In the span of a few hours, David Stearns took the Mets’ biggest weakness in the bullpen and turned it into such a strength that New York might just have the best stable of relievers in Major League Baseball.
With just over 24 hours until Thursday’s trade deadline, the Mets connected on a pair of big swings to acquire game-changing bullpen arms — first acquiring Tyler Rogers from the San Francisco Giants for outfielder Drew Gilbert along with pitchers Blade Tidwell, and Jose Butto, before nabbing Ryan Helsley from the St. Louis Cardinals for third baseman Jesus Baez and right-handers Nate Dohm and Frank Elissalt.
It suddenly leaves New York with one of the most imposing three-headed monsters within the backend of a bullpen in all of baseball, with Rogers serving as the seventh-inning man and the former closer Helsley taking the eighth to set up All-Star closer Edwin Diaz.
Rogers has been one of baseball’s most consistent relievers over the last seven seasons, boasting a career 2.79 ERA. This season, though, has been his best yet. In 53 appearances with the Giants (50.0 IP), the 34-year-old right-handed submariner has a 1.80 ERA and a 0.860 WHIP.
He lives off of inducing soft contact, which he does at an elite rate. That bodes well within a strong Mets defense.
His average exit velocity of 84.8 mph ranks within MLB’s 99th percentile, per Baseball Savant. Opposing hitters’ barrel rate of just 2.1% is in the 100th percentile, while their 32.2% hard hit rate is in the 95th, and a 64.4% groundball rate is in the 99th.
Even more important for a Mets bullpen that has yielded 170 walks this season (22nd in MLB) is a walk rate of just 2.1%, which is also in the league’s 99th percentile.
Rogers does it all with just two pitches: an 83.3 mph sinker and a 74 mph slider.
“I like it. We got better as a team,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s pretty tough on righties and lefties. He gives you a different look. This is a guy who throws strikes… and he’s pretty durable. He’s been healthy and takes the ball.”
Helsley is practically the complete opposite of Rogers, and an eighth-inning option that adds to the heat provided by Diaz.
The 31-year-old right-hander averages 99.3 mph on his fastball this season, which is complemented mostly by an 88.9 mph slider, which currently carries a 45.6% whiff rate and a 27.2% putaway rate. He makes opposing batters chase 34.3% of the time, which ranks within MLB’s 94th percentile.
Since the start of the 2022 season, he has garnered two All-Star appearances and owns a 3.03 ERA, which included a 2024 campaign in which he led the league with 49 saves.
Their arrivals suddenly relieve an immeasurable load on an existing bullpen that was stretched razor thin due to New York’s starters’ inability to go deep into games, coupled with the injuries to AJ Minter, Danny Young, Dedniel Nunez, and Max Kranick. The Mets’ bullpen’s 418.2 innings pitched are the fourth-most in the National League, yet still ranked 11th in MLB with a 3.80 ERA.
Ryne Stanek and Reed Garrett, who had been forced to take on late-inning roles at a stressful rate, will be utilized as middle relievers at a far less intense pace. Brooks Raley, back from Tommy John surgery, can be deployed as a strategic lefty rather than a strict set-up man.
This is not just a deep Mets bullpen, it’s a good one — one that further cements their status as championship contenders this season.
