contributions to date.
In Game 1 of the season, Huascar Brazobán played a crucial early role in recording seven outs to keep things close. In Game 2, Reed Garrett inherited a two-on, no-outs pickle, loaded the bases, then stranded all three runners. In Game 3, making his first Major League appearance in three years, Kranick inherited a bases-loaded, one-out spot with Yordan Alvarez due to bat and managed to keep the Astros off the board.
Brazobán is a 35-year-old with less than three years of big league service time; the Mets had acquired him at last year’s Trade Deadline. Garrett was a 2023 waiver claim whom Mets officials deemed intriguing enough to protect the following offseason; he has since blossomed into a bullpen cog. Kranick was another waiver claim whom the Mets outrighted to the Minors and converted into a reliever last summer; his velocity ticked up in response, and he’s becoming an increasingly important part of their plans.
Throw in multi-inning expert José Buttó and frisbee-throwing sweeper specialist Danny Young, and Mets officials have a relief corps they believe in -- one they hope can be significantly better than the unit that finished 17th in the Majors in ERA last season.
“The stuff that we have in the bullpen is impressive,” Stanek said. “It’s a good group that’s pretty dynamic.”
Of course, the caveat to everything this time of year is that it is still very, very early. The 2007 Mets, who hold the record for most scoreless relief innings to begin a season, finished 14th in the Majors in bullpen ERA -- a figure inflated by some notable failures at the end. New York’s current group of relievers will need to curtail its walk rate and showcase additional depth if it wants to maintain season-long success. Not everyone currently present will be there in September, whether for performance or health reasons.
But as far as beginnings go, this one is about as solid as it gets.
“It’s a good start,” Stanek said. “It’s obviously early in the season. I think the first couple series are about getting your way through, getting your feet wet, getting acclimated to the regular season. But it definitely feels good that everyone went out there and did their job.”
Senior Reporter Anthony DiComo has covered the Mets for MLB.com since 2007.