Mets need these three relievers to step up in Seth Lugo’s absence

Edwin Diaz

I believe even if Lugo was healthy Edwin Diaz would’ve been the closer, but with Lugo out the job is undoubtedly his. Diaz was the primary piece of the trade that also landed Robinson Cano in Queens. We don’t need to talk about who the Mets gave up, it’s still too soon.

Diaz’s tenure with the Mets so far has been up and down, to say the least. There are some games where he displays the dominant stuff that made him so dominant in Seattle. There are also games where he has no control which causes walks and home runs to plague him.

In the 60 game shortened season, Diaz went 2-1 with a 1.75 ERA, striking out an absurd 50 batters in 25.2 innings pitched, a 17.5 K/9. However, Diaz only ended the year with six saves, as he blew four opportunities he had to finish games. That kind of inconsistency late in games will not cut it especially with Lugo out.

Diaz needs to be more like 2018 Diaz which saw him save a league-leading 57 games. With Lugo out, Diaz is the guy the Mets will rely upon the most. He is undoubtedly the guy that needs to step up the most if the Mets want to be competitors this season.

The National League East is too good for the Mets to be blowing games late, the Mets need Diaz now more than ever to ensure the Mets get where they want to go, and that’s the postseason.

Trevor May

The big bullpen addition from this offseason was former Twins reliever Trevor May. The Mets signed him to a two-year $15.5 million dollar deal to be a good late-inning arm. With Seth Lugo out, May is the clear eighth-inning guy in my eyes. In his time with the Twins, May was primarily used as a set-up guy for Taylor Rogers. He did very well in that role.

In 2019, May went 5-3 with a 2.94 ERA in 64.1 innings, striking out 11.1 batters per nine innings. In the shortened 2020 campaign, May had a 3.86 ERA in 23.1 innings pitched but struck out a whopping 14.7 batters per nine innings.

This past season, May was primarily used late in close games, and despite the higher ERA, did very well in his role. May was tied for fourth in all of baseball with 10 holds in 11 chances. This means when he came into a game that the Twins were leading in, he held the lead prior to handing the ball off to the next reliever.

I believe the Mets plan was for May to primarily be used in the sixth or seventh inning of a close game. On days that Lugo or Edwin Diaz would be unavailable, he would likely pitch in the eighth inning.

Now with Lugo out, the eighth inning almost certainly belongs to May. It is his responsibility to protect whatever lead the Mets have through seven innings and keep it that way for Edwin Diaz to shut the door. He would be very important with Lugo healthy, but with Lugo out May’s importance is even more prevalent now. He must be a reliable set-up guy for Edwin Diaz for the month of April at least.

Dellin Betances or Jeurys Familia

I view Dellin Betances and Jeurys Familia as guys in the exact same role which is why I am listing them both here. Both of these guys were signed by Brodie Van Wagenen as free agents to find their old form. In the past, both of these guys were shut down relievers in New York, and for reasons I cannot explain, the Mets felt they could regain their old form.

It was widely reported that the Mets were trying to dump one, if not both of Betances and Familia’s salary to try and clear more money to sign other guys. However, there were no takers. Now with Lugo out, both Familia and Betances will be relied upon to try and fill that big hole left.

In his first season as a Met, after missing most of 2019 with injury, Betances appeared in just 15 games as he battled through injuries and went 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA. I saw pretty much nothing that would make me excited about him for this season. His velocity was down, his numbers were down, and he just didn’t look very good.

Betances walked 12 batters and only struck out 11 in 15 innings pitched. His 8.5 K/9 was a career-low by far. His lowest K/9 prior to this season was 13.5 back in 2014, and his career K/9 is at 14.5 in his nine big league seasons.

Familia was signed in the 2018 offseason and has not been good either since coming back to Queens. In 2019, he went 4-2 with a 5.70 ERA and was pushed out of the eighth inning role he started in and was forced into more of a mop-up role. This past season, his ERA was better as it was at 3.86 but that’s a little misleading.

Familia’s walks were up and his strikeouts were down in the truncated 60 game season, and the number of base runners he allowed shows he might’ve gotten a little lucky that more runs didn’t score. In his 26.2 innings pitched he walked 19 batters, a 6.4 BB/9 which was the highest since 2013 when he only pitched in 9 games. He also only struck out 23 batters which add up to a 7.8 K/9, also the lowest mark since 2013. Familia allowed 39 base runners in 26.2 innings yet he only allowed 11 runs. It is unlikely that luck sticks.

Want your voice heard? Join the Rising Apple team!

Write for us!

The Mets need at least one, preferably both, to pitch closer to how they pitched a couple of years ago. With Seth Lugo out, one of these guys will likely be pitching in more high-leverage situations than the Mets planned. Hopefully, for a month or a bit more they can be reliable enough to not blow games before the Mets better relievers can enter the game.