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Dedniel Nunez

Mets Recall Francisco Alvarez, Outright Richard Lovelady

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The Mets announced a series of roster moves today, including the previously-reported claimed of right-hander Rico Garcia off waivers from the Yankees. Righty Dedniel Núñez was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot for Garcia. It was recently reported that Núñez will require Tommy John surgery. The Mets will need to open an active roster spot for Garcia once he reports to the club. The Mets also recalled catcher Francisco Alvarez and optioned fellow backstop Hayden Senger. Additionally, left-hander Richard Lovelady has been sent outright to Triple-A Syracuse. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. He has the right to elect free agency though it’s not yet clear if he has done so.

Alvarez got out to a bit of a slow start this year. The Mets optioned him to Triple-A about a month ago, as he was sitting on a .236/.319/.333 slash line at that time. He had hit just three home runs, after having missed the first month of the season due to a hamate fracture.

The optional assignment has seemingly lit a fire under him. He has 12 home runs in 29 games since being sent down, leading to a gargantuan .255/.352/.623 batting line for Syracuse. Now that he’s in a groove, the Mets have called him up and will see if he can carry that over at the major league level.

While the optional assignment ended up being relatively brief, it will be costly for Alvarez. He came into this year with two years and six days of service time, putting him on track for free agency after 2028. By spending a month in the minors, he won’t be able to push his service clock to the three-year line in 2025. That means the Mets have gained an extra year of club control over Alvarez, pushing his path to free agency until after 2029. He was going to reach free agency after his age-26 season but that will now be pushed until after his age-27 season. He is on track to qualify for arbitration this winter as a Super Two player, giving him four passes through arb instead of the usual three, but the delayed free agency is a hit to his career earning power.

As for Lovelady, he’s a veteran lefty who is out of options, which has led to him being on the fringes of a few rosters this year. He started the year with the Blue Jays but was designated for assignment after two appearances. He elected free agency and signed a minor league deal with the Twins, pitched well at Triple-A for a couple of months and then opted out of that deal. He has bounced on and off the Mets roster since then, twice getting added and then cut after a brief stint in both cases.

For the whole season, Lovelady has a 10.80 earned run average in 8 1/3 innings, though mostly due to allowing four earned runs in his second outing of the year. During his time in the Twins’ system, he tossed 20 2/3 Triple-A innings with a 1.31 ERA, 26.5% strikeout rate, 8.4% walk rate and 60.4% ground ball rate. Every other time he has cleared waivers this year, he has elected free agency, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he does so again in the coming days.

Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images

Mets’ Dedniel Nunez To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Right-hander Dedniel Nunez will undergo Tommy John surgery, according to multiple Mets beat writers.  Nunez was placed on the 15-day IL on July 3 with a right elbow sprain, and said at the time that surgery was a possibility.  Subsequent tests confirmed that Nunez will have to go under the knife, and he’ll now miss the rest of the 2025 season and possibly the entire 2026 campaign.

This will be the second Tommy John procedure of Nunez’s career, which cost Nunez the entire 2021 season and (in combination with the canceled 2020 minor league season) resulted in almost a three-year absence from game action for the right-hander.  That surgery took place during Nunez’s brief time in the Giants organization, as San Francisco selected Nunez away from the Mets in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft, but he was returned to New York following the 2021 campaign when Nunez was still in the midst of his rehab work.

Upon finally getting back on the mound in 2022, Nunez’s high strikeout totals drew some attention, and he got his first MLB look in 2024 when he posted a 2.31 ERA over his first 35 big league innings.  Combined with a 35.5% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate, Nunez turned plenty of heads in his rookie year, and his sudden emergence in New York’s bullpen was one of the many factors that led to the Mets’ big surge to the playoffs over the final four months of the season.  Unfortunately for Nunez, forearm problems cut short his participation in the playoff race, as he pitched only once after July 23.

Nunez wasn’t as effective this season, as he posted a 4.66 ERA and a 14.6% walk rate over 9 2/3 innings, and his strikeout rate dropped to (a still solid) 26.8%.  Though opposing batters have only a .217 BABIP against Nunez, he has been allowing a ton of hard contact, so even those relatively few balls that are landing for hits are causing significant damage in his small sample size of playing time.  His Triple-A numbers were also shaky, and it is fair to wonder if the arm troubles Nunez faced last year and his current elbow issues contributed to the lack of production.

The usual 13-15 month period for Tommy John rehab means that Nunez might be sidelined until Opening Day 2027 if he runs into any setbacks in his recovery process.  Given that this is his second TJ surgery, it is perhaps more likely anyway that Nunez’s rehab will be on the longer end of a timeframe.  Nunez will continue to collect MLB service time while on the Mets’ injured list, though that is small consolation as the 29-year-old is facing yet another extended career hiatus.

The Mets weren’t necessarily counting on Nunez as a high-leverage arm, but his absence removes another arm from an injury-ravaged pitching staff.  New York is already expected to heavily target rotation and bullpen help in advance of the trade deadline, and multiple new hurlers may be required to help the Mets reverse their slide over the last month of play.

Mets Place Paul Blackburn, Dedniel Núñez On Injured List

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3:20pm: Núñez tells Anthony DiComo of MLB.com that Tommy John surgery is a possibility for him. Presumably, he will undergo some more tests before a final determination is made.

2:05pm: The Mets announced a series of roster moves today. Right-hander Paul Blackburn has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 30th, with a right shoulder impingement. Righty Dedniel Núñez has also been placed on the 15-day IL, in his case due to a right elbow sprain. Righty Blade Tidwell was also optioned to Triple-A Syracuse. To take those three roster spots, they recalled righties Austin Warren and Justin Hagenman and selected Rico Garcia. The Garcia move was reported last night and there was an open 40-man spot for him.

It’s unclear when Blackburn’s injury popped up or how serious it is. He started for the Mets on Saturday and only went one inning, though that didn’t appear to be an injury situation. He recorded three outs before a rain delay of an hour and a half commenced. He returned to the mound after that delay but allowed five straight hits before being pulled.

Updates will surely be forthcoming but it’s a notable situation regardless. Just a few weeks ago, the Mets had so much starting pitching that Blackburn himself was the subject of trade rumors and it seemed like Frankie Montas might end up in a long relief role. But at the very moment those Blackburn rumors were trickling out to the public, Kodai Senga collapsed on the field with an obvious injury. He went on the IL with a strained hamstring. A few days later, Tylor Megill hit the IL with a sprained elbow. Then Griffin Canning ruptured his Achilles. Now Blackburn follows that group to the IL.

It highlights how quickly a pitching surplus can evaporate and puts the Mets in a tough spot. Their previously overloaded rotation is now down to Montas, Clay Holmes and David Peterson. The club played a doubleheader yesterday, with Holmes starting one game and Tidwell serving as a bulk reliever in the second.

In the immediate short term, Peterson is starting tonight. Hagenman and Garcia can pitch multiple innings per outing. Brandon Waddell is also an option for that, though he covered three frames yesterday behind Holmes. In coming days or weeks, Sean Manaea could come off the IL and rejoin the rotation, as he has been on a rehab assignment lately. Despite being on the IL for an oblique strain, he recently required a cortisone shot for a loose body in his elbow. The Mets have downplayed that, however, and he tossed three innings in a Double-A start yesterday.

The Mets have an off-day on Monday and then the All-Star break is just over the horizon, which could give them a chance to reset. They have other guys they could call upon, with Jonathan Pintaro on the 40-man roster. Prospect Brandon Sproat and Nolan McLean are in Triple-A but neither is one the 40-man and Sproat has a 5.43 earned run average on the year.

Add it all up and it seems highly likely that the Mets will be looking to add starting pitching at the deadline later this month, which is quite a turnaround from a few weeks ago, when they almost sold some off.

Núñez is a reliever but his injury is just an additional challenge for the taxed pitching staff. It’s unclear how serious his injury is but anything involving a pitcher’s elbow is always a concern. Between last year and this year, he has given the Mets 44 2/3 relief innings with a 2.82 ERA.

Photo courtesy of Jason Parkhurst, Imagn Images

Mets Select Blade Tidwell; Danny Young To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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The Mets announced this morning that they’ve selected the contract of righty Blade Tidwell in a move that was first reported earlier this week. Tidwell will take the 40-man roster spot of southpaw Danny Young, who is headed to the 60-day injured list due to an elbow issue that Will Sammon of The Athletic reports will require Tommy John surgery. Tommy John was first reported as a possibility for Young earlier this week.

The club optioned right-hander Austin Warren to the minor leagues to make room for Tidwell on the active roster, though Warren was immediately placed back on the roster as the club’s 27th man for today’s doubleheader against the Cardinals. That bit of roster maneuvering, according to Tim Healey of Newsday, will allow the club to option Tidwell to the minors after his start in today’s first game and call up Dedniel Nunez to make him available for Game 2. Mike Puma of the New York Post first reported that Nunez would be joining the Mets in St. Louis for today’s doubleheader earlier this morning.

Tidwell, 24 next month, was a second-rounder for the Mets in the 2022 draft and hit the ground running with a 1.93 ERA in five starts down the stretch in his draft year. He generally pitched quite well in the lower levels of the minors before hitting his first significant rough patch upon a promotion to Triple-A partway through the 2024 season. He posted a 5.93 ERA in 85 innings for Syracuse last year, and the results haven’t been much better this season as he’s posted a 5.00 ERA through his first six starts of the year. With that being said, Tidwell’s 31.6% strikeout rate is encouraging and an 8.5% walk rate is perfectly manageable. Tidwell’s struggles this year surely have at least something to due with an elevated .369 BABIP, so it stands to reason he could theoretically post much better results in today’s start than his Triple-A numbers might otherwise indicate.

Making way for Tidwell to join the 40-man roster is Young, who will miss the remainder of the 2025 season and at least some of 2026 as well. It’s a deeply disappointing outcome for the soon-to-be 31-year-old hurler. Young got his first extended look in the majors with New York just last year and pitched better than his 4.54 ERA in 42 appearances would indicate, striking out 29.0% of his opponents with a 3.64 FIP. It was enough to earn Young a spot in the club’s bullpen for this year, but he’ll unfortunately end 2025 with a familiarly pedestrian 4.32 ERA despite his strikeout rate improving to 35.1% and his FIP sitting at a fantastic 1.38 on the year. With Young and A.J. Minter both seemingly ticketed for season-ending absences, the Mets are known to be searching for lefty bullpen help even as the trade deadline remains nearly three months away.

Warren, meanwhile, will participate in today’s doubleheader before being sent back to Syracuse. The 29-year-old righty sports an impressive 1.69 ERA in 10 2/3 innings of work this year, but much of that is fortunate luck on batted balls and sequencing given that he’s walked (five) nearly as many batters as he’s struck out (seven) so far this year. The righty has only 48 2/3 innings of work in the majors to this point in his career, but he’s generally looked like a solid enough middle relief arm with a 3.14 ERA and 3.91 FIP overall. It seems likely that Warren will be shuttled between Syracuse and Queens frequently throughout the 2025 season as one of the few optionable pieces of the club’s bullpen mix.

Tidwell’s expected departure from the roster later today figures to make room for Nunez, who has not yet pitched in the majors this year but impressed in an up-and-down role last year with a 2.31 ERA, 35.6% strikeout rate, and 2.22 FIP in 35 innings of work across 25 appearances. The 28-year-old’s brilliant performance in the majors last year has not been replicated so far in Triple-A, as he’s posted a solid but unremarkable 3.48 ERA in 10 1/3 innings for Syracuse while punching out just 24.5% of his opponents. Even so, Nunez figures to be a solid addition to the club’s relief mix who could be counted on for multi-inning appearances or stick mostly to shorter outings like he has so far this year in the minors.

Dedniel Núñez Out For Season With Flexor Injury

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Mets reliever Dedniel Núñez will miss the remainder of the 2024 season with a flexor injury, manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters (including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). The right-hander received a platelet-rich plasma injection today as he seeks to avoid surgery, but he will not have time to make it back to the field in 2024.

Until recently, the Mets had been optimistic they would have Núñez back before the end of the regular season. Earlier this month, DiComo reported that Núñez would be able to “ramp up quickly” once he got back on a mound, and the Mets weren’t even planning to send him for more tests. Just last Monday, Tim Britton of The Athletic wrote that Núñez had “felt better of late” and suggested the Mets were hopeful he could begin a throwing program shortly. Needless to say, that is no longer the case.

Núñez, 28, was enjoying a phenomenal debut season in Queens. From his MLB debut on April 9 to his final appearance on August 24, he threw 35 innings with a 2.31 ERA and 2.13 SIERA. He started as an up-and-down, low-leverage reliever but quickly became one of Mendoza’s most trusted arms. Unfortunately, the righty landed on the IL at the end of July with a pronator strain, and after making his way back for one appearance at the end of August, his forearm troubles came back. The team has not offered a timeline for his return this time, but hopefully, if he can stay off the surgical table, he’ll be ready to go next spring.

Thankfully for the Mets, their relief corps remains a strength, even in Núñez’s absence. Since the trade deadline, the Mets rank eighth in baseball with a 3.28 bullpen ERA. Edwin Díaz, Reed Garrett, Phil Maton, and Danny Young all have ERAs under 3.00 in that time. José Buttó hasn’t been quite as sharp as of late, but he has a 2.70 ERA on the year. Meanwhile, veteran Adam Ottavino has strong underlying numbers in his 14th big league campaign; his 3.18 SIERA is more than a full run better than his 4.29 ERA this season. The Mets have won eight of their last 10 and 19 of their last 30 games, but they’ll still need every advantage they can get as they try to hold off the Braves in the Wild Card race. An effective bullpen will be critical down the stretch and potentially into October.

Mets Designate Adrian Houser, Shintaro Fujinami For Assignment

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The Mets announced a series of roster moves Friday, designating righties Adrian Houser and Shintaro Fujinami for assignment in order to open roster space for the return of Kodai Senga and the recall of righty Eric Orze from Triple-A Syracuse. (Fujinami was technically reinstated from the injured list prior to his DFA.) The Mets also placed righty Dedniel Núñez on the 15-day injured list due to a right pronator strain.

Houser, now 31, was acquired from the Brewers in the offseason alongside outfielder Tyrone Taylor. David Stearns had just been installed as the Mets’ new president of baseball operations and was familiar with both players from his time in Milwaukee.

The righty was coming off five fairly solid seasons with the Brewers, primarily as a starter. From 2019 to 2023, Houser had made 120 appearances for Milwaukee with 97 of those being starts. In his 523 2/3 innings, he allowed 4.04 earned runs per nine. His 19.2% strikeout rate was subpar but his 9.1% walk rate was close to average and he kept the ball on the ground at a strong clip of 52.5%.

It was hoped that he could serve a similar back-end role in the rotation in Queens but that didn’t go according to plan. Houser made six starts through early May but had an 8.16 ERA in those and got bumped to the bullpen. Since losing his rotation spot, his results have looked similar to his old self. In his last 40 2/3 innings, he has a 4.20 ERA, 16.9% strikeout rate, 7% walk rate and 50.8% ground ball rate.

Despite his results evening out, he has been squeezed off the Mets’ roster, perhaps not coincidentally just before the trade deadline. The Mets started the season with Senga and David Peterson on the injured list but both are now back on the roster. Though Christian Scott is now on the IL with a sprain of his UCL, the rotation mix now includes Senga, Peterson, Sean Manaea, Luis Severino, Jose Quintana and Tylor Megill with José Buttó in the big league bullpen.

Houser was largely blocked from getting another rotation gig there but perhaps he could be of interest to another club in need of starting pitching. Houser won’t be as exciting as aces like Garrett Crochet or Tarik Skubal but there are clubs who arguably just need solid back-end innings, such as the Guardians, Astros, Padres, Atlanta or Houser’s former club in Milwaukee. He is making $5.05MM this year, with roughly $1.7MM still to be paid out. He’s on pace for free agency at season’s end.

Fujinami, 30, put up huge strikeout numbers in Japan but also with worrying control problems. Those trends continued last year, his first in North America, split between the Athletics and Orioles. In 79 innings, he struck out 23.2% of batters faced but also gave out walks at a 13.2% clip. His 7.18 ERA last year was gruesome but likely not indicative of his true talents as he only stranded 53.4% of runners, with his 4.61 FIP and 4.60 SIERA finishing in nicer shape.

The Mets took a shot on him by signing him to a one-year, $3.35MM deal in the offseason but he hasn’t yet pitched for them. He began the year on optional assignment, getting recalled in mid-May to be placed on the injured list with a shoulder strain. He began a rehab assignment a couple of weeks ago but the Mets evidently didn’t want to make room for him on their roster.

The results prior to hitting the IL were very bad, as Fujinami had a 14.09 ERA in 7 2/3 innings. Since starting his rehabbing assignment, things have been better, with a 3.12 ERA in 8 2/3 innings, but evidently not impressive enough for the Mets to want to hang on to him.

The club will now have until the trade deadline to explore trades of either player. Houser could perhaps entice clubs based on his track record while Fujinami has some theoretical upside via his potent but wild arsenal. If the Mets can unload either player, they would likely save more money than any other club would take on. As a third-time competitive balance tax payor, they are paying a 110% tax on all spending over the top tier. Though Fujinami is only owed about $1.16MM at this point, the Mets could save more than double that amount when factoring in the taxes.

Mets To Designate Omar Narvaez, Acquire Luis Torrens, Option Brett Baty, Christian Scott

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10:20am: The Mets are sending cash to the Yankees in the deal for Torrens, tweets Sherman. Specifically, it’ll be a $100K return for the Yankees.

9:50am: The Mets are shaking up the roster with a broad-reaching set of roster moves. Catcher Omar Narvaez is being designated for assignment, reports SNY’s Andy Martino. His spot on the roster will go to catcher Luis Torrens, who is being acquired from the Yankees and selected to the MLB roster, according to Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base. Meanwhile, third baseman Brett Baty and righty Christian Scott will be optioned to Triple-A Syracuse, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports. They’ll be replaced on the roster by infielder Jose Iglesias, whose contract will be selected from Syracuse, and righty Dedniel Nunez, who’ll be recalled from Syracuse, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports.

It’s a significant slate of roster moves that’ll see the Mets jettison the veteran Narvaez, option two of their top prospects to Triple-A for more seasoning, and thus clear a full runway for Mark Vientos to get an opportunity as the everyday third baseman.

Narvaez, 32, inked a two-year deal worth a guaranteed $15MM in the 2022-23 offseason — the second season of which was a player option. After a lackluster debut campaign in Queens that saw him hit just .211/.283/.297, Narvaez unsurprisingly opted into the second season of his contract. This year’s production has been even more feeble, however. In 69 trips to the plate, Narvaez has managed only a .154/.191/.185 batting line with a dismal 22.2% hard-hit rate.

Prior to his time with the Mets, Narvaez was a quality regular with the White Sox, Mariners and Brewers from 2018-22 — even making an All-Star team with Milwaukee in 2021. That five-year span saw Narvaez bat .254/.337/.397. He was inconsistent with the bat on a year-to-year basis but wound up producing at a roughly league-average level overall during that half-decade run. On top of that, the Brewers — who have a reputation for improving catcher defense — revamped Narvaez’s skill set behind the plate. He rated as one of the game’s worst defenders in 2018-19 with Chicago and Seattle but posted seven Defensive Runs Saved and was worth an even more impressive 19 runs behind the plate in Statcast’s eyes — thanks largely to massive improvements in his framing.

The injury to Francisco Alvarez appeared to create an opportunity for Narvaez to get back to that previous form, but he’s been outhit by the defensively superior Tomas Nido, who returned to the big leagues after being outrighted to Syracuse last season. Nido hasn’t been great at the plate himself — his .233/.260/.370 batting line is well below par — but has handily outperformed his fellow backstop. That’ll allow Nido to stick around in what’ll likely be the lead catching role until Alvarez’s return.

Alvarez suited up for Double-A Binghamton yesterday, kicking off a 20-day window for his minor league rehab assignment. That could make for a short-lived stay on the roster for the newly acquired Torrens. The Mets will choose between him and Nido once Alvarez is ready for activation. In 124 Triple-A plate appearances with the Yankees, the journeyman Torrens hit .279/.339/.469 with five homers and six doubles.

Once a well-regarded catching prospect with the Padres and Mariners, the now-28-year-old Torrens is a career .227/.289/.354 hitter in 807 MLB plate appearances. He has a knack for hard contact, but too many of those well-struck balls are of the grounder variety. A hefty 49.9% of Torrens’ career batted balls in the majors have been on the ground, which is clearly suboptimal for a plodding catcher who ranked in the 24th percentile of big league players in sprint speed from 2022-23, per Statcast.

In Baty and Scott, the Mets are sending two of the organization’s most touted prospects back to the minors. Baty, 24, has now seen MLB action in three straight seasons but has yet to cement himself as the everyday third baseman — or even as a viable big league bat. This year’s .225/.304/.325 batting line is 12% worse than average, by measure of wRC+, but nonetheless stands as his most productive season in the big leagues. Since making his debut late in the 2022 season, Baty carries a .214/.281/.325 line in exactly 600 plate appearances.

Baty, the No. 12 pick in the 2019 draft, has been particularly cold of late, tallying just six hits in his past 54 trips to the plate. He’s considered a superior defender to the also-24-year-old Vientos, but Vientos’ bat has been too loud for the Mets to ignore. Also long considered one of the organization’s better prospects, Vientos is hitting .295/.354/.591 with three homers in just 48 plate appearances. The former No. 59 overall pick’s performance emphatically warrants greater playing time. With Baty sent to Triple-A, he’ll receive that chance and could well establish himself as a long-term corner option for the Mets with a strong showing.

Scott, who’ll turn 25 in a couple weeks, has pitched well through his first five MLB starts. In 27 2/3 frames, he’s worked to a 3.90 ERA with a 22.3% strikeout rate and excellent 5.4% walk rate. However, the right-hander was a reliever in college whom the Mets have moved into a rotation role since turning pro. He’s thus never worked a full starter’s workload, with last year’s 87 2/3 frames standing as a career-high. The Mets have multiple off-days on the schedule in the near future, lessening the need for rotation arms. As such, they’ll send Scott to Syracuse, where they can more easily manage his innings and simultaneously afford the big league club an extra reliever.

Passan does note that Scott is expected to return to the big leagues before long. His promotion to date certainly warrants that. And if the Mets continue on their current trajectory, it wouldn’t at all be surprising to see other members of the rotation dangled in trade scenarios. For now, Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, Jose Quintana, Tylor Megill and David Peterson are lined up to make the next five starts. Severino is on a one-year deal, while Manaea has a opt-out at season’s end and Quintana is in the second season of a two-year contract.

In place of Baty, the Mets will turn to the veteran Iglesias. He’s carved out a reputation as a plus defensive shortstop with good contact skills but minimal impact when he does put bat to ball. Iglesias didn’t play in the majors last season but is a career .279/.319/.382 batter in more than 4000 plate appearances. He’s come to the plate 175 times in Syracuse this season and turned in a .273/.309/.442 slash.

Iglesias will give the Mets a true backup shortstop to Francisco Lindor, something they previously lacked, and is plenty capable of spelling Vientos at the hot corner or stepping in for Jeff McNeil at second base even if the overwhelming majority of his career has been spent at shortstop.

As for Nunez, this will mark his third stint with the Mets already this year. He was up earlier this week as the 27th man for a doubleheader and also had a four-game run earlier in the season. He’s pitched 8 1/3 innings over five appearances, holding opponents to three runs on seven hits and three walks with 13 strikeouts.

Mets Place Drew Smith On 15-Day Injured List

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Mets manager Carlos Mendoza announced to reporters (including Newsday’s Tim Healey) that right-hander Drew Smith has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to shoulder inflammation.  Outfielder Starling Marte has also been placed on the bereavement list, so New York has called up both infielder Mark Vientos and right-hander Dedniel Nunez to fill the two open spots on the 26-man.

Since Smith’s MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage, the hope is that the righty can be back in the bullpen after just the minimum 15 days.  The Mets’ relief corps has been a strength for the team this season, and Smith has contributed to the cause with a 2.70 ERA over 10 innings and 10 appearances.  His most recent game was last Tuesday, when he allowed two runs in an inning of work during New York’s 5-1 loss to the Giants.

The solid ERA hides some underlying concerns in Smith’s performance, most notably a hefty 14.9% walk rate.  Smith’s walk rate had already taken a sizeable jump from eight percent in 2022 (when he had a 3.33 ERA) to 11.9% last season, when Smith posted a 4.15 ERA over 56 1/3 frames.  On the plus side, Smith has an excellent 24.1% hard-hit ball rate, helping somewhat mitigate the bad luck of a .345 BABIP.  Smith has reincorporated a cutter into his arsenal this year with good results, though batters are having more success against his primary pitch, a four-seamer.

Mets Designate Julio Teheran For Assignment

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The Mets have designated right-handed pitcher Julio Teheran for assignment, according to an announcement from the club. In a corresponding move, the team selected right-hander Dedniel Núñez from Triple-A Syracuse.

Teheran and the club just agreed to a one-year, $2.5MM deal last week, but Tim Healey of Newsday reports today that the contract was non-guaranteed and prorated with Teheran collecting $54K for his brief stint on the roster, though Healey also adds that Teheran’s prorated deal will continue to pay him while he’s in DFA limbo.

Teheran took the ball for the Mets last night against a tough Atlanta lineup and clearly struggled. It took him 68 pitches to get through 2 2/3 innings, allowing four earned runs via six hits and two walks, striking out three in the process.

The Mets were put in a position to need an extra starting pitcher by some recent injuries. They knew long ago that David Peterson had hip surgery and wouldn’t be an option early in this season, but then Kodai Senga was diagnosed with a moderate posterior capsule strain in his throwing shoulder in late February. That left a spot open for a depth arm like Tylor Megill, Joey Lucchesi or Jose Buttó. Megill won that job but then suffered a right shoulder strain after just one start.

Neither Lucchesi nor Buttó could be recalled right away to replace Megill since they were optioned to start the season and an optional assignment comes with a 15-day minimum stay. An exception that rule is allowed for a double-header, which is why Buttó was allowed to be the club’s “27th man” and pitch on April 4, but he wasn’t allowed to stay after due to the 15-day rule. Teheran filled that rotation job for one outing but it seems Buttó will be coming up this weekend once he’s eligible, per Tim Healey of Newsday and Mike Puma of The New York Post.

The Mets will now have a week to trade Teheran or try to pass him through waivers. The latter scenario will largely be a moot point since Teheran is a veteran with well over five years of major league service time, meaning he can reject an outright assignment in favor of electing free agency.

Teheran had a bit of a bounceback year in 2023, tossing 71 2/3 innings over 11 starts and three relief appearances with a 4.40 earned run average. He only struck out 17.4% of batters faced but limited walks to a 4.5% clip. Those results aren’t super exciting but still were a bit of a return to form for him. He didn’t pitch in the majors at all in 2022 and was only allowed to take the ball once in 2021 after he posted an ERA of 10.05 for the Angels in the shortened 2020 season.

Prior to that, he was a mainstay in the Atlanta rotation, making 222 starts from 2013 to 2019 with a 3.64 ERA, 21.1% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate. Last year’s performance with the Brewers wasn’t quite at that level but was a turnaround after three challenging years. Given the enormous amount of pitching injuries around the league right now, it’s possible that Teheran will garner interest from clubs in search of innings.

Núñez, 28 in June, has not yet appeared in a major league game but he does have one year of major league service time. That’s because the Giants selected him from the Mets in the 2020 Rule 5 draft but he required Tommy John surgery before the 2021 season started and he eventually spent all of that year on the injured list, with the Giants returning him to the Mets after that year.

He split 2023 between Double-A and Triple-A with a 5.53 ERA in 57 innings, striking out 26.8% of batters faced but also walking 12.3%. He has thrown 3 1/3 scoreless innings at Triple-A so far this year, with five strikeouts and just one walk. Back in February, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs mentioned Núñez as a pitcher who could debut for the Mets this year thanks to his high 90s heat, but also expressed concerns about the lack of control.

2020 Rule 5 Draft Update

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An abnormal number of picks from the 2020 Rule 5 Draft survived Spring Training and made the Opening Day rosters with their new clubs. The Orioles and Marlins both broke camp with a pair of Rule 5 picks on the active roster, while the Pirates opened the season with one Rule 5 pick on the roster and one on the injured list. Most clubs that are carrying a Rule 5 pick, unsurprisingly, have little in the way of postseason aspirations. There are a few October hopefuls among those still clinging to Rule 5 picks, however, and it’ll take some uncharacteristically strong Rule 5 showings for those players to survive the season.

We’ll take a look at how the surviving Rule 5 draftees are faring periodically throughout the year. Here’s the first glance…

Currently in the Majors

  • Brett de Geus, RHP, Rangers (via Dodgers): Injuries throughout the Rangers’ bullpen might have helped the 23-year-old de Geus crack the Opening Day roster in Texas. He’s out to a shaky start, having walked three batters and hit another three against just two strikeouts through his first 5 2/3 innings. On the plus side, 13 of the 15 balls put into play against him have been grounders.
  • Akil Baddoo, OF, Tigers (via Twins): Baddoo is one of the best stories (maybe the best) of the young 2021 season. The 22-year-old homered on his first swing in the big leagues as his family rejoiced in the stands, and in less than two weeks’ time he’s added a grand slam, a walk-off single (against his former organization) a 450-foot dinger off Zack Greinke and a fourth homer. Baddoo has a ludicrous 1.342 OPS through his first 29 plate appearances in the Majors, and while he obviously won’t sustain that, he’s forcing a legitimate audition in the Detroit outfield. Baddoo missed nearly all of 2019 due to Tommy John surgery and didn’t play in 2020. Despite that layoff and the fact that he’d never played above A-ball, the Tigers called his name in December. It may have seemed like a stretch at the time, but it doesn’t look that way now.
  • Garrett Whitlock, RHP, Red Sox (via Yankees): The Sox would surely love for Whitlock to stick, having plucked him from their archrivals in New York. So far, so good. Better than good, in fact. Through 6 1/3 scoreless innings, Whitlock has yielded three hits and punched out nine batters without issuing a walk. He’s sitting 95.6 mph with his heater and has posted a hefty 16.9 percent swinging-strike rate. Whitlock also had Tommy John surgery in 2019, so even though he’s previously been a starter, it makes sense to monitor his workload ease him into the mix as the Sox hope to get through the year with him in the ’pen.
  • Tyler Wells, RHP, Orioles (via Twins): Wells has allowed a pair of homers and surrendered three total runs on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 5 2/3 frames. The O’s aren’t trying to win in 2021, but their bullpen also has four arms that can’t be optioned (Cesar Valdez, Shawn Armstrong, Adam Plutko, Wade LeBlanc). Keeping both Wells and Mac Sceroler (currently on the IL) brings them  to six and will hamper their flexibility.
  • Zach Pop and Paul Campbell, RHPs, Marlins (via Orioles and Rays): Pop was technically the D-backs’ pick in the Rule 5, but Arizona immediately flipped him to the Marlins for a PTBNL. The 24-year-old didn’t allow an earned run in five spring frames but as I was finishing this post, he served up a three-run homer, bringing his season line to seven runs on three hits, three walks and two hit batters in 3 1/3 innings. Campbell has struggled to a similar extent. He’s surrendered five runs (three earned) and given up four hits and three walks in just 2 2/3 innings. With the Marlins out of tank mode, it’ll be tough to carry both all year.
  • Jordan Sheffield, RHP, Rockies (via Dodgers): Sheffield was the No. 36 overall pick in the 2016 Draft, but control issues prevented him from being protected on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen gives Sheffield three plus pitches in his scouting report (fastball, curveball, changeup) but also pegs his command at a 30 on the 20-80 scale. Sheffield has walked or plunked 15 percent of the hitters he faced in the minors. He’s yet to walk anyone 13 batters he’s faced with the Rockies, but he did hit one and has also tossed a pair of wild pitches. That said, he’s also sitting 95.5 mph with his heater and is unscored upon in 3 2/3 frames.
  • Luis Oviedo, RHP, Pirates (via Indians): Oviedo was the Mets’ pick at No. 10, but they had a deal worked out to flip him to the Pirates in exchange for cash. Oviedo has been hammered for six runs on six hits (two homers) and two walks with five strikeouts through 4 2/3 innings so far. Even pitching for a tanking club, Oviedo will need to show some improvement in order to stick on the roster all season.
  • Will Vest, RHP, Mariners (via Tigers): The Mariners kept last year’s Rule 5 pick Yohan Ramirez for the whole season, but it’ll be tougher to do with a full schedule in 2021. The Mariners’ young core is also beginning to rise to the big leagues, and Vest will need to fend off some intriguing young arms. He’s done a decent job so far, allowing a pair of runs (one unearned) on five hits and four walks with five strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings.
  • Trevor Stephan, RHP, Indians (via Yankees): Stephan whiffed 16 of 44 hitters this spring to earn a spot on the Indians’ Opening Day roster, but he’s allowed four runs in his first four MLB frames. The 25-year-old has surrendered five hits (including a homer), walked a pair and hit a batter so far while facing a total of 21 hitters.
  • Ka’ai Tom, OF, Athletics (via Indians): Tom, 26, raked at a .310/.412/.552 pace with a homer, two doubles and a triple in 34 spring plate appearances. After that strong audition, however, he’s just 1-for-16 with six strikeouts through his first 16 trips to the plate with the A’s.

On the Major League injured list

  • Jose Soriano, RHP, Pirates (via Angels): It wasn’t a surprise to see Soriano open the year on the injured list. He’s still recovering from Tommy John surgery performed in Feb. 2020 and didn’t pitch in a game with the Pirates this spring. He’ll be sidelined for at least the first two months, as the Bucs put him on the 60-day IL to open a 40-man roster spot when they signed Tyler Anderson. Soriano hasn’t pitched above A-ball, but the Pirates aren’t exactly a win-now club, so they can afford to stash him as a seldom-used bullpen piece in order to secure his rights beyond the 2021 season.
  • Mac Sceroler, RHP, Orioles (via Reds): Sceroler fanned six hitters in 3 2/3 innings early in the season but also yielded three runs on five hits (two homers), three walks and a hit batter. The Orioles recently placed him on the 10-day injured list due to tendinitis in his right shoulder, although it’s not expected to be too lengthy an absence.
  • Dedniel Nunez, RHP, Giants (via Mets): Nunez was hit hard in the Cactus League, surrendering four runs in 3 1/3 innings. He’ll now miss the entire 2021 season after sustaining a UCL tear that required Tommy John surgery this spring. Nunez will spend the season on San Francisco’s 60-day injured list and receive a year of MLB service, but he’ll still be subject to Rule 5 restrictions in 2022 once he’s healthy. He’ll need to spend at least 90 days on the MLB roster before he can be sent to the minors; if he doesn’t last that long, he’ll have to pass through waivers and, if he clears, be offered back to the Mets.

Returned to their original club

  • Jose Alberto Rivera, RHP, Angels (via Astros): The Angels didn’t take much of a look at Rivera, returning him to Houston on March 24 after just one inning of official work in Cactus League play.
  • Kyle Holder, SS, Reds (via Yankees): The Reds weren’t sure who their shortstop was going to be heading into Spring Training, but they ultimately settled on moving Eugenio Suarez back to that spot, sliding Mike Moustakas back to third base and giving prospect Jonathan India the nod at second base. A strong spring from Holder might have at least given him a bench spot behind that trio, but he hit just .219/.359/.250 in 39 plate appearances. The Reds returned him to the Yankees on March 30.
  • Gray Fenter, RHP, Cubs (via Orioles): The Cubs returned Fenter to the Orioles on March 12 after just one spring appearance. He hasn’t pitched above A-ball yet.
  • Dany Jimenez, RHP, Athletics (via Blue Jays): The 27-year-old Jimenez was a Rule 5 pick in consecutive offseasons — once by each Bay Area club. The A’s returned him to the Jays on March 15, however, after he yielded four runs (two earned) in three innings of work this spring.
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