NY Mets call up former Braves prospect lost in 2017 cheating scandal

After getting rocked around by the Atlanta Braves on Saturday, the New York Mets optioned Joey Gerber to the minors and recalled Guillo Zuniga from Syracuse.

Unless you’re glued to Mets minor league baseball, you might not have even noticed Zuniga was in the farm system. He was a minor league free agent signing back in May. A 6.23 ERA with Syracuse in 4.1 innings wasn’t the reason why they called him up. In a lot of ways, this promotion had more to do with the club’s weak depth chart at the moment. His career began as a member of the Braves farm system but after two seasons, he was released due to the Atlanta scouting scandal. It's a shame this couldn't be more of a troll than it actually is.

As fantastic as several of the Mets main bullpen pieces have been, the final pieces in the relief corps have been the complete opposite. And many have struggled lately. Austin Warren was a part of Saturday’s shelling. Cionel Perez hasn’t been good for a while. We can’t even consider Kodai Senga a real reliever until they start using him like one.

The Mets may have already reached the deep end of their relief pitcher depth chart

Zuniga has minimal MLB experience and only a 5.95 ERA in Triple-A. A 4.8 BB/9 rate is a tad high but not nearly as extreme as it has been in 2026 across multiple levels. He’s averaging 7.9 BB/9 since joining the Mets.

At the MLB level, a place he hasn’t been since 2024, he has a 5.03 ERA. Zuniga should be someone the Mets use to eat them a few innings. He does have a minor league option remaining which means if he does well, maybe there’s a chance he sticks around for a longer run. There should be plenty of open bullpen spots after the trade deadline with at minimum the A.J. Minter and Brooks Raley roster spots vacated.

When the season began, fans were hopeful for the rise of prospects like Dylan Ross (already on the 40-man roster) and fellow prospect Ryan Lambert. Both have struggled in Triple-A. Ross has the more insane 9.90 ERA with Lambert at 6.16.

Zuniga has been too consistently bad in multiple Triple-A stints for us to think this is a brilliant find by David Stearns. In what has become a lost season, he’s a mid-year representation of how many misses the Mets had further down the depth chart. His stay should be short as he looks to at least jump on the “Syracuse shuffle” and become a warm body to at least help the club get through the final leg of the season. With teams like the Kansas City Royals and Boston Red Sox on the Mets schedule next, maybe he sticks around and fools us.

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