NY Mets: 9 under the radar free agents the Mets should target

Raisel Iglesias is nasty. Signing him would make the Mets’ bullpen dominant.

The righty threw 70 innings in 2021, allowing 53 hits, 20 earned runs, walking only 12 batters, and striking out 103. His ERA was 2.57, his FIP was 2.83, his WAR was 2.0, and his ERA+ was 174. He finished 59 games, earning saves in 34 of those.

Iglesias’ Savant page is almost as red as his Angels jersey. He’s in the 92nd percentile or higher in seven categories (average exit velocity, xwOBA, xERA, xBA, strikeout percentage, walk percentage, whiff percentage, and chase rate). He’s also 85th percentile in hard-hit percentage, and xSLG, and 89th in fastball velocity. He’s only got two blues: 30th percentile in barrel percentage and 36th percentile in max exit velocity, which is ok when you throw as hard as Iglesias does.

Iglesias has three pitches. He features a hard fastball that sits around 96 mph. He’s also got a changeup in high 80’s and a slider in the mid-80’s. He generates a lot of swings and misses, striking out about 38% of the batters he faces. When batters make contact, it’s pretty evenly split between ground balls (39.4%) and fly balls (38.7%).

Iglesias is the one closer on this list. Do the Mets need a closer? No. Edwin Diaz is good, albeit shaky at times. But if you look at the rosters of winning teams in recent years, they have multiple dominant relief pitchers that can come in and shut an opponent down. Iglesias, paired with Diaz and Trevor May, would be a stellar back of the bullpen.

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