3 under-the-radar NY Mets X-factors who could make a huge difference in 2025

2) Dedniel Nunez

Dedniel Nunez is a late-bloomer. He was originally signed by the Mets in 2016 out of the Dominican Republic. During the 2020-2021 offseason, the San Francisco Giants selected the right-hander in the Rule 5 Draft but returned him back to the Mets about a year later. Nunez then made his debut in 2024 in his age-28 season but could establish himself as one of the better relievers in baseball next season.

Nunez pitched 35.1 innings, working to an outstanding 2.31 ERA, 2.22 FIP, and 0.91 WHIP. The right-hander walked just 5.9% of batters he faced while striking out over a third of opponents with a 35.9% K%. Although Nunez was prone to hard contact with a 10.1% barrel rate, he still held opponents to an HR/9 of 0.77 and 52.6% ground ball percentage.

Nunez is primarily a four-seamer/slider pitcher, as these two pitches made up 96.5% of his offerings thrown in 2024. He is a hard thrower, averaging out at 96.3 MPH with his fastball. His slider also averaged out at 87.5 MPH. Stuff+ put Nunez in very high esteem at 111. That was the fourth highest on the Mets last year among their pitchers with at least 30 frames.

Nunez is entering his age-29 season, and while he may be older than most players in their sophomore season, he could find himself as the Mets’ go-to right-handed set-up man. Nunez looked fantastic in the 35.1 innings he tossed in 2024. He displayed great stuff, located extremely well, and struck out a ton of batters.