Sunday, November 01

Welcome back to the Mets Beat newsletter! Anthony DiComo has covered the Mets for MLB.com since 2007, including the past 17 seasons full-time on the beat. 

NEW YORK -- When the Mets signed Devin Williams to a $51 million contract to become their closer, they had reason for optimism. The belief of team officials was that Williams could potentially provide Edwin Díaz-like performances at a cheaper price. (At the time, the Mets briefly considered signing both, but it didn’t happen.)

They also felt Williams would be better than he was in 2025, when he produced a career-worst 4.79 ERA with the Yankees. The logic was that he ended that season strong and looked dominant in the playoffs. His expected statistics, including a 3.03 xERA and a 2.68 FIP, suggested he had been unlucky over the course of the summer.

Nine months later, Williams’ 4.66 ERA is almost identical to the mark he posted last year. What’s more, he began experiencing right shoulder discomfort in early August, which eventually pushed him to the injured list. Williams is still there now, with plans to return at some point in September.

“What do I think about my season? I think it’s been up and down,” Williams said. “I’ve struggled to find real consistency, I would say. Which, I don’t know, that’s just part of what comes with the job.

“It’s hard for me to find consistency. I’ll pitch and then fall out of rhythm, [have a] bad outing, get back into my rhythm. It’s just kind of been all over the place. I’ve had really good streaks. I’ve had, I’m not going to say really bad streaks, but I’ve had bad games -- like three or four [expletive] terrible games. But yeah, I’d say mostly it’s positive. Not all positive.”

Williams, who restarted a throwing program on Saturday, is the only member of New York’s bullpen written in ink for Opening Day 2027. At the Trade Deadline, the Mets dealt away two relievers -- Luke Weaver and Huascar Brazobán -- who once also figured to be in the mix. Almost every current bullpen member is under team control for next year, and most of them will play some sort of role. But pitchers like Nate Lavender, Jefry Yan and Daniel Duarte must earn their spots next spring. They don’t have guaranteed contracts like Williams does.

To some extent, Williams will enter next season in familiar territory. Much like last year, his under-the-hood numbers suggest he endured some poor luck in 2026. His chase and whiff rates both continue to rank among the game’s best. But his average fastball velocity has slid for two consecutive seasons and is down nearly three ticks from its 2020 peak. Williams has barely thrown his cutter, a new pitch that was a point of emphasis for him this spring. And his overall results have again been questionable.

“I think I still have a lot of talent,” Williams said. “I have the ability to get guys out in this league and lock down some games or get big outs at the end of games, whatever they need.”

Even after the Mets rebuild their bullpen for a second consecutive offseason, Williams should emerge as the closer. Kodai Senga, who’s been pitching the ninth inning in his stead, may become a setup man or could be traded elsewhere. But the Mets signed Williams as a closer and gave him closer money. He’s not going anywhere.

Williams also feels a lack of change is totally fine, whether that’s in the bullpen or throughout the roster as a whole. Although president of baseball operations David Stearns figures to make alterations to the rotation and lineup, those probably won’t be overhauls. Unlike last offseason, when the Mets moved on from Díaz, Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo and many others, a significant chunk of this year’s roster could return.

“We all expected to be better than what our record is right now,” Williams said. “It hasn’t happened. It was a lot of new pieces. Guys took a little bit to come together as a team, which isn’t a crazy thing, especially in a place like this. A lot of guys playing in New York for the first time. Stuff like that matters more than you can quantify with statistics.

“We have the pieces. The pieces have to do what they’re supposed to. We have to perform the way everyone is capable of.”

Francisco Lindor recently passed with Dave Kingman for sixth place on the Mets’ all-time list with his 155th home run. Who ranks fifth, with 192?

A) Carlos Beltrán

B) Howard Johnson

C) Brandon Nimmo

D) Mike Piazza

• Williams is trying to follow in the footsteps of Juan Soto, who returned to the Mets on Saturday following five-plus weeks on the injured list. Soto won’t play every day, at least not at first. But his presence should help make everyone around him better.

• Another great deep dive from Jared Greenspan, who spoke to Nolan McLean about why the right-hander has largely abandoned his sweeper -- once considered his bread-and-butter pitch. Take some time to nerd out on this one.

• Feel-good stories have been few and far between this year, but Jared Young -- a Spring Training afterthought who, earlier this week, briefly held the highest OPS of any active Met -- has at least provided one. Young is starting at first base almost every day now. He’s also positioned himself well to be a key part of things in 2027.

B) Johnson

It’s Johnson, who racked up 192 homers over nine seasons in New York. The rest of the Top 5 in ascending order: Piazza (220), David Wright (242), Darryl Strawberry (252) and Pete Alonso (264).

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