5 players the NY Mets are glad they gave another chance to

5) Griffin Canning

The Mets picked up Griffin Canning on a one-year contract worth $4.25 million. In 2023, Canning had some solid numbers with the LA Angels. His 4.32 ERA was about league average, but he had some strong peripherals, including a 25.9% K% and a walk rate of only 6.7%. He had career bests in both SIERA (3.80) and xFIP (3.82) across 127 innings of work.

Unfortunately, Canning couldn't live up to those expectations. He may have pitched a career-high 32 games with 171.2 innings, but he owned just a 5.19 ERA, 5.26 FIP, and 1.40 WHIP. The right-hander saw his strikeout rate plummet to just 17.6%. Meanwhile, his walk rate rose to 8.9%. Canning has always struggled to prevent home runs, but his 1.63 HR/9 was the second-worst remark of his career.

At the time of the signing, Canning looked like a 6th starter type. The Mets had picked up Frankie Montas, signed Clay Holmes just days before, had Kodai Senga, David Peterson, and Megill returning for 2025, and would re-sign Sean Manaea just four days later. However, injuries have opened the door for Canning to get another shot at a rotation spot, and he has taken full advantage of it.

Canning has put up very similar results to Holmes. He has pitched 9.2 innings, allowed three earned runs, struck out ten opponents, and walked five. He has only allowed a single home run but has a 60% ground ball rate. Stuff+ has also seen Canning rebound. Last season, he was only at 85. But so far this year, he is back up to 94.